The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1928-01-20
MURDER is MURDER

Murder is murder, crime is crime, dead men are
dead any place in the world
1t does not matter much to a dead man the
method of his DEATH.
Whether killing is accompanied with gruesOme-
ness, whether it is done neatly and expeditions
ly, is of very little consequence except it eff
fects the sentimentality and prejudces of those
who still live.
Now the other day. a brutal fool, young vain
glorious criminal, kidnapped, killed and dssected
a young girl and returned her dead to her banker
father, after collecting the ransom.
The press of the country full of it-great
screaming headlines introduces stories of the de-
tails. Everything else in the nation forgot
ten People talked about this deed, discussed it
in detail analysed it, and debated the intelligence
of young Hickman, and his probable sanity. The
Leopold and Loeb cases were recalled People be-
come wrought up to the very verge of hysteria.
Great mObs gathered to lynch Hickman. The pOpu-
lace is bowling for his blood.
Three four days ago, a fiend over in Michi-
gan Kidnapped five-year-od Kindergarten baby
as she was on her way home for dinner, muir
dered her and buried her in a swamp.
The people of Michigan organized itself into
vast posse and searched the state for the wretch
The papers, the great dailies featured the story
in detail, giving every word of news available on
the subject Great and ponderous editors wrote
leading editorials on the subject of crimes and
crime prevention.
The people are in a frenzy over these murders
a result of this publicity
These murders were terrible-the fiendish per-
petratOrs must be punished.
But at the very same time these murders were
occurring, over in Colorado, hired thugs and
murderers in militia uniforms, were eiecting min
ers, wives and families, with tender Babes out
into the bitter cold to starve and freeze-were de-
hberately shooting into the ranks of parading men,
women and children, killing many in cold blood
and without a scntia of excuse or justification.
They did this to drive Mr.. Rockefeller's starving
slaves back into the shambles and for DAYS wage
AT the same time the very same things were
occurring in the coal fields of Pennsylvania. AT
the same time, American Marines, without deca-
ration of war, with no right under any law, ma
honal or international, were numbering in cold
blood the subjects of the weak but supposedly
friendly nation of Nicaragua at the behest of
American usurers in that benighted land
The stories did not get on the first pages of the
press under screaming double deck heads. The
editors did not write, the people were not interest
co. they did not go into frenzy over these monu-
mental crimes, they did not cry out for Justice
and the blood of the murderers and criminals
no, not bit of it. Yet the crimes were worse
just as brutal and more premeditated and in
spired by just as base motives
No, the people were "fed up" on Hickman while
these foul deeds were occurring-there is a reason
for this.
But murder is murder-whether the victims b.
the daughter of Banker Parker, or the babies o.
Miner Olson-or whether one is strangled to dealt
or the other is starved and frozen to death afte
the father and mother has been wantonly muir
dered in cold blood.
The murder of workers children does not arous
us In the same way that the murder of bankers
daughters-if they did, the very foundations o
TINS country would be shaking from sea to sea AM
from lakes to gulf