Judge Grinnell’s Opening—Statement of the Case—The Light of the
4th of May—The Dynamite Argument—Spies’ Fatal Prophecy—The
Eight-hour Strike—The Growth of the Conspiracy—Spies’ Cowardice at
McCormick’s—The “Revenge” Circular—Work of the _Arbeiter-Zeitung_
and the _Alarm_—The Secret Signal—A Frightful Plan—“Ruhe”—Lingg,
the Bomb-maker—The Haymarket Conspiracy—The Meeting—“We are
Peaceable”—After the Murder—The Complete Case Presented.
IT was on Thursday, the 15th of July, that the preliminary work
was finally ended and the court was ready for a formal statement
of the case. This statement was made by State’s Attorney Grinnell,
and his arraignment of the defendants was such a clear, convincing
and masterful argument—giving, as it did, the whole history of the
Anarchist conspiracy, and foreshadowing eloquently and in detail all
the proof which was to be got before the jury—that I will print here
a verbatim copy of his speech, believing that the reader will find
nowhere else so business-like a statement of what these prisoners did
and how they did it.
During the delivery of Mr. Grinnell’s remarks the crowded court-room,
prisoners and sympathizing Anarchists, wounded policemen, judge, jurors
and representatives of the press hung upon his words with a keen
interest which has seldom been duplicated in the annals of American
jurisprudence.
Mr. Grinnell said:
“GENTLEMEN:—For the first time in the history of our country are
people on trial for their lives for endeavoring to make Anarchy the
rule, and in that attempt for ruthlessly and awfully destroying life.
I hope that while the youngest of us lives this in his memory will be
the last and only time in our country when such a trial shall take
place. It will or will not take place as this case is determined.
“The State now and at no time hereafter will say aught to arouse your
prejudices or your indignation, having confidence in the case that
we present; and I hope I shall not at any time during this trial say
anything to you which will in any way or manner excite your passions.
I want your reason. I want your careful analysis. I want your careful
attention. We—my associates and myself—ask the conviction of no man
from malice, from prejudice, from anything except the facts and the
law. I am here, gentlemen, to maintain the law, not to break it; and,
however you may believe that any of these men have broken the law
through their notions of Anarchy, try them on the facts. We believe,
gentlemen, that we have a case that shall command your respect, and
demonstrate to you the truthfulness of all the declarations in it,
and, further, that by careful attention and close analysis you can
determine who are guilty and the nature of the crime.
“On the 4th of May, 1886, a few short weeks ago, there occurred,
at what is called Haymarket Square, the most fearful massacre ever
witnessed or heard of in this country. The crime culminated there—you
are to find the perpetrators. The charge against the defendants is
that they are responsible for that act. The testimony that shall be
presented to you will be the testimony which will show their innocence
or their guilty complicity in that crime.
[Illustration: HON. JULIUS S. GRINNELL.
From a Photograph.]
“We have been in this city inclined to believe, as we have all through
the country, that, however extravagantly men may talk about our laws
and our country, however severely they may criticise our Constitution
and our institutions; that as we are all in favor of full liberty, of
free speech, the great good sense of our people would never permit
acts based upon sentiments which meant the overthrow of law. We
have believed it for years; we were taught it at our schools in our
infancy, we were taught it in our maturer years in school, and all
our walks in life thereafter have taught us that our institutions,
founded on our Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and our
universal freedom, were above and beyond all Anarchy. The 4th of May
demonstrated that we were wrong, that we had too much confidence,
that a certain class of individuals, some of them recently come here,
as the testimony will show, believe that here in this country our
Constitution is a lie. Insults are offered to the Declaration of
Independence, the name of Washington is reviled and traduced, and we
are taught by these men, as the testimony will show, that freedom
in this country means lawlessness and absolute licence to do as we
please, no matter whether it hurts others or not. In the light of the
4th of May we now know that the preachings of Anarchy, the suggestions
of these defendants hourly and daily for years, have been sapping
our institutions, and that where they have cried murder, bloodshed,
Anarchy and dynamite, they have meant what they said, and proposed to
do what they threatened.
