The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-12-02
John Rose, Sixty Years
Old, Pledges Life to
Farm Struggles
BY SASHA SMALL


CHTCAGO-'I spent 81 days be-
hind the bars, but I'm back on the
lines now and I'm gonna stay there,
John Rose, 60-year-old Michigan
farmer, told the Second National
Farmers Conference in Chicago here
today.
ST wish I had the ability Of an In
gersoll to tell you about this work.
I was arrested at a foreclosure. We
Of the Michigan Farmers League
came down to see how we could stop
It. walked right up to one of the
thugs, who, after they couldn't get
bids from the farmers present, pulled
sealed bid out Of his pocket and
said to him: why call sale when
the place is already sc'|?' 'C2~+ ~-----'
from here he says to me, If you
don't want to get hurt I'm a Co.
Gen. I says to him, and I got d
right to be here"
First thing I know he takes a
swing at me and all around they
started coming down on all the farm
ers around with blackjacks. Well, I
grabbed one Of them and put him on
the seat Of his pants, but then I got
some tear gas right in my eye and
all Of our people sort of got scat
tered and then the next thing I was
behind the bars.
Lawyers Refuse TO Aid
while I was in Jail some lawyers
came around and said they were from
the International Labor Defense.
didn't know what this was then, so
asked my wife when she came to
see me, to go and ask some other
lawyers from around home whether
they would take my case. One of
them she went to, J. Reber, said no
right off. The second one, Bren-
stronl, found out later he was q
corporation lawyer for the Con-
sumers Power Co. that owns Nawaygo
County, promised to come and see
me, but he never showed up. When
I got out went to see him and
asked him why he hadn't come. He
told me: We'll, you see, I'm an Of
ficer Of the court Now I knew I'm
my % years on the Chicago police
force and my thousands of times in
court that such an excuse meant
nothing. 7 said to him: TIL tell you
the real reason. You are of the
master class and you think I'm dog
that needs to be kept down
II know what the International
Labor Defense is now and believe me
that's the right organization to de-
fend farmers and workers"
Was On Police Force
John Rose was born on a farm in
Minnesota and for the first 20 years
Of his life he worked on It. After
that ne did all kinds of things. He
was steam engineer on farm ma
cninery, he worked on railroads, and
finally in 1907 he Joined the Chicago
police force. In 1929 he went back
to farming. He bought his place out
right for s1.2oo-12o acres-and, as he
says, What do raise? Hell-what
can you raise. I tried to raise poul-
try. But I couldn't sell an ounce of
1t. I was offered cents pound
by a man who sold it for Is cents
over his counter. haven't made s100
on that farm of mine, but u have
paid SGT In taxes
The jury who tried him after he
was arrested on March is, 1888, was
hand picked from the most reaction
airy farmers in the neighborhood.
"They are mortgaged to the gills
but they are as reactionary as hell.
That's why they are picked by the
township supervisors who must rec
ornmend them before they become
jurors. That's not part of the law,
but that's what happens In Newaygo
County. One Of the witnesses, a boy
Of 10, named Raymond Hoeg, told
IN q dance hall some weeks after the
trial that he had been paid $40 to
testify against me-"
Like the other neighbors, he had
been told that Rose was a red who
got orders from Russia, and it was
everyone's patriotic duty to put him
out of business. This red stuff was
played up by all the local newspapers.