Monday April 9, 1906
Boise, Idaho - George H. Shoaf Reports for Appeal to Reason

The past few issues of the Appeal to Reason have been devoted almost exclusively to the frame-up, now unfolding in Idaho, of the officials of the Western Federation of Miners. George H. Shoaf is on the ground in Idaho, having been sent there as a special correspondent. Yesterday's, Hellraisers featured Shoaf's reporting from the April 7th edition of the Appeal of which we presented part one. Today we concluded with part two.

George H. Shoaf Reports from Idaho, Part II:

Firm Determination of the Mine Owners to Railroad
the Federation Officials to the Gallows
Plainly Apparent.
-----
By George H. Shoaf, Staff Correspondent.

BOISE, Idaho, March 28....

[At the conclusion of Part I of this article we left Charles Moyer, President of the Western Federation of Miners, very ill, held in solitary confinement at the Idaho State Penitentiary and at the mercy of the Pinkerton Detective, James McParland...]

McPARTLAND HIS ONLY COMPANION.

No, it was decided at the conference [between officials of the state of Idaho and the Pinkerton Detective] that he [Moyer] should not be corporeally mistreated. He would merely be locked in a narrow, dark cell and left to his own thoughts and the agonizing pain of trying to catch his breath. McPartland [McParland] should visit him occasionally to inform him that his fortune was made if he will sign a certain confession admitting that the "inner circle" [of the W. F. of M.] existed, and that Orchard was its tool. McPartland would further inform him that the working class, in whose interests he had sacrificed the best portion of his life, had deserted him and had left him to his fate, and that, innocent or guilty, he was going to hang, unless he chose to save himself, and incidentally make a good round sum of money, by signing the confession. Such were the tactics that [Judge] Smith, [Governor] Gooding and McPartland decided to inaugurate to strengthen the state's side of the case. It was believed that physical pain added to the confinement would finally break Moyer's mind, and that he would at last consent to attach his signature to the document. That done he would be dispatched in his cell as soon as prison conditions, combined with slow poison, could accomplish the work.

JUDGE SMITH'S DECISION.

Ten o'clock, Tuesday morning, March 20th, Judge Smith ascended the bench in the court room in Caldwell, prepared to spring the alternative on the unsuspecting defense. Before doing this, however, he answered the petitioner's application for bail by denying the application. He overruled the demurrer, and then proceeded to the business in hand. Meanwhile the prisoners pleaded "not guilty."

[Judge Smith then announced:]

Mr. Richardson...I have taken considerable pains to find out prison conditions in the county jails in this district and I discover that they are all unsanitary and unsafe places in which to hold your clients. At my own expense I went all the way from here to Boise to see the warden of the state penitentiary and ascertain from him whether or not it was practicable to keep the prisoners there pending trial. He informed me that he would like to see the men returned to the state penitentiary. He said that he would give them better treatment than he has hitherto accorded them, and would put them apart to themselves where no one would molest them or make them afraid.

SMITH'S BOGUS FEARS.

The reason I am making this statement is that the men must be taken from their present place of confinement. I have been reliably informed that an attempt would be made to rescue them by their friends. It is said, also, that they are in danger of their lives at the hands of the citizens of this community. The Canyon County jail [at Caldwell], as you well know, is a flimsy affair and could be kicked to pieces with very little effort. For these reasons I must say that it will be necessary to carry the men back to the penitentiary, or else they will have to be separated and placed in separate jails. You can take your choice. Please retire a few moments and talk the matter over with your clients, and let me know which they prefer-the penitentiary together, or separate confinement in different jails.

IMMEDIATE TRIAL REFUSED.

A cool, cynical smile pervaded the countenance of the judge as he hit the defense this unexpected blow. Attorney Richardson was visibly disconcerted, and Haywood half rose in his seat as if he was going to speak. The words of Judge Smith were so sudden and so entirely unexpected that for a moment the court room was still as death. But at length, the attorneys withdrew to an anteroom to confer with the prisoners. At the expiration of about five minutes they re-entered and took their seats.

"If it please your honor," began Attorney Richardson, "my clients have been arraigned and have pleaded not guilty to the charge against them. We demand an immediate trial."

Judge Smith was not asleep.

In a quiet tone he replied: "That request, Mr. Richardson, cannot be complied with. This court is about to adjourn. Next Tuesday a term of court in my district convenes at Weiser. The jury for this term has been paid off and discharged."

"Then I wish to make a re-application for an order admitting my clients to bail in the face of your refusing to give them an immediate trial," announced Richardson.

"I would suggest that you present your application in the regular manner," replied the court.

"I will do so" replied Mr. Richardson, "but I would like your decision upon it now, if your honor please."

"Your application is denied," announced Judge Smith.

"Each of my clients desire to preserve an exception," said Richardson. The necessary instructions were given the clerk.

PROSECUTIONS'S FIRST CARD.

[Said Mr. Richardson:]

Now, in the matter of the penitentiary...each and every one of my clients vote strongly against being removed to that institution. They are satisfied with the jail here and object to being taken anywhere, but, as your honor has announced that if they will not consent to be taken to the penitentiary you will see that they are separated and that one of them only shall be allowed to remain here, I wish to petition the court that the man who is to remain here be Mr. Moyer.

Mr. Moyer has for years been subject to asthma. He has for years been in poor health. The climate of Idaho does not agree with him. He became very sick while at the penitentiary. Had he remained longer in that institution I have no doubt he would be a dead man today. Since his exchange to the jail here he has much improved. He is getting better. He wants to stay here.

