You ought to be out raising hell. This is the fighting age. Put on your fighting clothes.
-Mother Jones
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Wednesday May 26, 1915
Trinidad, Colorado - Robert Uhlich Acquitted of Murder in Death of Mack Powell
COLORADO JUSTICE
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Although we welcome the news that Brother Uhlich has been acquitted of murder in the death of Brother Mack Powell, we would point out that no acquittal can ever restore to Uhlich the many long months that he has spent in that filthy jail in Trinidad. The news accounts below state that Mack Powell was a cowboy. We will remind our readers that Brother Powell was a union miner who was working as a cowboy and was shot off his horse by mine guards when these guards attacked the Ludlow Tent Colony in October of 1913.
From the El Paso Herald of May 22, 1915:
UHLICH WOULD PROVE ALIBE AS DEFENCE AGAINST CHARGE
Trinidad,Colo., May 22.-Denial that he was at Ludlow on Oct.9, the day that Mack Powell was shot and killed, and that he took any part in the battle between strikers and deputies, was made on the witness stand this morning by Robert Uhlich, on trial for his life. The testimony of the defendant, which was short, balanced the testimony to establish a complete alibi offered by a number of witnesses Friday.
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From the El Paso Herald of May 24, 1915:
UHLICH MURDER CASE GOES TO THE JURY
Trinidad, Colo., May 24.-Two and a half hours of argument this morning to be followed by four hours of argument this afternoon was to conclude the trial of Robert Uhlich, former president of the Trinidad Miners' union, on trial for his life for the murder of Mack Powell, a noncombatant, during a battle between strikers and deputies on Oct. 9, 1913.
The case will go to the jury late this afternoon.
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From the El Paso Herald of May 25, 1915:
UHLICH IS ACQUITTED OF CHARGE OF MURDER
Trinidad, Colo., May 25.-On the jury's first ballot, Robert Uhlich, a union leader, was acquitted Monday night of a charge of murder of Mack Powell, a cowboy, Oct. 9, 1913. Powell was killed in a fight between mine guards and strikers near Ludlow during the coal strike.
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THE APPEAL TO REASON ON JOHN R. LAWSON
From the Appeal of May 22, 1915
John R. vs. John D.
John Lawson with Louie Tikas
at Ludlow
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John R. Lawson is under sentence for life in the Colorado prison.
John D. Rockefeller is playing golf at his Tarrtyown links, carefree and happy.
John R. Lawson led the miners at Ludlow.
John D. Rockefeller led the murderous militia and gunmen at Ludlow.
That is the difference between John R. And John D.
The reason John D. is enjoying liberty and John R. is suffering incarceration is that former controls the channels of public information and the latter does not. The Rockefellers dominate the plutocratic press and thus poison the minds of the people against the Lawsons and the Quinlans and all the men who fight for labor and liberty. Not until the workers stand solidly behind their own press will life and freedom be secure in this country.
In Colorado 82 men are in prison awaiting trial for their participation in the recent coal mining strike. Serious charges have been framed up against these men. They will get the same dose of capitalist justice as Lawson received unless the people of Colorado learn the truth about the workers' side of this struggle. The APPEAL is ready to tell them the truth if you will pay for putting the names of Colorado voters on our mailing list. This is the need of the hour....
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UNION TO PROTEST LAWSON CONVICTION
From The Washington Post of May 24, 1915:
PROTESTS BY MINERS' UNIONS
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Organizations Throughout Country to Take Up
Colorado Strike Convictions.
James Lord
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Meetings of miners' organizations throughout the United States will be held to protest the conviction of John R. Lawson, Louis Zancanelli and others implicated in the Colorado strike last year. This news has been received here by James Lord, president of the mining department of the American Federation of Labor, in a communication from the international executive board of mine workers.
The board adopted resolutions at a recent meeting declaring that the conduct of the cases against these men shows that they were convicted without evidence and on testimony of men employed by the coal companies.
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CHARGES DROPPED AGAINST W. F. of M. LEADERS IN MICHIGAN
Readers of Hellraisers will remember this story from December 27, 1913:
Charles Moyer in hospital.
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Last night at about 8:30 p.m. Sheriff Cruse and a "committee" paid a visit to the Scott Hotel in Hancock. They went to the room of Charles Moyer, President of the Western Federation of Miners. The "committee" was determined that the leaders of the W. F. of M. should reconsider their refusal to accept any donations from the Citizens' Alliance to the families of the victims of the Italian Hall Massacre. Mr. Moyer remained adamant that donations from the Citizens' Alliance amounted to blood money and that the union would bury it's own dead.
