Evening star., 1944-07-30
BY CARTER BROOKE JONES.

Around IS persons concerned di
rectly in the sedition case pause,
gratefully for rest today, with tn
18th week of the mass trial benin,
them, and the end nowhere il
sight.
Countless others not remotely con-
ilected with the celebrated cas-
wonder about it-how 1t happene,
to be, what it's all about and wher
it's headed, If anywhere.
Lawyers who have dropped int.
the trial out of casual interest ar
advising others to take a look a
it. explaining that it's like nothini
they've ever seen or are likely II
see again.
Much UNIFORMED Talk.
Much of the talk about the cas-,
heard around town is uninformed-
based on sketchy reading or sketch
ier discussion-and hence exagger-
ated one way or another. But attor-
neys engaged on both sides agree
that the trial has unprecedented as.
poets and, if any of the defendants
are convicted is likely to cover 6
volume of future appellate court
decisions, whatever the final out.
come.
There are, at the moment, 2e
defendants, and their trial began
in District Court April II. o. John
Rogge and Joseph w. Burns, special
prosecutors from the Justice De-
partment, when pressed recently by
defense counsel to say how much
longer it would take them to pre-
sent the Governments case. told
Chief Justice Edward c. Eichel
they were unable even to estimate
The best Government counsel
could do yesterday was to express
the hope, unofficially, that theil
case would be in by the end of the
year. How long the defense will
take, assuming that Justice Eiche1
overrules the 26 motions for di-
rected verdict certain to be made
at the close of prosecution testi-
mony, is entirely a matter of con-
lecture. 1t depends on how many
witnesses and how many documents
each defense attorney offers-some
thing none could even predict at
this time, since it depends so largely
on what the Government brings out
against each defendant. And then
there are the hazards to which any
proceeding of such length is SUBJ
taNf SYYph illnncc u-nich oil RI
has delayed the trial more than
once. And the legal fates, which
could produce a happening that
would cause the case to collapse in
a mistrial
May Set Record.
If the case runs its full course. ii
undoubtedly will be one of the long
est jury trials in American juris-
prudence, perhaps the longest, say
the attorneys. And the case conse-
quently confronts the participants
defendants. lawyers, jurors and wit
nesses-with special problems, some
merely vexing, others of serious
concern.
why" asks the average citizen
did the Government insist on
dragging all these people into court
at the same time? What's the sense
in holding a mass trial?"
The answer to that, they'll tell
you at the Justice Department, is
that this is conspiracy case, and
it's almost impossible to prove a
conspiracy by trying each of the
alleged conspirators separately. Evil
dence admissible at a mass trial
often would be ruled out if brought
against single defendant There
would be, moreover, the virtually
endless task of bringing in some of
the same witnesses against each of
the accused at separate trial. The
Government has promised to prove
that the District of Columbia was
a focal point in the asserted con-
spiracy and thus there is venue
for the case.
IWW Trial Recalled.
This is not. by any means, the
first mass trial held in America, nor
is it the first to take place in a
Federal Court. 1t is not the largest.
Probably the most notable in re-
cent history was the IWW indus
trial Workers of the World trial
in Chicago during the last war.
There, in Federal Court l01 men
we're placed on trial at one time
before Judge Kenesaw Mountain
Lands. now high commissioner of
baseball. The small army of de-
tendants faced charges of con-
spiracy and individual deeds in vio-
lation of the Espionage Act of 1917.
The charges in the indictment in
cluded obstructing the draft, inter-
fering with war production, sab
otage, distributing literature in
tended to cause characterization
among the armed forces and using
the mails for such purposes.
The trial began April l, 1918, and
lasted five months. The jury, after
celebrating only SIS minutes. found
e5 defendants guilty as charged.
Sentences ranged up to 20 years.
Big Bill Haywood, the IWW lead
er, and eight of his associates
Jumped bail and fled to Russia
where Haywood died. In December
1923, President Coolidge pardoned
the defendants still in prison.
Many Dry Conspiracy Trials.
During the late prohibition era
there were liquor conspiracy cases
in which more than 100 defendants
were tried at once. Despite the un-
wieldy nature of such mass trials
and the voluminous testimony re-
quired, most of them passed into
judicial history in an orderly way
and were not upset by appellate
courts merely because so many per-
sons were placed in jeopardy simul-
taneously.
In the present cause celebre" 2s
men and 2 women were placed Or
trial on a conspiracy indictment
containing a single count, which
charges intent and plans to under
mine the loyalty of the armed forces
and incite them to mutiny. The
defendants are charged, not with
violating the 1917 act, which con-
tanned provision specifically for