"Mr. Richardson," replied the court, "the jail of Ada County is just as sanitary as the jail here. The conveniences for caring for Mr. Moyer are as good there as here." Then turning to the sheriff Judge Smith continued: "Mr. Sheriff, notify Mr. Moyer to be ready to depart on the noon train for Boise. He is to be transferred to the county jail of Ada County for safe keeping. Which one of the prisoners of the two remaining are to be taken to Weiser I will decide tomorrow morning. Is there any other business to present, gentleman?"

EVERYTHING PRE-ARRANGED.

The entire transaction was dispatched with such celerity and machine-like precision that the crowded court room didn't grasp the significance of the affair until it was all over and the spectators had filed onto the sidewalk outside. It was then realized why the order of the judge went forth.

Sheriff Nicholls had been too lenient in his treatment of the men. They had been accorded too many privileges. They were living next door to sunshine and fresh air. Through the window grates of the little jail they could see the town, the prairie and the foothills beyond . In the morning it was their delight to watch the sun rise, and in the evening late they had been accustomed to bid his slanting rays a last good night. These blessings were hateful to the Mine Owners' association and the state authorities, and they determined to strike them out. It was hoped by the prosecution that Richardson would fall into the trap and consent to the return of the prisoners to the penitentiary in solitary confinement in unwholesome cells. To lure the men into the trap the court made all manner of precious promises. Judge Smith assured the prisoners that they would be given plenty of exercise and would be treated better than they were during their former imprisonment.

EVADED THE CONNING TRAP.

But the men knew the treachery of Judge Smith's words. They knew he was lying in everything he said. Behind that smiling exterior they could see the villain standing with the whip-lash of persecution ready to apply it to their bare and bleeding backs. They had tried his promises once, and found and experienced treatment worse than any thing meted out to condemned felons. With an unanimous "No," they decided to submit to separation rather than undergo further brutality at the hands of the cowardly warden of the penitentiary.

NO MERCY FOR MOYER.

Prepared for this emergency, Judge Smith immediately gave the order, in the face of Attorney Richardson's eloquent plea for Moyer, that the president of the Western Federation of Miners make ready to leave for the Ada County jail on the noon train. The order was executed forthwith, and Moyer, today, lies incarcerated in a cell in the town of Boise, subject to the visitation of the fiendish monster who swears that he shall never leave Idaho alive.

PROSECUTIONS HOPE IN DELAY.

Before court adjourned the question of the time of the trial was taken up and considered a moment. The attorneys for the defense pleaded and demanded a speedy trial. The prisoners were anxious and impatient to have the whole thing over as soon as possible. But in the face of the fact that Judge Smith had it is his power to send a substitute to attend to the Washington County court and proceed to a hearing of the Federation case at once, he announced that it would be impossible for him to get to the trial of Moyer, Haywood and Pettibone before May 15. "Any time between May 15th and September 1st. of the current year," was the decision of the court in the matter. From the present outlook it appears that the case will go to trial about June 1st. Judge Smith had not received his instructions when to set the trial, so he could render nothing definite on that proposition. If an immediate trial were granted McPartland's game of harassing and sweating Moyer would be broken into and that could not be tolerated at this time......

Shoaf continues the article by describing the composition of the jury at Caldwell as most unfavorable to the defense. He also predicts that, with the beginning of the trial, the Pinkerton Agent, McParland, will import thugs into the community to create chaos, thereby forcing Governor Gooding to declare martial law. Shoaf ends his reporting for the week on this gloomy note:

CALDWELL FOR FAIR PLAY.

I have been in this district nearly three weeks. I have conversed with hundreds of citizens of all classes....I have watched the legal processes already experimented with, and have studied the situation as carefully as I could, and in the light of my investigations I can see nothing left for the American working class to do but to get ready to celebrate the martyrdom of the three men who have been falsely charged with crime. The sentiment of the community is clearly for justice and fair play, but the Mine Owners' association of the two states-an organization of wealth and power that could buy this community a thousand times over-is for the death penalty. The state officials and the prosecuting attorneys and the petit jury are going to over-ride public sentiment in this matter by seeing that the commands of the Mine Owners' association are obeyed.

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[Photographs added.]

SOURCE
Appeal to Reason
(Girard, Kansas)
-Apr 7, 1906
https://www.newspapers.com/image/66993864/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/66993869

IMAGES
From the AtR:
-Jack London on Haywood Moyer, AtR, Apr 7, 1906
-Appeal to Reason, Apr 7, 1906
https://www.newspapers.com/image/66993864/
James McParland, Pinkerton Detective, Darrow Collection
http://darrow.law.umn.edu/photo.php?pid=371
Haywood-Moyer-Pettibone Case, Attorney Edmund F Richardson of Denver, at Boise, May 11, 1907
http://darrow.law.umn.edu/photo.php?pid=832
George H Shoaf, p.391, Common Cause, Vol 2, 1912
https://books.google.com/books/reader?id=Q_E-AQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcove...

See also:

Hellraisers Journal: George Shoaf of Appeal to Reason: Frame-up of Haywood & Moyer Is Complete
http://caucus99percent.com/content/hellraisers-journal-george-shoaf-appe...

C99 Tag: Haywood-Moyer-Pettibone Case
http://caucus99percent.com/tags/haywood-moyer-pettibone-case

The Cripple Creek Strike
-by Emma Florence Langdon
Denver, 1904-05
http://www.rebelgraphics.org/wfmhall/langdon00.html
Appendix, April 1908
-Coverage of Haywood-Moyer-Pettibone Case
http://www.rebelgraphics.org/wfmhall/langdon29.html#dedication

The Darrow Collection, Haywood Trial
http://darrow.law.umn.edu/trials.php?tid=3