The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-05-10


for the Montana district-every other
office in the state was theirs.
Wheeler refused. He likewise refus-
ed to prosecute the strikers and the
strike leaders unless actual law viola
ton could be shown and the federal
Judge-George Boruquin-stood be-
hind him.
Judge Bourquin is character that
deserves more than passing mention
If the environment that produced
Wheeler is to be understood. Bourquin
is a lineal descendant of the French
Hugeonots; he is an aristocrat in the
full meaning Of the term and altho
l have never spoken to him l have the
impression that he has a good deal
Of contempt for the working class. He
also hates the coarse and uncultivated
millionaire class and in particular he
hates the tactics and policies Of the
Anaconda Mining Company.
His attitude all thru the war can
be explained only on this basis for he
was appointed to the position he now
holds because he was thought to be
a company" man and while district
judge he gave plenty of grounds for
that belief if the stories of the old
timers are to be believed.
Since his appointment as federal
Judge, however, he has invariably
always within the law because he has
never been reversed by higher court
given the company the worst of it.
He fined one Of the chief attorneys Of
the Anaconda $500 after Wheeler had
prosecuted him for tampering with a
federal jury and in Montana at that
time this was nothing less than bias
phemy and sacrilege combined.
Two Incidents.
When a deportation case growing
out of an illegal raid on the /. w. w.
hall was brought before Bourquin he
dismissed it and in his written deci-
sion included the following obvious
and sound advice to the defendants:
"The evidence shows that no
resistance, oral or otherwise, was
offered by the defendants aItho the
provocation justified resistance to
the last dread extremity"
When by some process or other, an
other member of the Industrial Work
ers of the World was brought before
him for evading the work or fight"
law after he had been farmed out by
the sheriff of Cascade county, the
judge dismissed the case, told the de-
PENDANT that it was his duty as an
American citizen to sue the sheriff
for damages and further advised him
as to the approximate amount Of dam
ages he could collect.
The copper press conducted cam
paign against Wheeler and Bourquin
that is without parallel in American
life unless it is equalled by the bitter
ness of the abolitionist period
Wheeler was thought to be more vul-
nerable than Bourquin and the attack
was concentrated upon him. 1t was
not confined to attacks upon his per-
sonal integrity but took every con-
ceivable form until it became an open
demand for his life appearing stimuli
taneously in every daily in the state
in editorials and news stories-until
the Butte Daily Bulletin was estab-
lished.
Added Frenzy.
This served to increase the fury Of
the local capitalists AM their tools in
and out of the labor &ovement. All
of this time the strike was going on,
Butte was filled with gunner and mill
tiamen who knew that a quick rise to
fame and surfeit of gratitude from
the patriots could be had by murder
ing Wheeler and a few individuals
like myself Emergency measures
taken following the murder of Frank
Little were all that prevented an ex-
tension of the terror.
The Bulletin staff and Wheeler were
hailed before the state council of de-
tense composed of the governor-a
copper tool-and 10 other copper lack
eys. Wheeler was censored and the
basis laid for the prosecution of my
self and other members of the Bulletin
staff. / was arrested and then kid
mapped from Butte, finally brought to
trial in a hostile county for sedition
and Wheeler defended me. was con-
victed and he was then forced to re-
sign.
The Political Struggle.
After the war he ran for governor
and was defeated following a cam
paign marked by such incidents as
his being besieged in a small railway
depot by American legionaires and
rescued by armed members of the
World War Veterans. Two years later
he was elected to the United States
senate and has attained the highest
pinnacle of fame measured by news
paper standards-his name is publish
ed without explanation as to who OF
what he is.
Wheeler was elected by the workers
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