| OCR Text |
Show MOOHEY'S-LIFE SAVH) Union Labor Leaders Object to Governor's Compromise Verdict GEIS-IIFE-SEHTENCE a stay of the execution, there was at that time on occasion for action on mi- part. I take It that the president presi-dent wan not correctly Informed as to the status of the c;ihc." FURTHER COMMENT. The statement reviews the case fully and quotes In their entirety the two meitKt- from l'rcsulcnt Woodrow WllM.n, In which the action now token by th governor was suggested. The ommiitHlinn. Bays the governor, a, ductrs the ch ee to the status of that of Warren K. Killings. 1 "' " '' mnsi'ilie thin f wb in any fashion representing a clash between capital and iHbor," the governor gov-ernor sa, and he characterizes as at.surd the propaganda that would maka Mooney appear as a martyr to the can of lalr. In support of this t.itcrrH'nt. he quotes a letter from Alexander Al-exander H.iLniMii outlining the plan . afterward tulopted for (he Mooney lum-( lum-( palgn. He denies that Mooney Is a I true friend of tabor and characterises , ' his previous record as euch that It does ! not enlist failh In him among law-j law-j it h! dina; ' citizens, but fays In conclu- sion that this particular case has been j decided upon Its merits. . June 4. 191. Hon. WllMam D. Stnphenn, Sacramento. Otl,: "I Im-s; that you will believe that J am moved only bv a sense of public duty jtSd of ronscloueness of the many and compliented Interests involved when 1 K)n most renpecituHv mub;-Krit mub;-Krit a commutation of the d"th pen-teucs pen-teucs upon Mooney I would. not venture ven-ture seam to call your intention to this rae dirt not know the international inter-national wiumficam-e which attaches to it (Signed "wooritfiv wii-son." OOVIRMOW ITATiMtUT, Governor St-phens gave out the fol-lowtns; fol-lowtns; ststement: "tn July 22, 191$, ten persons -men. i women and children were killed and i about fifty others woun1ed. in a lomb x(liMion durins a prpredneaa parable pa-rable In the rty of'San Fri nisiti. The parad- was a '.strinllr ,..,, fs.-t:. tum. into which llio pe-npit of lilt city had entcrrtl with much spirit snd loal im-pulne. im-pulne. MantfeeMy, tfcauHe of the nc- , can ion chofen, hostility to the nation's dt-fsnss measures muxt have had a , part in actuatins the eretration 'of ! so horrible a ded. It Is not unrea- : nonable to assume that a sympathy, j nr even a definite relationship, existed ex-isted between ihos mindrera snd the propaganda and violt-nce then ' lelns; etiRHired in throusrhout the country by ssjents of the German sovernment. MANY ARE ARRESTED. Stephens Commutes Sentence of Death, but Refuses a Pardon" De fense Is Dissatisfied By Associated Preaa- SA FRANCISCO, Nov. lr. The fMt of ThomaH T. Moon-ry Moon-ry no longer is in tloubt. Oov-rnor Oov-rnor William I. Ptrphrn yMt-jlerilHy yMt-jlerilHy decreed that lift; imprison-I imprison-I ment shull be the portion of the Iron I LaborGhief Says Decision Unsatisfactory By AssocUtsd Press. WAHHI N'GToN", -Nov. rt. Commutation Commu-tation of the deiith st-nience of Thomas 1.1. Mooney .by Governor titephens of I California dws not in any wy settle ths esse from the viewpoint of organised organ-ised labor, ssys a statement Issued today to-day by Frank Morrison, secretary of the American Federation of Ijibor. taking; tak-ing; ihe position that chrnes of perjury per-jury In connection with the conviction mske a new trial imperative. STATEMENT ISSUED. Mr. Morrison's statement follows: , "Organised labor will be In full accord ac-cord with Governor Stephens statement state-ment thst: " 'It Is, of course, unnecessary to arena ar-ena ths point that whatever Mooney'a chsracter or his paat record mtht ! have been this particular caae must j be determined upon Ha merits." "in my imf jrm-nt, however thfnttv' mutation does not In any way settle" this case. f PERJURY DISCUSSEO. "It mtiet be recalled thai the trade J union movement. In urs;lns; a new tnsl for Moonev, takes ths position that ; the charnea of perjury In connection ; with his conivcllou make a new trial imperative. This position is Identical j 'with thst of Superior Court Judire j Griffin, who conducted Mooney's trial and sentenced htm to death. In s let- ter o Htnto Attorney General Welb on April lant year, JurtRe Griffin. In I uriEiuic a new trial, said that If the perjurv evltlenre wnn presented to htm I hefore the rass left his hands hs would I i iinl'eMltatlnitlv have arnnted a' new "The caae, as presented to ths California Cali-fornia courts, was that of murder, w ithoiit further evidence of motive than the Impossible tenets of'ansrch-mts of'ansrch-mts whuar Dyrnpathies for the .German .Ger-man csue In the war was well known. Their Wild pacifist theories fitted Into the widespread activities 'of the kaiser's kai-ser's sgents In this country. "A number of persona of pronounced anarchistic tendencies were arrested shortly after the expluion, and of these Warren K. Itithnns wag convicted con-victed and sentenced to Hf! imprisonment, imprison-ment, and Thomas J. Mooney found Kinlty and sentenced to he naniced. "So long sa avenues of appeal to t-tftf" cmirta resawtned npea to Mmincy , land he ws availing himself thereof. I deemed it Improper for executive authority au-thority to interfere. Although the const ilu turn of California clot hea the governor with power to exercise clemency clem-ency at .any lime after conviction, it is important, ho far as practicable, not j to intrude into"any criminal rase until ! the