Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-04-10
State Department Notifies
Diplomats to Protect Selves
as Sentence Is Passed.
BOMBING OF LEGATIONS
RECALLED BY OFFICIALS
Little Hope Seen for Doomed Men
Through Appeal to Federal
Supreme Court.

Mindful of the reprisals. threatened
and actual. which followed the denial
| in the early part of last year of a
new trial to Nicola Sacco and Bartol-
omeo Vanzetti when American lega
tions and consulates in foreign lands
were the subject of bomb attacks and
| demonstrations by communists, the
| State Department last night flashed
around the world to the American for
| eign representatives a warming to
guard against any eventualities fol.
lowing the news of the passing of the
death sentence on these men. 1t was
merely an advice, and the American
| diplomatic representatives will be ex.
| pected to use their own judgment as
\ to whether they should make any ar
rangements for their protection.
Sacco and Vanzetti were convicted
| in July, 1921, for the killing in April,
1920. Of a paymaster and guard, r.
A. Parmenter and A. Baradeli in
| hold-up at South Braintree, Mass,
The Massachusetts Supreme Court
denied a new trial to the murderers
May 10, last year, and four days later
| the American embassy in Buenos
Aires was bombed. This was believed
to be a carrying out of reprisal
| threats of which the American officials
had warning. On June a bomb ex
ploded in the United States legation
at Montevideo, Uruguay, following
which 20 radicals were arrested, four
of whom confessed.
Diplomats Were Warned.
These two bombings caused the
American State Department, June 10,
to send warning to the foreign rep
| reSentatiYes of the United States to
be on their guard against further
plots. The reds in Switzerland be-
came menacing in July and on the
18th of the month, when they threat
ened the American legation, a heavy
guard of Swiss police was placed
around it. The latter part of July
| the scene shifted to Paris, and the
Federal officials became alarmed over
| threats to kill Ambassador Myron H.
| Herrick. AS late as October 26 of
| last year, the American embassy In
| Paris was stiIl under heavy guard TO
prevent communistic demonstrations,
resulting from the Sacco.Vanzetti
cases.
Two openings remain for the two
doomed men before exhausting all op.
portunities for saving their lives.
First, they may go to the United
States Supreme Court on writs of
certiorari. or they may appeal to the
Governor of Massachusetts, for execu-
tive clemency.
1t was pointed out that if a motion
should be submitted to the Supreme
Court of the United States before MAJ
81, that tribunal will have an oppor-
tunity to pass upon it before the pres
ent term ends June S.
Stay Is Possible.
If the move is made after MAY 81.
electrocution could only be stayed by
appealing to the Massachusetts, State
courts for an order suspending sen
tence until after the Supreme Court
returns next October.
In the event the State Judge re
fused to stay execution. they still
would have open the possibility of
obtaining such an order from one OF
the justices Of the Supreme Court.
No motion which they may file in
the Supreme Court would OF itself
have the effect of staying execution.
Lawyers Of wide practice before the
Supreme Court expressed the opinion
yesterday that Sacco and Vanzetti
would have great difficulty in con-
NlnclnE d EeUeIdl Juu6S III N1dSSd-
chusetts or the Supreme Court here
that constitutional or other Federal
questions are presented in their case
which would warrant Federal inter
vention.
Little Federal Encouragement.
Efforts have been made here many
times to have Federal officials in
terest themselves in the case. but
there has been no indication that any
encouragement has been given to
such moves. The question has been
discussed briefly in Congress, where
on one occasion a resolution was intro
duced asking an investigation of
charges that two department agents
obtained false testimony against the
men.
The main consideration here has
been the matter of seeing that Ameri-
can diplomatic and consular officials
abroad were protected as a result OF
threats received intermittently for
several years and attributed to sym
pathizers of the condemned men.
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