The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1935-10-11
Continued from last week)
The Sacramento Conspiracy

With the union on the run, the
Associated set out to insure super
profits by Kidding themselves per-
manently of the outstanding union
leaders. On April "a, 1884, the dis
trict attorney of Sacramento Co.
unity hired private detectives-to
whom the taxpayers had to pay
$7,500-to spy on union leaders
and "reds." Under cover of an an
TIRED" hysteria worked up bv the
Industrial Association during the
San Francisco general strike, the
Associated ordered the police to
raid the union office late in July.
The police seized it's files and jailed
for "vagrancy" workers arrested
at a committee meeting and in
their own homes. The arrested in
cluded Pat Chambers the unions
State Organizer; Caroline Decker,
its Secretary; active unionists such
as Jack Warwick and Norman Mini
and fourteen others: Nora Conklin,
Lorine Norman, Jack Crane, Mar
tin Wilson, AL Hougarty, Harry
Collentz, Lee Hung, Mike Plesch,
A. G. Ford, Fred Kirkwood, Donald
Bigham, Luther Mincy, w. H. Huff
fine and John Fisher. The Sacra-
mento criminal syndicalism" con-
spiracy was ready for Matching!
But what is +" criminal syndica-
lism?"
In 1919, when war hysteria made
vast sections of people subject to
reactionary agitation, a law was
passed in California and other sta
ties making criminal syndicalism"
punishable by a term in states
prison. The law defines criminal
syndicalism" as follows:
"Any doctrine or precept advo-
eating, teaching, or aiding and
abetting the commission of crime,
sabotage (Which word is hereby de
fined as meaning wilful and malic-
ious physical damage or injury to
physical property, or unlawful
acts of force or violence or unlaw-
full methods of terrorism as g
means of accomplishing a change
of industrial ownership or control
or effecting any political change
Between 1919 and 1924, 504 Cali
fornians were arrested and 264
tried under this law. Defendants
generally testified in their own be-
half that they belonged to the /
WV. But, says ex-Warden G. w
Kirchwey of Sing Sing in his "Sur
vey Of the Workings of the Crimi
nal Syndicalism Law of California,
"there seems to have been a com
plete lack of legitimate evidence
to establish the unlawful aims o.
the organizations whose crimina
purposes were alleged as the basi
of the persecution" Prosecutor
offered instead framed or irrele
want evidence, propagandized tn
,, juries, and got 164 convictions. Hi
chwey calls the law "an instrumen
of oppression" and it has general
.. ly recognized as merely a mean
of framing union organizers. L
;. 1924 it fell into disuse, but by tina
; time it had served we'll in th
!, drive to smash the 1. w. w.
In 1888 the Associated Farmer
: turned to this labor-hating law t
. smash the new union. To tn
1 charge of vagrancy against the l
arrested Sacramento workers, wa
added a charge of criminal syr
Il dicalism." The conspiracy of en-
: ployers against union leaders wa
y Matched!
= California Justice in Action
n The indictment could not lin
e itself to talk of unions and strike
: and picketing; some jurors migl
h hesitate to call such things "crin
inal syndicalism." Nor could
J. charge acts of violence or sabotae
because none had been committe
i The District Attorney tried to
% wade the difficulty as strike-breal
:, ers and reactionaries always d,
+ by raising a cred" scare. His il
= dictment charged that the defen
70 ants were members of the Comm
e mist Party
- The newspapers shouted for Il
i. conviction of the "reds."
= Soon after indictments were f
- ed, the District Attorney, Mel
e McAllister, who had repeatedly I
- fused to prosecute bank swindlel
= ran for reelection on a program
y putting the "reds" in prison a