The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-02-03
CRIPPLED MINER
VOICES PLEA TO
HELP STARVING
Dramatic Scene Enacted in
House by Leader of
JobIeSS Men.

lies-forgotten in a day-in the
hands Of a house Of representatives
committee.
But not so soon to be forgotten
by Hoosier lawmakers is the picture
Of a peg-legged Bicknell coal miner
pleading from the floor of the house
for food, and subtly conveying a
warning Of what may happen if the
legislature refuses to act"
Disclaiming identification as 6
"Red" or Communist" Dan Win
niger, whose left leg was crushed in
mine accident, said he was spokes-
man for the Unemployed Council of
Indiana and headed a committee of
fourteen designated to present griev-
ances Of hundreds Of starving Indi-
ana workingmen.
Gather Under Police Guard
Before Wininger faced the house
Monday to deliver his address groups
of unemployed assembled silently and
in an orderly manner at the east steps
of the statehouse while heavy po-
lice guard was marshaled about the
doorway to repulse any organized
rush.
The mobsmen, If an orderly gath
ering can be described as a mob,
came in twos and threes until ap-
proXimately 500 of them massed be-
fore the steps to hear addresses by
Wininger, Ted Luesse, who several
times has been jailed for rioting,
and other leaders.
In addition to police in the state
house under Major Herbert Fletcher
and Lieutenant Leo Trautman,
mounted traffic cops were ready at
headquarters and squad cars were
ordered to stand by for radio calls
if it became necessary to queIl any
violent demonstration.
The mobsmen, however, were or
derby, although they bore such
banners as Down With the Bosses
Courts" and "To H With the
Slop Houses"
Fourteen of their number, led by
Wininger, filed through the Gordon
Of police at the door and were shep-
herded first to the office of Governor
Harry G. Leslie.
The Governor was absent, so the
delegation, including several Negroes
of both sexes, asked permission to
present their petition and address.
Refers to Free Speech
Speaker of the House Walter
Myers readily acceded to requests
for the reading Of the petition, and
told the house that Sin view of the
constitutional guarantees of free
speech and free aSSemblage, I be-
lieve we should hear the petition,
and if the house will consent, al
low ten minutes for an address"
Representative DELPHI L. McKes-
son Dem, MarshalD and majority
floor leader, Immediately moved to
hear the petition and the address
and Republican members, not to be
outdone, sent up a roar of second
the motion"
Wininger linped slowly to a space
in front of the rostrum and halt
ingly began his address in which he
delineated the pitiable plight of
hundreds of unemployed.
AS he went on, Wininger's voice
gathered volume and his manner
confidence as he told the house
that eve come to you peaceably and
without violence, but the situation is
full of eventualities we can not fore
see and may not be able to con-
troll.
1.-THE workingman gets only about
one-fifth of his production power
in return, yet the workman repre-
sents rs per cent of the buying
public" declared Wininger.
IF you come to our aid, We'll not
forget you at the polls, and if you
do neglect us, we won't forget that
either. We're not going to starve
when food is mountain high"
Speech Kept in Mind
Wininger's address made such an
indelible impression on members of
the house that twice later in the
day references to it were made dur
ing debate.
Remember what we heard this
morning. I'd rather have men riot
ing in prison than on the Streets"
shouted Representative E. Curtis
White Dem., Marion), in answer
to Representative Miles Furnas
Rep., Randolph in a debate on
bill embracing the marking of
products made in Indiana prisons.
The bill was postponed indefinitely,
As to SO.
Furnas had warned that prison
riots are precipitated by idle con-
victs not given work to do and his
remarks provoked a heated debate
with members of the labor group in
the house. representative Fred
Galloway Dem., Marion), also re-
ferred to Wininger's address during
the debate on prison-made goods.
At the conclusion of Wininger's
talk. Representative FurnaS moved
in view of the appropriation demand
that the petition be referred to the
house ways and means committee.
Included in the petition were de-
mands for the abolition of all state
vagrancy laws. the garnishee law,
farm board and subsidiary organiza-
tons, marketing act, lower prices
on farm equipment and fertilizer, a
law prohibiting sheriff sales of real
estate for delinquent taxes, an in
come tax levy on incomes OF more
than $1,000, fve-year moratorium
on farm mortgage foreclosures and