The producers news., 1927-12-23
Bv FRANK PALMER, Fed Press

DenVer-(tF)-A mass of circum- |
stantial evidence pointing directly to
the Rockefeller controlled ColoTa6o
Fuel & Iron Co. as responsible fo, tbe
frameup which led to the massacre Of
striking miners at the Columbine noina
of the Rocky Mountain Fuel Co J
awaits the coming of the church in.
vestigating committee representino
catholics. protestants and Jews. Man,
here believe that it will only take tbe
right to put certain individuals on tbe
stand to reveal the story of how tbo
bloody Rockefeller company conspired
to hang the killing on a more pacific- |
ly inclined company, discredit humani-
tartan ideals in coal mining and get
control of a leading company in fbe |
northern field. Here is the chain of
evidence.
Just about the time the strike starts
Miss Josephine Roche, a member of
the Juvenile Court staff under iudge !
Ben Lindsey, inherited dominant |
Though not a majority interest in
the Rocky Mountain Fuel company
She called Merle Vincent, a progress |
sive attorney, to represent her inter
ests. They Immediately discharged
! Walter Belk, notorious since Ludlow |
days, as head gunman at the CoIun- !
bine and announced they would not
dig coal under guard. They "accent-
ed the resignation" of George Peart
as general manager and of Judge Jesse
G. Northcutt, the leader in the fight- |
ing at Ludlow, as general counsel. !
Then they ordered that Ted Peart |
son of the former general manager
and superintendent at the Columbine.
leave the gates open and allow the
strikers to hold their meetings in the
Columbine, Miss Roche saying, as if is
reported, that she would "seI her
stock for SOC if blood were shed on
the property.
Governor Adams was also appar- |
emily anxious that this strike shouId |
pass without blOodshed and the I w.
/ w. leaders were insiStent there should
be no trouble. They searched the
picket lines every morning for guns
and knives. Yet were killed and a |
score seriously wounded Why?
The News has printed the state
ment that the Rockefeller Colorado
Fuel & Iron Co. is desirous of get
ting control of the Rocky Mountain
Fuel Co. The c. F. & l. is the hard
boiled, labor-hating, strikebreaking
and dominant influence in the Color
ado coal industry, but it has no mines
IN the northern field, where the Col
umbine lies.
Knowing the situation, J. F. We'll
born, president of the company, would
have gone straight to George Peart
who naturally resented the new re-
glme and belong to the old C. F. & /.
school of labor smashing tactics.
George Peart would have gone to his
son, Ted, and the company end of the
frameup would have been taken care
i of.
Mr.. Welbon or Mr. Peart could
then have gone to "Pat" Hammock
and reached Louis Scherf, the chief of
the state police, who was for years a
captain in the Rangers under Ham
rock and learned his strike breaking
from him, and also Sam Lee, second
IN command, who is even worse than
Scherf. In the state government, as
centers disloyal to the governor, are
AdJutant General Newton of the Ma
tlonal Guard, who has differed with
the governor consistently since the
strike began and who wanted trouble
to prove the militia ought to be call
ed; Tom Annear, chairman of the In
dustrial Commission, who was fran
tlcally eager to get the men back in
the mines at any cost; and a whole set
OF Republican politicians who want to
dlscredit the Democratic governor.
Hammock could have used all of them,
some directly and some indirectly.
Despite the orders of Vincent that
the gate be left open and the strikers
allowed to hold their meetings on the
road in the mine, on the morning of
the massacre Ted Peart had chained
and padlOcked the gate shut! And
Peart was on hand to take part in
the proceedings. Four DAYS later he
resigned! Vincent had also asked
that state trooper Sam Lee, who call
ed for the machine gun during the
fight, be removed because of his at
titude toward the strikers, but had
; been told he was a deputy sheriff.
Despite the orders of governor Ad-
ars, the machine guns were left at the
COlumbine and the strikers insist
they were used. Certain it is, they
were set up before, during or imme-
diately after the killings.
1t is definitely established that
Louis Scherf reports to "Pat" Ham
rock at the State House as often as
! he reports to the governor and some
times, apparently in emergencies, be-
, fore he sees the governor.
: About midnight before the mas
sacre, Scherf saw the governor and
assured him nothing could happen at
the Columbine the next morning, "You
can go to sleep in the assurance that
everything will be all right" An
hour later, Scherf sent to Denver for
the steel helmets of his troopers! Tom
Annear and Colonel Newton were also
on hand at the Columbine that morn
ing to see what happened. Annear
went Immediately to the governor
with glowing praise of Scherf and his
men, saying, "Scherf ought to have
a gold medal. For the moment it
semed that Annear's industrial com
mission had been saved.
The Saturday before the Monday of
the massacre, the strikers had gone
to the Columbine, been met by the
sheriff and after some joking back
and forth, had follOwd the sheriff
back to town for coffee and dough-