The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1925-05-23
SOCIALISTS IN
ESTHONIA AID
WHITE HANGMEN
Military "COurf' GiUes
Death to Workers
Cepsoiai to The paiIy wOrksr)

~NN~F W. e-A~ SIS "HAss~N ~~~''~
MIA Che military court IL working with
out Interruption. Nearly every day
ID Revai, Dorpat or NarVa workers
are tried. The number OF the accused
In pvery trial Is to persons. One
or two OF them are always ssntenced
10 death. Why does the Esthopian
bourDsoIsIe not attempt to arrange
another trial Of "14e"? 6eoause the
officials cannot organize such big
trial within a week and the Judges
ara Impatient and futher because the
trial Of the "149" has proved a great
failure.
Furthermore the coalition govern
ment In which Social Democrats part
icipate, tries to hide in smaller trials
tho terror of the bourgeois rule. By
. shooting the workers and peasants in
smaller groups the bourgeoisie be-
heves IL can be done unnoticed This
legal and systematic murder of the
workers and peasants is the greatest
terror in present Esthonia-
Military ''TrIals"
About one Of these trials In which
Comrades Welt and Uelgekutt, repre-
santattvea Of the peasantry. were
sentenced to death, the bourgeois
press wxitea Iaconicallyi
tTha trial Is opened at 10;20 D. m.
under the presidency Of the perma-
neut member of the court martial,
Colonel Helkss, assessors are Major
Ainsen end Colonel Elb. The assist
cot ce the military prosecutor. major
Knowing, represents the prosecution.
Tha lawyers Erik and Liig have been
&SEigned TO the defense on a decision
o& the court"
ln rdemocratic'' Esthonia colonies
and majors are always playing the
most important role. The accusation
b tia following;
Long before the December revolt
jain Welt was known TO the secret
police as one Of the most active mem
bers Of the labor movement In 1924
he joined the fraction The United
Front Of the Workers. participated
In the demonstration against the war
on August Srd and during all this
time energetically prepared revolt
by carrying on agitation and collect
ing armsF
The same accusation was raised
against the other accused. the small
peasant OF the Isle Of Oesel Ulge-
kntt Comrade Welt did not declare
himself guilty.
Spies Only Witnesses.
Tha trial examines the "wttnesses'-
Who as even bourgeois papers admit,
ere all agents of the police. They
h4tura1lY an affirmed that they had
sesn Welt and UIgekutt uear The bar
ranhs where the conflicts between
aErned workers and military took
place. Co1nrade Welt names his wit
nesHes, The chairman Of the court
aetz the police agents what is the
political tendency Of these Witnesses.
The agents answer that they are COM
munists. The defense asks how the
police agents know that. They state
that these witnesses have formed IN
their district a branch Of the United
Front"
Therefore the statements Of Welt's
witnesses are not taken into cpnsid-
Grafton.
After a conference Of five minutes
the court reads the sentence: John
Welt n years old and G. Ulgekutt,
20 years old are sentenced to death.
Comrade Welt was born in 1896.
His father was an agricultural worker
on land estate. In 1919 Welt as an
ex-soldier received piece Of land on
which he worked with his father,
maintaining all the time a close con-
nection with the labor movement.
Since 1920 he worked among the peas
ants Of the district of Pernau and
later on IN the district Of Pollin. In
the elections OF 1923 he was appointed
by two electoral districts as a candi-
date on the list of the United Front
Of the Workers and Peasants" When
in the beginning of 1924 the pariia.
nentary fraction OF the United
Front" was arrested, comrade Welt
entered the parliament in the place
Of the arrested comrades and con-
tinued energetically their revolution
airy activity till his arrest in Decem-
Der 1924.
Comrade Ulgekutt, also peasant,
is one of the most popular workers
among the small peasants Of the Isle
Of Oeael. He was born In 1896. The
revolutionary ideas found a strong
response among tho working popula-
ton Of the Isle OF Oesel. The over
whelming majority are small peasants
who live under the most difficult con-
ditions. In order TO live and TO pay
their taxes. tho peasants look for
work In other districts during the
winter season. AT the time OF the
revolt Comrade Ulgekutt was In Rev