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Show MOONE Y VS. MONEY HP HE decent journals of the country are a unit h -L in their1 attitude concerning the Moonoy case H , ' and the effect of Governor Stephens' commutation H of his sentence. One of the best articles on the H subject appeared recently in Theodore Bonnet's H excellent publication, Town Talk, of San Fran- H cisco. It is a fair and square statement of the H plain facts, and should be read generally. The H article follows: H It is passing strange that some of the public Hj have fallen for the old stock-in-trade Blogan voiced H by the chief counsel of Mr. Mooney, that is by H Maxwell McNutt, who published repeatedly the H statement that this was a case of money fighting H Mooney: When the real facts of this extraordi- H nary campaign are exposed it will show that H money and Mooney throughout this fight were bad- H fellows. The old days when capital and money H fought the poor man have passed. A man must H be a labor man to be elected to the legislature or H to be elected to the position of mayor, or even to H go to the house of representatives or the United H States senate. That is so well known now that to H deny it is a joke. There was more money spent H in the "defense of Mooney" than was spent in the H defense of Stokes, who killed the celebrated Jim H Flake for the love of Josephine Helen Mansfield. H There were more bucketsful of money spent for V the "defense of Mooney" than was spent in the de- H fense-of Thaw for the cold-blooded killing of Stan- H ford "White over the affection of Evelyn Nesblt. H In fact there never was so much money spent for H the defense of any man, as there has been for H Mooney. Thaw and his connections were million- H aires, and they wont broke defending Thaw. H Stokes was a millionaire and he went broke in his H defense. Mooney is a poor man and yet a million B dollars were raised all over the world for his de- fl fense and in California alone over $109,000 up to M January 1, 1918, of which it is said that $50,000 H were spent for attorneys' fees. Not only the best H talent in the state of California was called upon, H but Bourke Cochran, the forensic leader of the bar of the Empire state, was brought all the way from H New York to San Francisco to raise his eloquent B voice in the defense of the bomb throwers. On H Flckert's side he was handicapped by a limitation H of funds. The board of supervisors and the mayor H of this city allowed $2,500 for some of the trials B. and $1,500 for the others, and that is all the H money that was raised on the side of the prosecu- H tion. Fickert himself is a graduate of Stanford H University and so are several of the assistants in H his office, and he came fresh from his bacca- H laureate laurels with a clean record to try these H cases and has become the subject of vituperation H ' and abuse, when, if he had been complacent or H had favored the defense and allowed these men H to escape he would havo been hailed by labor so B. cialism and the forces of anarchy as the new H evangel of California justice. H j Attack on Densmore. M l That dictaphone report with lurid charges by H John P. Densmore, who shot it off, and then es- H i caped to Portland, was the subject of condomna- M tion by the Down Town association. On the 30th H ultimo in its resolutions it denounced as a gross B slander and as an unwarranted attack upon the H Mir name of San Francisco the following para- H graph of Densmore's opininon of the City by the H' Golden Gate: "A man has no chance if they start Hj to get him in San Francisco. They can jostle a Snian off the street, beat him, and have a dozen witnesses testify that he pulled a gun and started M the fight. It is worse than New York. I have V been in nearly every city in the United States and B San Francisco is worse than any of them." It is H! a natural sequence that if any man in San Fran- M cisco believes Densmore, he will also believe that Bj Thomas J. Mooney is a martyr and that it is a K good thing to kill the women and men who had appeared upon Market and Steuart streets, to carry aloft the American flag in an effort to prepare pre-pare the country against the Huns or any other nation that might attack us. The Down Town Association As-sociation sent a copy of their resolution to Secretary Secre-tary of Labor W. B. Wilson. It would be interesting interest-ing to know what the secretary of labor's opinion is of the Down Town Association. Probably it would be just as well not to print his opinion. Judge Franklin A. Griffin's Attitude. It was before Judge Franklin A. Griffin, that the jury that tried Thomas J. Mooney for murder was impaneled, and before him the case was tried, and it resulted in a unanimous verdict of the jury of the conviction of murder of the first degree. It was before Judge Franklin A. Griffin that the defendant, Mooney, through his corps of attorneys asked that the verdict be. set aside and that a new trial be granted. Judge Griffin reviewed the trial and the testimony given at the trial, which lasted from January 3, 1917, till the day of the verdict, on February 10, 1917. and must have been convinced that Mooney was guilty of the murder of Myrtle Irene Van Loo of Merced California, one of the many bomb victims, for he denied the motion for new trial. If Judge Griffin believed that a human being's neck was about to be stretched for a crime for which he was not guilty, he should have granted a new trial although al-though the jury unanimously decided otherwise. He has full power under the law to set aside any verdict. Experts on criminal law have called attention at-tention to the ruling of the state supreme court, where they held repeatedly "The Judge