No sooner had this "committee" left the room than a mob burst into the room. They began to beat Moyer and also Charles Tanner who was there with him. A gun was used to beat Moyer over the head which discharged during the assault. Moyer was shot in the shoulder. Moyer and Tanner were dragged out of the Hotel and down the street to the train station in Houghton. At the Houghton-Hancock bridge they were threatened with hanging, and shown a noose brought for that purpose.
The kidnappers put Moyer and Tanner on the Chicago train. Deputy Sheriff Hensley and Deputy McKeever were assigned to accompany the deportees. The deputies wore their Citizens' Alliance buttons right next to their deputy badges for all to see.
The train stopped briefly in Milwaukee, and reporters were able to get the story from Moyer and Tanner. The reporters also witnessed Moyers' "pillow and bed linen were soiled with blood from wounds in his scalp and back."
Not one of the mob involved in this brutal crime was ever charged, let alone convicted of the kidnapping and assault upon Charles Moyer even though the crime had many witnesses. Yet the union leaders soon found themselves under indictment simply for performing their duties as union leaders. We are pleased to report that that indictment has been dropped. However, the money and time spent fighting the indictment will never be repaid.
From the Duluth Labor World of May 22, 1915:
DROP INDICTMENTS AGAINST LABOR MEN
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C. H. Moyer and 37 Others Will Not Be Prosecuted
for Alleged Copper Strike Conspiracy.
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CALUMET, Mich., May 21.-The conspiracy indictment found against President C. H. Moyer and 18 other officials of the Western Federation of Miners, by the Houghton county grand jury a year ago, as a result of charges of violence brought against them by corporation sympathizers and union haters have been dropped by Judge P. H. O'Brien in the Baraga county circuit court at Lanse, on motion of Prosecutor W. J. Galbraith of Houghton county.
The indictment, which was so worded as to charge a misdemeanor was returned Jan. 15, 1914, and contained three counts. The first and second counts alleged that President Moyer and 27 other officials and members of the union had conspired to prevent employes of mining companies affected by the strike, from pursuing their lawful vocations. The third count alleged that the conspiracy extended to an attempt to deprive the laborers generally of their property rights.
Among the 28 men indicted were C. E. Mahoney, vice president of the Western Federation of Miners, and Guy Miller, J. C. Lowney, W. P. Davidson and Yanko Terzich, members of the council of the union. The other defendants were officers and members of the four locals into which the federation's Michigan organization was divided.
The case was early transfered from Houghton county in which the indictment was returned, to Bargara county on the plea of the union's attorneys that the citizens of the mining country were prejudiced against the organization which conducted the strike. It was set for trial at the May 1914 term of court, but postponed at the request of the prosecution. Meanwhile, the strike had ended. The decision to drop the prosecution was said to have been one of the first decisions of the new county administration elected last autumn.
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SOURCES
El Paso Herald
(El Paso, Texas)
-May 22, 1915
http://www.newspapers.com/...
-May 24, 1915
http://www.newspapers.com/...
-May 25, 1915
http://www.newspapers.com/...
Appeal to Reason
(Girard, Kansas)
-May 22, 1915
http://www.newspapers.com/...
The Washington Post
(Washington, District of Columbia)
-May 24, 1915
http://www.newspapers.com/...
The Labor World
(Duluth, Minnesota)
-May 22, 1915
http://www.newspapers.com/...
IMAGES
Colorado Justice
http://dlib.nyu.edu/...
John R Lawson with Louie Tikas during the strike.
http://ludlowsymposium.wordpress.com/...
James Lord of the UMWA, head of AFL Mining Department
http://www.flickr.com/...
Charles Moyer in Hospital
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
WFM Seal, July 1912 Convention Proceedings
https://books.google.com/...
See also:
DK search: Uhlich + JayRaye
http://www.dailykos.com/...
The International Socialist Review, Volume 14
-ed by Algie Martin Simons, Charles H. Kerr
Charles H. Kerr & Company, July 1913-June 1914
http://books.google.com/...
ISR February 1914
https://books.google.com/...
"The Miners' War in Colorado" by George N. Falconer
https://books.google.com/...
The Railroad Worker, Volume 13
(Chicago, Illinois)
American Federation of Railroad Workers, 1915
TRW of Nov 1915
https://books.google.com/...
"The Lawson Case."
https://books.google.com/...
TRW of Dec 1915
https://books.google.com/...
"The Lawson Case" (continued)
https://books.google.com/...
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Which Side Are You On? - Tom Morello: The Nightwatchman
Across this great old nation
Tell me whatcha gonna do
When there's one law for the rulers
And one law for the ruled?
-Florence Reese/Tom Morello
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WE NEVER FORGET
Mack Powell