“We will prove, gentlemen, in this case, that Spies no longer ago than
last February said that they were armed in this city for bloodshed
and riot. We will prove that he said then that they were ready in
the city of Chicago for Anarchy, and when told, by a gentleman to
whom he made the declaration, that they ‘would be hung like snakes,’
said—and there was the insult to the Father of our Country—then he
said George Washington was no better than a rebel, as if there was any
possible comparison between those declarations, between that sentiment
of Washington’s and his noble deeds, and the Anarchy of this man. He
has said in public meetings—and the details of them I will not now
worry you with—he has said in public meetings for the last year and
a half, to go back no further—he and Neebe and Schwab and Parsons
and Fielden have said in public meetings here in the city of Chicago
that the only way to adjust the wrongs of any man was by bloodshed, by
dynamite, by the pistol, by the Winchester rifle. They have advised,
as will appear in proof here, that dynamite was cheap, and ‘you had
better forego some luxuries, buy dynamite, kill capitalists, down with
the police, murder them, dispose of the militia, and then demand your
rights.’ That is Anarchy.
“On the 11th day of October, 1885, in a prominent public hall upon the
West Side, August Spies, the defendant in this case, and his confrères
there, introduced a resolution at a public meeting, in which he said
that he did not believe that the eight-hour movement would do the
laboring man any good. We will prove in this case that he has always
been opposed to the eight-hour law. That is not what he wants. He
wants Anarchy. These defendants that I mentioned passed a resolution,
which we shall offer in evidence here, and it shall be read to you
later—to the effect that the laboring men must arm, must prepare
themselves with rifles and dynamite. When? By the 1st of May, 1886,
because then would come the contest.
“I will prove to you that Parsons—be it said to the shame of our
country, because I understand that he was born on our soil—that
Parsons, in an infamous paper published by him, called the _Alarm_,
has defined the use of dynamite, told how it should be used, how
capitalists could be destroyed by it, how policemen could be
absolutely wiped from the face of the earth by one bomb; and further
has published a plan in his paper of street-warfare by dynamite
against militia and the authorities.
“Gentlemen, leaders of any great cause are either heroes or cowards.
The testimony in this case will show that August Spies, Parsons,
Schwab and Neebe are the biggest cowards that I have ever seen in the
course of my life. They have advised the use of dynamite and have
advised the destruction of property for months and years in the city
of Chicago, and now pitifully smile at our institutions, as they have
through their lives—and, like cowards contemplating crime, they
sought to establish an _alibi_ for the 4th of May, of which I will
speak directly.
“I will prove to you further that in January last August Spies told
a newspaper reporter of integrity, honesty and fidelity that they
were going to precipitate the matter on or about the 1st of May; that
he told this man how they could dispose of the police, and in that
connection he told that reporter that they would arrange it so that
their meeting should be at or near the intersection of two streets.
Having this as Randolph Street and Desplaines (pointing on map), not
calling it any particular name, and that he would have a meeting in
which there should be assembled large bodies of laboring men, of which
he falsely claims to be the exponent; that they would be located just
above the intersection of the streets; that he and his dynamiters
would be there; that they would be provided with dynamite bombs at
the place of meeting; that they would hold a meeting there; that the
police or the militia would walk up towards them; that when they got
up there their dynamite-throwers would be situated on different sides
of the street near the walks; that when they proceeded up here they
would throw the dynamite into their ranks, clean them out and take
possession of the town. ‘But,’ said the reporter to him, ‘Mr. Spies,
that sounds to me like braggadocio and vaporing nonsense.’ That is,
gentlemen, what it has sounded to us for years. Let it sound no longer
like that to us. Spies said to him, red in the face and excited: ‘I
tell you I am telling the truth, and mark my words, that it will
happen on or about the 1st of May, 1886.’ And the reason he was so
ready to say so was because he believes our Constitution is a lie, our
institutions are not worthy of respect, and he desires to pose as a
leader, although in fact a coward.
“That is not all, gentlemen. Mr. Spies at that interview at that time
handed that gentlemanly reporter—and I will commend him to you now,
whatever may be your notion of newspaper men. Look at that man when he
goes upon the stand and judge him by his words and by his appearance.
He, Spies, did more than what I have said. At that time he handed
to the newspaper reporter a dynamite bomb, empty—almost the exact
duplicate of the bomb Lingg made which killed the officers; handed it
to this witness and said to him: ‘These are the bombs that our men
are making in the city of Chicago, and they are distributed from the
_Arbeiter-Zeitung_ office, because the men who make them have not the
facilities for distributing them, and we distribute them here.’
“Those are facts that will be proven here.
