I don't want pardon or commutation; that is humiliating.
I want an acquittal by a jury.
-Joe Hill
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Tuesday September 21, 1915
From The Salt Lake Tribune: "Hillstrom is Denied Reprieve by Board" -Part II
Fellow Worker Joe Hill, July 1915
Today we conclude the September 19th article from
The Salt Lake Tribune which describes in detail FW Hill's appearance before the Utah Board of Pardons on September 18th. Joe Hill was denied commutation and is scheduled be put to death by firing squad on October 1st.
Hill steadfastly refused to provide any information regarding how he was shot on January 10, 1914, the same night that J. G. Morrison and his son, Arling, were murdered at the family grocery store in Salt Lake City. Hill continues to demand a new trial, and states that if he were given a fair trial his innocence would be proven.
From The Salt Lake Tribune of September 19, 1915-Part II
Judge Hilton opened the pleas in behalf of Hillstrom. He began by saying that he was as thoroughly convinced of the innocence of Hillstrom as he was of any person in any case with which he had been connected in his long career as a practitioner. In his plea, Mr. Hilton referred to the action of the governor of Georgia in the Leo Frank case. He said in Utah there was opportunity to do as the governor of Georgia had done.
Cites Frank Case.
Here the courts had reviewed the Hillstrom case, said Judge Hilton, just as the courts of Georgia had reviewed the Frank case. The courts of both states had declared the trials legal, he said, yet he believed that had the judges who passed upon the Frank case been the trial jury in the case they would unhesitatingly have found Frank not guilty. Taking this into consideration, he said the governor of Georgia had commuted Frank's sentence in order that it might be possible, from the negro Connolly's lips or otherwise, to learn the truth concerning the revolting murder of the factory girl. The action of the mob in lynching Frank, he said, shut off all opportunity to save the life of an innocent man. In Utah, Judge Hilton suggested, the board of pardons are in the same position as was Governor Slaton of Georgia. It could commute the sentence and gain time, he said, for all the facts in the Hillstrom case to become known, so that there would be no chance of a great injustice being done.
Regrets Threatening Letters.
Judge Hilton said he understood there had been a great deal of correspondence received by the governor relative to the Hillstrom case, and that much of it was of an extremely villainous character. It was needless to say, he suggested, that neither the defendant nor his counsel was in any way accountable for this correspondence. He said that he deeply regretted that this annoying and intimidating correspondence had been received, but he said he trusted that no member of the pardon board would consider that the interests of Hillstrom were in any way prejudiced by reason of these letters.
Circumstantial evidence in a homicidal case, particularly where the penalty is death, he said, was always most dangerous. In the face of a single fact, the attorney said, the greatest case of circumstantial evidence would crumble like a house of cards. He quoted a number of cases where circumstantial evidence which was almost conclusive had convicted men who were afterwards proved to be absolutely innocent. Among such cases he cited the celebrated Pelican point murder case, in which Hayes was convicted and sentenced to be hanged for the murder of three boys on the shore of Utah lake, and at the eleventh hour positive proof was found that absolutely established the innocence of the condemned man.
Question as to Inferences.
Judge Hilton and the members of the supreme court differed as to the inferences which might be drawn from the evidence in the Hillstrom case. He insisted that the supreme court opinion held that inferences of guilt were deducible from the fact that Hillstrom had remained off the stand and had not explained away the circumstances that pointed strangely to him as the Morrison murderer. All three judges of the supreme court, who are also members of the pardon board, hastened to correct the impression under which the attorney was laboring. They declared that their position was that Hillstrom could not avoid the reasonable inferences to be drawn from uncontroverted facts and circumstances as presented by the state, merely by remaining off the stand.
For the prisoner, Attorney Soren X. Christensen was next heard. Mr. Christensen declared that while Hillstrom may have had a lawful trial he did not have a fair trial. He said that the accused was not properly represented by counsel at the trial.
Attorneys Discharged.
The defendant, he said, had discharged his attorneys, Scott and McDougall, and the court appointed them as friends of the court and foisted them upon the defendant. Mr. Christensen said he, himself, was called into the case after it was half over, and attorneys appointed by the court declined to give him any information relative to the theory of the case.
"No self-respecting lawyer would ever continue in a case under any circumstances after his client had discharged him," declared Mr. Christensen.
"No self-respecting lawyer would decline to continue in a case after having been requested to do so by the district court," returned Justice W. M. McCarty, with equal emphasis.
"Well, that's where we differ," said Mr. Christensen.
