The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-11-22
Continued from Page y

liams and said that it forced him t
discredit much of the other testimon
made by these persons. "On the othe
hand" he continued:
THE state has offered a great man
affldavits. They are so numerous ant
are entitled TO such consideration be
cause they are made by residents il
Decatur, that it overwhelrnS any proc
offered by the defendants. do no
feel justified in overriding that vol
luminous testimony"
As though in a melodrnmatic the
atrical scene where the stage is set
and lighting effects are brought to
bear upon the stage TO emphasize
what is happening, the threatening
clouds that had been hanging over
Decatur all day seemed to grow
denser. The court room grew dark.
Lights had to be switched on, and
while the Judge continued with his
address a terrific storm swept over
the town and beat furiously upon
the windows.
I'm the application" the judge con-
tinued, undis5urbed, There is much
said about troops and the necessity
of having them in Scottsboro and in
Decatur. The trial in Scottsboro was
in the spring of 1881 and about rs
mics from here"
There isn't any evidence before me
that there was any necessity for
troops at Scottsboro except that they
were there. I have no evidence to
show that the change Of venue
granted from there to Decatur was
for any other reason than that it
was granted. 1t has not been shown
that there is any feeling against the
defendants. AS to troops, I am not
blind to present surroundings. l can
not see anything here now or any
thing that has happened since this
trial started yesterday which shows
any necessity for troops then or now
There are allegations of attempted
mob violence at the trial this spring
I have no evidence Of that before me
the motion for a change of venue
The appearance of the Interna-
tional Labor Defense attorneys in
court yesterday in defiance Of the
openly voiced threats to kill them
and the Scottsboro boys seems to
have broken the tension which caused
everyone in court to expect killings
any moment.
Only Patterson Brought in Court
When court opened this morning
at $50 to resume hearing evidence on
the defense motion for a change of
venue there were about 100 spectators
waiting to get seats in contrast with
the jams that stood about during the
spring trial. Nevertheless, the court
seems to have information that
though everything is seemingly peace
full. attempts to kill the defense at
torneys and the defendants may be
made, for every person entering the
court room is still ''frisked." Only
one person at time is permitted to
pass through the doors.
yesterday afternoon trying to enter
,the court room with a loaded revolver
his possession was released. The
I'm was not loaded. The sheriff ex-
l;aiaed che had brought a pistol to
own with hi.n to s-vap and when he
pproached the doors he told the
deputy on guard he had it on him,
so nothing was done to him.
The deputy vino found him with
the pistol told this reporter that the
gun was loaded and that the man had
been jailed. 1t is obvious that to
have jailed man trying to enter
with loaded revolver would have
been first rate evidence for the de-
lenses claim for change Of venue
and the officials here do not want this
. to happen. When the two mob move
nentS to lynch the Scottsboro boys
and their attorneys last spring oc-
Cured, the officials also denied it
though some privately admitted it.
Such happenings snow too clearly the
sentiment in the county and would
substantiate the defense's claims.
When the motion for a change of
venue was re-opened in court this
morning the attorney general played
what seemed to be his trump card
when he presented evidence that four
OF the persons named by Victor ELL
wood and Chas. Williams in the de-
Tense afidaVitS as having made
threats against the defendant and
their attorneys had died before the
Scottsboro cases were transferred to
Decatur. The attorney-general tried
TO impress the court with this in a
melodramstic plea for bench war
rants for the arrest of the signers on
CHARGES Of perjury.
Cite Threatening Statements
Judge Callahan refused to issue the
bench warrants. 1t was pointed out
that the names OF the relatives living
in the house might still be on the
door bells and the investigators might
have taken that down when they
watched the person they talked to
enter given house. In addition
there still remained almost 500 other
persons who are said to have made
threatening statements and these
were not dead. Most of the morning
session was taken up by knight call
ing to the stand A. s. Blackwell, pro-
bate clerk, and w. T. Willoushby
A chief deputy sheriff of Morgan
County.
Both men are quoted in the de-
tense affidavits as having made
Threatening statements. Both denied
hat they had ever said the state
sents attributed to them, which the
court seemed to expect, since they
could not very well get up and ad-
NIT it in open court.
The prosecution, to counteract the
thick pile Of affidavits showing mob
sentiment and threats in the county,
countered this morning by presenting
batch of affidavits from citizens
swearing that everything is peaceful
and they had never heard soul
breath word against either the Ne
oroeS or qttOrneVS One affidavit i'm 10