“I want to suggest to you now, gentlemen, this is a vastly more
important case than perhaps any of you have a conception of. Perhaps
I have been with it so long, have investigated it so much, come in
contact with such fearful and terrible things so often, that my
notions may be somewhat exaggerated; but I think not. I think they
are worse even than my conception has pictured. The firing upon Fort
Sumter was a terrible thing to our country, but it was open warfare.
I think it was nothing compared with this insidious, infamous plot to
ruin our laws and our country secretly and in this cowardly way; the
strength of our institutions may depend upon this case, because there
is only one step beyond republicanism—that is Anarchy. See that we
never take that step, and let us stand to-day as we have stood for
years, firmly planted on the laws of our country.
“After teaching Anarchy, bombs, the manufacture of them and everything
of that character for months, and I may say for years, here in
town, having put the ball in motion, having done everything toward
the end they declared should be accomplished—towards the end they
sought—then began the numerous conspiracies. The beginning of the
whole matter was among the nest of snakes in the _Arbeiter-Zeitung_
office, and the foundation of the conspiracy, published, notorious and
open, was at West Twelfth Street Turner Hall, on the 11th of October
last. At that time, on the introduction of that resolution by Spies,
it was opposed by one man in the audience, who is a labor agitator,
but not an Anarchist—opposed by one man in that audience, and he was
denounced; he was told to take a back seat, and in support of the
resolution it was there said by Spies—and a man, as I understand, by
the name of Belz was chairman—that the time for argument has passed;
the only argument by which to meet these things was dynamite and the
rifle—by force.
“As is well known, requiring no proof, for a long time before, it
was arranged by a universal arrangement or consent among all the
laboring classes in town that there should be a universal strike for
eight hours, to take place on or about the 1st day of May. On the
1st day of May began those strikes. On the 2nd—on the 3d—the 2nd
was Sunday—on the 3d day of May, on Monday, you will remember from
your reading, as it will appear in proof here, there was difficulty
at McCormick’s factory down on what they called the Black Road. The
fact about that meeting was this: A large number of lumber-shovers,
or men who work in the lumber-yards, had a meeting appointed to wait
on the lumber-dealers, There were a great many of them Bohemians,
some Germans, and some of other nationalities—mostly embraced in
those two nationalities that I first spoke of, but all nationalities
represented there. The chief officers and the chief men in the
movement were Bohemians. Some of them will be presented to you by us.
The committee that was to wait upon the lumber-dealers was to report
there in an open place called the Black Road, or in that locality,
to the meeting, what the lumber-dealers proposed. In other words, a
peaceful proposition was made by that committee to the lumbermen to
accede to eight hours, and a meeting was held there; the committee
were to come back from the lumber-dealers and report to that meeting.
Spies and a man by the name of Fehling—who ought also to have been
in this indictment, and I will say just a word later about that—one
other man whose identity we have not fully established—went down
there uninvited by any of that committee, or by the chairman of
it—went down there and made an inflammatory speech for the purpose
of precipitating that riot. That is the truth. It was precipitated. I
am rather inclined to think that some other of these men were there.
I am not going to state anything to you here, at any time, in this
case, that I do not believe I can prove. I know Spies was there, and
spoke from the top of a car. He wrote up the speech later on, which
I will speak of directly. The president of that organization down
there, the laborers, opposed his speaking and informed the people that
this man was not one of them, but that he was a Socialist, and they
did not want to hear him. He insisted upon speaking, and the friend
that was with him has fled the city and does not dare return. That
will be in proof. Spies did the unmanly thing that he always does.
He exasperated other people to rush on McCormick’s regardless of the
president of that committee, who desired quiet and peace and desired
it honestly, although he was in favor of eight hours. But Spies is not
anxious for eight hours. We will prove that in this case. He does not
want eight hours. If the laboring men—if the bosses and employers in
the city of Chicago on the 1st day of May had universally acceded to
the eight-hour project, Spies was a dead duck; they would have had no
further use for him, and he didn’t want it. Therefore he went down
there and exasperated the people, and he made a speech. The police
didn’t come on the ground until after McCormick’s was attacked, and
until after stones and bombs were used, or pistols and lead against
McCormick’s factory. What does Spies do, this redoubtable knight?