Mr. Christensen said he was opposed to capital punishment, and particularly was he opposed to capital punishment when the only evidence against a condemned man was circumstances such as those in this case. He asked the board to consider carefully whether it was right to send five murderers out to shoot Hillstrom to death, and if it were right and these men who fired the bullets into the body of the condemned man were to be rated as good citizens, whether or not the members of the board would permit their sons to form the firing squad that would send Hillstrom to eternity.
A Swedish Subject.
It was suggested by Mr. Christensen that while the correspondence received might not give the board much information bearing on the case, it would at least serve to show the great interest taken in the matter throughout the country and impress the board with its importance. He called attention to the fact that Hillstrom was a Swedish subject and said that undoubtedly the Swedish government would take an interest in the case before Hillstrom went to the death chair.
Replying to this phase of Mr. Christensen's argument, Justice McCarty said that the position of the board was that every alien should have exactly the same rights and privileges of American citizen, except of course, those conferred specifically by citizenship, but that every alien as well as every citizen must obey the law or suffer the same consequences for violations of the law as would a citizen. He said that no one could claim any extra rights or privileges by virtue of being an alien.
Leatherwood Speaks.
Following Mr. Christensen, Mr Leatherwood spoke only briefly. He said he had received many threatening and intimidating letters from all parts of the United States and from Canada, letters that were based on gross misinformation relative to the facts in the case and the conduct of the trial, furnished unquestionably by someone in Salt Lake who for some motive or other wished to disseminate base and audacious falsehoods.
The letters he had received, Mr. Leatherwood asserted, charged that Hillstrom was charged with murder and convicted merely because he was he member of a powerful industrial organization. He then declared that the only time any suggestion was made that Hillstrom was a member of any such organization or that the prosecution had in any way resulted because of such affiliation, was made in an argument to the jury by Attorney McDougall, of Hillstrom's counsel, in which McDougall bitterly arraigned the courts of the state and the United States, the district attorney and all officers charged with the duty of enforcing the law.
"Friend of Court."
"That was not Hillstrom's attorney," interrupted Mr. Christensen, "that was the friend of the court."
Judge Frick then said:
"I believe that everyone in the state of Utah knows that every member of this pardon board, would much rather cut off his own right arm than to condemn a man either because he was or because he was not a member of any labor organization."
The governor then said:
"Now, Mr. Hillstrom, the board would be glad to hear you if you have anything to say with reference to this matter. Understand, you are not required to say anything or to make any statement whatever. We would be pleased to hear you, but it will not count either for or against you if you decide to remain silent."
Hillstrom Speaks.
Hillstrom arose and said:
Gentlemen, I have a little proposition to make to you. If you grant me a new trial I will guarantee to prove absolutely my innocence and to send four or five perjurers to the penitentiary, where they belong.
"But why did you not bring forward this proof at your trial?" asked Governor Spry.
There was so much confusion at the trial and my attorneys didn't carry on my case properly. I didn't know what to do about it. I didn't think it was necessary to prove my innocence. I though the state would have to prove a man guilty. I always thought a man was presumed to be innocent until he was convicted. Anyway, I never thought I was going to be convicted on such ridiculous evidence. The district attorney furnished the evidence. He asked it all in the questions. All the witnesses did was to say "Yes, sir." If I have another trial I don't want Mr. Scott for my attorney.
"You understand, do you not," asked Chief Justice Straup, "that this body cannot grant you a new trial? It has no power to do so."
[Said Hillstrom:]
You had the power to deny a new trial...why can't you grant me one now?
"This is not the supreme court," said Governor Spry. "This is the state pardon board, of which the three supreme court justices are members, but they are sitting not as a supreme court but as members of the pardon board."
[Said Hillstrom:]
Then I have nothing to say..If I can't have a new trial I don't want anything.
"I hope you will not persist in that attitude." said the governor. "I hope you will give us any information that may aid us in this case."
"If you can show us any proof or circumstance that proves your innocence," said Judge McCarty, "we will grant you an immediate and unconditional pardon, and you will walk out of the door a free man."
I don't want pardon or commutation; that is humiliating. I want an acquittal by a jury. I want a new trial so that I can show up the things that are going on in Judge Ritchie's court room. I want the people to know the dirty deal I got in that court.
Asked for Proof.
"Now, look here, Hillstrom," said Attorney General Barnes, "if you want us to believe that there is anything in this case that should not be, if there is any reason on earth why you should not pay the penalty for the crime, this is the time to show it to us. I am deadly in earnest, old man, and I want to do everything on earth to save you if you are innocent. Won't you think it over and produce any proof you have here before us?"
I have thought it over. I know what I'm doing.
