The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-03-11

Tom Mooney, serving life sentence on
frame-up charge, has written an exposure of
the tricks of the A. F. of L. bureaucracy to
get him sent to prison, along with Warren
Billings, and to keep him there. The first two
installments Of this exposure, now running in
The Daily Worker, letter from Mooney
to Billings MONEYS main article now begins.
INsTALLMENT 3.
FRAME-UP.
Outraged public opinion has again witnessed
a disgusting spectacle of sham democracy at its
worst: The California Supreme Court justices
sitting as non judicial "fact-finding" commits
sion to once again pass on the application for
pardon of Warren Billings. This commission"
was convened for the ostensible purpose of hear
ing the confession of perjury voluntarily given
by John Mcdonald without whose testimony
Billings could not have been convicted in 1915;
but it turned the hearing into an extra-legal
farce-a trial" without the presence of the de-
PENDANTS.
Tom Mooney was brutually refused permits
sion to testify before the commission, and could
not refute lying statements made against him.
Warren Billings was "third-degreed" for five
hours at Folsom Prison by this alleged "fact-
finding commission. The justices never asked
him single question about the crime for which
he has been unjustly imprisoned for Is years.
While the Supreme Court justices were grilling
BILLINGS, browbeating Fremont Older, sneering at
tangible evidence, they openly encouraged the
most questionable and far-fetched testimony
against Mooney and Billings. Fickert, Cunha,
Berry and Golf, the despicable frame-up crew
of 1867, assisted" the commission and helped
the court continue the preparation of this in
famous frame-up. Every one from dope fiends
to the dicredited prosecutors, was permitted to
testify mass of conflicting testimony resulted.
But it was clearly shown that the testimony Of
every key witness against Mooney and Billings
was perjured,
From the outset. It was apparent that the
minds of at least two of the iustices-John w.
Preston and John E. Richards-were closed and
Theoretically sealed Nothing could have altered
them. No imaginable evidence could have
changed their fixed determination that Billings
must remain behind the walls of Folsom Prison.
Justice Preston in particular, revealed himself
as man utterly lacking in judicial tempera-
! ment Assuming the dual and inconsistent
functions Of Judge and prosecutor, he badgered
| and browbeat every witness, from John Nc
Donald on, whose testimony might possibly sup
port Billings application for pardon.
He adopted the typical method of the typical
| red-baiter, dwelling with eruphasis upon the
alleged radical or anarchistic bleefs and asso
Citations of Mooney and Billings These matters
the trial court had rightly refused to consider.
They had no bearing upon whether Billings had
guilty part in the Preparedness Day bomb out
rage. The one purpose they could serve at the
recent hearing was to intensity public prejudice
against the prisoners.
1t was apparent too that Justice Preston was
dominating influence among the members Of
the court. The sole question, then, was how
many of the other justices would follow his lead
in making the proceeding not an impartial
search for facts, but biased attempt to find