Judicial branch has finally disposed J of it. I PRESIDENT URGES REPRIEVE. j 'only recently has final action been taken by th I'nited Slates supreme j court, and ihe cae of the people vs., Thomas J. Mooney placed squarly be- fore me. I I "In considering the Mooney case. I j have had before me the urgent apea ! of the president of the t'UJted States' I thst I grant commutation. j "OrlKiiiMly, In January of this year, ! I received a letter from the president presi-dent asking me If It would not be Possible to postpone ths execution of I Mooney until he could be tried upon one of the other Indictments against him. "Inasmuch aa an apical already had been taken to the supreme court of California, which appeal felf anted S , molder who was sentenced to death , for the murder of Mrs. Myrtle Irene i Van Ijoo. one of the ten fversons t killed In the Preps redness dnv bomb 'explosion here on July 32. in. The governor thereby settled, for the time I being at leant, one of the greatest I controversies that ever surrounded a I criminal case In the 1'nlted States. LABOR DISAPPOINTED. Strikes throughout the country have been planned for Peeember by labor organ Iks tions sa a protest against Moones execution on le-cemher le-cemher IS. Whether these proposed strikes now will he carried out was in open question here- today- No ewe I connected with the Mooney nfne organization professed to know what I attitude labor will tike towards C.oy-1 C.oy-1 ernor Stephens decision. Disappointment Disappoint-ment whs exnressed. however, that a pardon waa not granted in order that Moonev mirht he brought to trial n another of ths pending murder Indictments Indict-ments growing out of the bomb explosion. ex-plosion. LEGAL MOVES EXHAUSTED. No further legal steps. It wsa said by attorneys here today, can le Invoked In-voked for Moonev. His case has gone to the I'nited States supreme court, which recently refused to review the judgment of the California courts Of the five persona Indicted for murder in connection with the bomb explosion, onlv two have been convicted con-victed Mooney snd Warren K. RIM-tnga. RIM-tnga. a machtniat. Billings was sentenced sen-tenced to life Imprisonment at the Fnlsom, Cal.. penitentiary. Mrs,- Kaa Herman Mooney. wife of Thomas Moonev. and IsraeT Weinberg, a "Jitney" "Jit-ney" bus driver, were acquitted, but Kdward P. Nolan, a machinist, never has been brought to trial. FICKERT ACCUSED. I trial. On November XI of this year j Judge Griffin renewed his request In a j letter to Governor Stephena. ! NEW TRIAL ASKED. "I'nder theae elrciimataneea ths trade union movement haa iirgefl. that Moonev be given a new trial. Thia could be accomplished bv the governor pardoning him and having him Immediately Imme-diately arrested on one of the, other murder Indictments resulting from the. bomb explosion. I "As the matter now stands Mooney ' Is to aerve a life Imprisonment on evl-1 evl-1 dence that the trial Judge says 'bears j directly upon the credibility of the I witness and goes on ths very, founds-Mian founds-Mian of the truth of the story told by I Oxmsn (the state's witness) on the witness stand.' ' out -or the Mooney trial grew charrea of Irregularities on ths part !of District Attorney Charles M. Fick-t Fick-t ert, who conducted the prosecutions j It brought two sonenls for clemency j from President Wilson to Governor I Stephens, snd laboring men )) over I the world Interested themselws in the Jesse. A report touching op features of the prosecution wsa made Hst week to Secretary of Labor William R. Wilaon by John II. IVnamore, director veneral of federal emplov. ment. The report, wh'ch wns published pub-lished here November 2?. rave or-llons or-llons nf alleged telephon conversations conversa-tions between the district attorney and other persona, which are alleged If by the documents to Involve Flckert In certs i n Irregularities. A grand Jury la Investigating them. Governor' Stephens - has bad the ! Mooney case under consideration since early last March, when the ! California aupreme court affirmed Moonev's conviction snd an applies- Hon for a our don wss msde. i In explaining causes which led Mm to commute Moonev's sentence, the governor asld he had msde a careful 1 review of the case and found no res -son whv Voonev should escape, pun-i pun-i Ishrrtent. "It has been no uncommun thing" the atatement read, '"for executives ex-ecutives in rrsnttng clemency to en-, en-, tertaln doubt sufficient to save men from the gallows, but not that degree of Yes son a hie doubt' thst the law resolves completely In favor of a I defendsnt. WILSON'S PART TOLD. For the first time aince the Mooney lease aasumed national importance, ! Governor Stephens broke hia silence ! ss to the eon tent a of the two mes-' mes-' aages 'rut Mm bv President Wilson urging clemency for the condemned man. Theae two messages were quoted In the governors statement. ; The flrat. which was received on i March 77. read ss follows: "The White House. Washington, n. C March 27, I I Governor William I I. Stephens, Sacramento. Cal.: "With very great respect. I take the liberty of saying to you that if you l could aee your way to commute .the sentence of Mooney. it would have a most heartfelt effect upon certain international in-ternational affairs which his execution i would getatlv complicate. "WtOtROW WILSON." , SECOND APPEAL. 1 In June the governor received thla additional message, the president again i urging commutation of sentence: "The White House, Washington. D, |