Thursday May 24, 1906
Report from Boise: First of Five Part Series by Jacob Waldeck

JUSTICE, OR A CASE OF
RAILROADING TO GALLOWS?
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Trial in Idaho of Moyer, Haywood and Pettibone,
Western Miners' Federation Officials Charged With
the Murder of Ex-Gov. Steunenberg, Will Be
Memorable-Power of State and Mine Owners Allied
Against the Men-Strong Feeling Over the Country.

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(Note-Jacob Waldeck, the well known correspondent, than whom there is no more reliable in the country, has been in Idaho for some time investigating for this newspaper [The Spokane Press] all the circumstances before and since the murder of ex-Governor Steunenberg, for which three high officials of the Western Federation of Labor have been arrested. Mr. Waldeck inquired into both sides of the now famous case, and in five articles, of which the following is the first, he will present the facts and the situation truthfully and impartially just as he found them.

The trial of Moyer, Haywood and Pettibone begins in July, and the story of Correspondent Waldeck is not only timely, but will be found instructive to the newspaper reader who expects to follow the news dispatches of the trial.-Editor)

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By Jacob Waldeck.
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BOISE, Idaho, May 16.-It is clear enough now, if there ever was doubt, that the trial of Moyer, Haywood and Pettibone, of the Western Federation of Miners, on the charge of murdering former Governor Frank Steunenberg, will be one of the most memorable in the history of the country. Its influence will be national.

The outcome, if justice is done all concerned, will prove that three leaders in a great labor organization are guilty of plotting in cold blood assassination foul as ever perpetrated or that they are victims, because of being labor leaders, of a conspiracy wicked and dangerous as has ever been contrived against American citizens.

Organized labor and organized capital, at least of this section of the country, will be on trial.

Both sides have gone to the limit in ingenuity and expense in preparing for the trial. Every corner of the mining regions is being ransacked for evidence. The careers and associations of the leading figures are being thoroughly investigated.

The power of the state and the system of the mineowners are arrayed against the resources of the federation.

Few issues in this country have aroused such intense and widespread public interest. Much of this is perfectly natural, and some has been encouraged by partisans of the contending interests.

Word that comes here from all parts of the country seems to indicate that, in behalf of the prisoners, there has been aroused a feeling almost strong enough to form the basis of a revolution. Great numbers of men see in the kidnaping of the prisoners from Colorado (for it was virtually kidnaping, whether or not it was within the form of law), a case of "railroading to tho gallows" because the prisoners are union men and Socialists. Their suspicion is based, too, on the character of the evidence, so far as it has been made public, and the fact that it has been gathered through the agency of the mineowners the bitter foes of the federation.

On the other side no opportunity is lost to impress on the public mind, in advance of trial, a conviction of the absolute guilt of the prisoners. The charge of an "inner circle" in the miners' federation to give the members graft and great power and by terrorism to swell the influence of the organization has been published everywhere. The killings that have marked the warfare between the miners and mineowners during more than a dozen years are charged against this secret "inner circle," and the prisoners are declared to be the controlling power in the circle. They are classed with the "Molly Maguires," who were destroyed largely through the work of the Pinkerton detective who has a leading part in securing the evidence in the present case. This statement is made and emphasized that evidence held in reserve by the state will not only convict the prisoners, but will cause a profound shock throughout the country.

So there's a trial by public sentiment while the plans for the other trial are going forward.

There is a colony of private detectives quartered in this city. They make frequent trips to the mines in this state, Utah and Colorado, on trips that promise to produce evidence. Attorneys for the defense have been shadowed day and night on their trips through, these states. It is barely possible too, that they are keeping tab or their opponents. The sleuths art in many guises.

The trial of Mover, Haywood and Pettibone will begin at Caldwell,unless there should be a change, of venue, July 15. It may be a few days before or a few days after that date. They are held in the county jail in this city. Orchard and Adams, the two prisoners who have made confessions and will be used as witnesses by the state, are at the state penitentiary, which is also in this city.

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(Waldeck's second article, to be published tomorrow, will tell of the Russian like hardships endured by Moyer, Haywood and Pettibone in the prisons of Idaho.-Editor.)

SOURCE
The Spokane Press
(Spokane, Washington)
-May 16, 1906,
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88085947/1906-05-16/ed-1/seq-4/

IMAGES
All images from source above:
-HMP, Orchard & Adams, Waldeck 1, Spokane Press, May 16, 1906
-HMP, Moyer, Waldeck 1, Spokane Press, May 16, 1906
-HMP, Haywood, Waldeck 1, Spokane Press, May 16, 1906
-HMP, Pettibone, Waldeck 1, Spokane Press, May 16, 1906

See also:

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

Stand by Me - Tracy Chapman