"Wouldn't a pardon be as good or better than a new trial?" asked Judge McCarty.
"An unconditional pardon would be an absolute acquittal," declared Justice Frick.
I've stated my position. I want a new trial.
"Have his attorneys advised him that we have no power to grant him a new trial?" asked Mr. Barnes.
"We have," replied Mr. Christensen.
"Why don't you get him to present any proof to us of his innocence, if he has it?" inquired the attorney general.
"How can we get him to do so?" asked Judge Hilton. "We have repeatedly tried to have him do so, but he has refused. You may try to get him to do so if you wish."
Defense Committee.
Mr. Rohan [Rowan] said that he, as a member of the Hillstrom defense committee, had conversed with Hillstrom, and he had urged him to drop all legal proceedings in his behalf, that he was ready to die. However, he said, the committee had instructed the attorneys to continue to do everything for the prisoner that could be done.
The governor then asked Rohan if he would not urge Hillstrom to produce before the board any proof of his innocence that he might have. Rohan replied that he would not do so, as he believed Hillstrom was capable of deciding for himself what should be done.
Chief Justice Straup then suggested that Hillstrom's attorneys ask their client some questions. They replied that they would prefer that the board question him. The chief justice then said to Hillstrom that he proposed to ask him certain questions which he might or might not answer as he chose. Hillstrom, however, reiterated the statement that he did not care to make any further statement.
Asks Conference.
Mr. Christensen asked the opportunity of a private conference with Hillstrom for five minutes. Hillstrom then said:
I don't need to consult with anyone. I am a man. I know my own mind. I know what I want to do and what I am going to do.
However, he did consent to a short conference with his attorneys, which was barren of results. Mr. Christensen returned to the board and reported that he was unable to change Hillstrom's attitude.
"It seems that he wants to be considered a martyr," said Mr. Christensen.
The board went into executive session for a quarter of an hour, and then reported that every member of the board had voted in favor of denying Hillstrom's application for a commutation of sentence.
During the session a special delivery letter was received from a Socialist organization in Berkeley, Cal, protesting against the execution of Hillstrom. More than 200 other letters and petitions were received by the governor yesterday urging clemency or demanding a pardon for Hillstrom.
SOURCE
The Salt Lake Tribune
(Salt Lake City, Utah)
-Sept 19, 1915
http://newspaperarchive.com/...
http://newspaperarchive.com/...
IMAGES
Joe Hill about July 1915
Utah state archives/The Salt Lake Tribune
http://local.sltrib.com/...
Orrin N Hilton
http://darrow.law.umn.edu/...
See also:
AP The Big Story
"Utah event honors Joe Hill, hero to many, murderer to others."
by Brady McCombs, Sept 5, 2015
http://bigstory.ap.org/...
The Salt Lake Tribune
The Legacy of Joe Hill, 2015
http://local.sltrib.com/...
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Information from Archie Green via Gibbs Smith:
The Industrial Worker of July 11, 1912 reports that the new edition of the I. W. W. songbook (Little Red Songbook) will include "Casey Jones." That edition of the songbook was published by The Industrial Worker in Spokane Washington, and also included "Everybody's Joining It" on page 33.
Everybody's Doing It Now, a Irving Berlin song of 1911
-Collins & Harlan
Everybody's Joining It
by Joe Hill
Tune: Everybody's Doin' It Now
Fellow workers, can't you hear,
There is something in the air.
Everywhere you walk everybody talks
'Bout the I. W. W.
They have got a way to strike
That the master doesn't like --
Everybody sticks,
That's the only trick,
Al are joining now.
CHORUS:
Everybody's joining it, joining what? Joining it!
Everybody's joining it, joining what? Joining it!
One Big Union, that's the workers' choice,
One Big Union, that's the only choice,
One Big Union, that's the only noise,
One Big Union, shout with all your voice;
Make a noise, make a noise, make a noise, boys,
Everybody's joining it, joining what? Joining it!
Everybody's joining it, joining what? Joining it!
Joining in this union grand,
Boys and girls in every land;
All the workers hand in hand --
Everybody's joining it now.
The' Boss is feeling mighty blue,
He don't know just what to do.
We have got his goat, got him by the throat,
Soon he'll work or go starving.
Join I. W. W.
Don't let bosses trouble you,
Come and join with us --
Everybody does --
You've got nothing to lose.
Will the One Big Union Grow?
Mister Bonehead wants to know.
Well! What do you think, of that funny gink,
Asking such foolish questions?
Will it grow? Well! Look a here,
Brand new locals everywhere,
Better take a hunch,
Join the fighting bunch,
Fight for Freedom and Right.