should set aside the verdict whenever he is not satisfied with it upon the evidence, and his order in that regard will not be disturbed on appeal if the evidence is substantially conflicting." In other words, Judge Griffin was at the time of the trial evidently evi-dently fully convinced of Mooney's guilt of murder mur-der in the first degree and believed he should be hanged or else he would have granted him a new trial. It is true that it is claimed that the Oxman testimony was proven to be perjury. Oxman was tried and found innocent of any perjury per-jury in the case, but, however, It could not bo said that Judge Griffin denied the new trial because be-cause he relied solely on Oxman. He had before him the record in the Billings case Billings was convicted of murder of the same victims as the accomplice of Mooney and if Billings was guilty when Mooney was guilty and if Mooney was innocent inno-cent Billings must have been innocent. The opinion opin-ion of the supreme court stated that loose bullets and cartridge shells of calibers .22, .32 and .38 were found on Steuart street and in the bodies of some of the victims were bullets of .32 and .22 caliber, and in Mooney's home a pistol with .38 and .32 caliber cartridges was found, while in Billings' room was a .22 caliber rifle with some cartridges to flt it, a .32 caliber pistol with .32 caliber cartridges, while parts of two ball bearings live-eighths of an inch in diameter were found on Steuart street. One witness testified he saw Billings Bill-ings deposit a suit case near Market street on Sstewart street and after depositing it he, Billings, walked to the door of the saloon and at that instant in-stant Mooney came out and they talked together Mooney pulling out his watch, looking at the ferry clock, and looking towards the case where the suit case was. Then both disappeared. Independently Independ-ently of this witness there were other witnesses who saw Billings with a suit case at 721 Market street, on the roof; another witness saw Billings later on talking to the police officer, Earl R. Moore, while at that moment of time Mooney and his wife came from the direction of 721 Market street, and that Billings walked over and met Mooney in the middle of the sidewalk when Moonoy and Billings both walked towards the ferry and about the same time saw Weinberg get into an automobile which stood where Billings tras talking to the police officer. No one ques tioned Police Office Earl Ilk Moore, .who said he ; talked -to Billings in front of 721 Market street 'H shortly before the parade while Moore was clear- 1 ing the street in preparation for the procession. joSH Woodrow Wilson's Attitude. 'jl Governor William D. Stephens' order in which 'B lie commuted the sentence of Thomas J. Mooney Hfli brings to light the attitude of President Woodro.w :J9 Wilson on the Mooney case so clearly that it dis- fll sipates a flood of small statements and rumors . 1m published and spread broadcast oyer the country ; jBl with regard to the president desiring that Mooney !sK should have a new trial or be pardoned. It was JMfa laid at President Wilson's, door that he interefered fflttfl with the courts in California, and with the action $Hj of the people of the state in prosecuting their crimi- Wit nals for murder of their citizens, but the letter of PQj Governor Stephens shows that that is not true. No -nB doubt if President Woodrow Wilson believed that 'VJjfiSj Mooney had an unfair trial, he would have said P5 so and done something with regard ta giving hihi 1&ai a new trial, but notwithstanding the thousand and ffl one appeals made to President .Wilson, he has wl stood like adamant, against suggesting anything HS with regard to Mooney's case, except that his jjjH'i sentence should be commuted, not on the ground 'oK that Mooney had been a man of good" Iffe and rec- -'jB titude prior to his conviction or that his antece- 'J9B dents were clear of crime, or that any of the de-, '1H cisions of the juries or the courts weie corrupt, or Hl wrong, but simply on the ground that a war was HH then pending between the United States and Ger- H many, and all the civilized nations of the earth raH were more or less embroiled, and that it might saB bring about international complications if Mooney "HHI should be hanged, instead of having his sentence JH commuted to .life. President Woodro.w Wilson - jjjjH sent two telegrams. The first on Marclj 27, last, 'JmI when he suggested a commutation of the Sentence $SKM only on account of "certain international affairs, H which his execution would greatly complicate." 1 The same telegram on June 2, was to the same 9fl effect where he suggested not to pardon, but "a " B commutation of the death sentence imposed upon 4j Mooney." And this telegram was on account of H the "international significance which attaches to '9H it." It is evident that President Wilson did not "JH take any stock in any other ground, but he knew Ju that working men in Russia and the working men HH in Copenhagen and England and elsewhere were iWk holding meetings, prompted by the Mooney propa- 'WRki ganda, in which they believed a Workingman was Wm going to be hanged by the capitalists, simply be- q&m cause he was a workingman. Mooney therefore Jffl has to thank the state of war existing "between 'H Germany and the United States and the then ex- - inH isting international complications, when President 4BF Wilson sent his two telegrams in March and June, - 'lHf last, as otherwise he undoubtedly? would not have l9 deserved or received the consideration which he $5B has received and he can thank the saving of his rJgjjj neck to the world war and the president's fear of - WM possible international complications. iwBu. |