He runs away and gets home just as soon as he can. He takes a car
and comes north. I will say nothing more about that meeting for the
present. Let us follow Spies. Now, mind you, he saw trouble. He
had exasperated this crowd to attack McCormick’s; they did attack
McCormick’s, and stones were thrown by the mob at McCormick’s
men—some of them—they are called scabs; they didn’t happen to belong
to any union. Of course my opinion about that may be different from
some of yours; I will not criticise. I believe one man is just as good
as another, whether he belongs to a union or not. If he is an honest
man and desires to work, I think he ought to be permitted to work. But
those fellows didn’t belong to the union. They swam across the river,
got away the best they could, saved their lives. But what does Spies
do? He rushes away as soon as he can, when he sees the starting of the
difficulty; when he has got everybody inflamed into frenzy and madness
he quietly gets out to save his august person; he quietly gets out and
goes away. That is not all. He lands that afternoon at the corner of
Desplaines and Lake, where there was a crowd of other men, laborers
meeting there, and pronounces a lie by telling them that ‘twelve or
fourteen of your brothers have been killed at McCormick’s, and by the
bloodhounds, the police.’ Spies knew as well as anything that he ever
knew in his life that he was uttering a falsehood. He knew, if he knew
anything, that, so far as his observation was concerned, not a man
had been killed—not a single man had been killed—and he inflamed
the people there by his suggestion, heated as he was and showing
excitement, coming in there at Desplaines and Lake at that meeting,
inflaming those people so that they were then ready to go with the
torch and the sword and level everything before them.
“That is not all. He left there about four o’clock in the afternoon,
perhaps between four and five, and went to this nest of treason and
Anarchy, No. 107 Fifth Avenue, and there about five o’clock arrived,
heated, excited, and told his men not to stop work, that he wanted
to use them. What did he do? He then and there wrote what is called
the ‘Revenge’ circular. It is written in English and in German. The
English part is tame, more tame than the German—and he knew what
he was doing then; there was a plan in that. We have the circular
as printed, which will be presented to you. We have in addition to
that the type from which it was printed; we have in addition to that
the manuscript from which the type was set. The manuscript is in
Spies’ handwriting! That ‘Revenge’ circular, gentlemen, perpetrated
another lie. It said that ‘six of your brothers have been killed at
McCormick’s.’ He decreased it a little. That ‘Revenge’ circular was
hurriedly passed out to all the German settlements of the town and
everywhere, by every possible means. Neebe distributed them; others
distributed them. They were ‘revenge;’ revenge for what? Revenge for
the declared murder of the brothers of the laboring men at McCormick’s
Monday afternoon—when he had no knowledge that a single man was
killed. I have since learned and shall prove that one man did die days
or weeks afterwards from wounds he did receive there, and only one.
“I want to suggest another thing to you here. It will appear
in proof—because we have had the German part of that circular
translated—that the German part of that circular is the most infamous
thing that ever was in print. The translation of the German part of
that circular is not like the English part. A man picking up the
circular who was an English scholar—as I remember, the English
part of the circular comes first, and following that is the German
part—and any man, even some of these German newspaper men, would pick
that up, and the first thing they would read would be the English
part, not the German. They would read the English hastily through
and they would say, ‘That’s some of Spies’ vaporing nonsense again;
nothing very serious about it, but bad—bad taste—bad judgment in
inflamed times.’ But the revenge circular as printed in German is
altogether a different thing. It is not only treason and Anarchy, but
a bid to bloodshed, and a bid to war. Anybody reading the English
part of that circular would drop it—even the Germans. And the German
newspapers until afterwards did not perceive the dissimilarity between
the two, the English and the German. Now, where is this matter read?
It is fortunate for the English-speaking people that defendants
embrace only two of that class; one of them was born in this country,
the other in England. That circular was read among the Germans. That
circular was spread throughout the western part and the northern
part of the city of Chicago and in other places, at the instance of
Spies, who had it circulated himself. ‘Revenge on the bloodhounds, the
police.’ For his life, in regard to those who were killed, he could
not have known whether anybody was killed or not, because he took care
of his royal person so speedily after the difficulty at McCormick’s
that he had no chance to know whether anybody was killed, and he took
good care to see that he was not hurt. So much for the ‘Revenge’
circular.
“Now, gentlemen, we are getting down to the 4th of May. There is more
in it than this. Monday was the 3d day of May; Tuesday was the 4th,
the day the bomb was thrown. Everything was ripe with the Anarchists
for ruining the town. Bombs were to be thrown in all parts of the city
of Chicago. Everything was to be done that could be done to ruin law
and order. I wish to say right here, gentlemen, that the proof in this
case will develop a strange state of facts in regard to the complicity
of others in this matter, and in that particular perhaps there ought
to be some apology for myself. The conspiracy was so large, the
number of criminals interested in that conspiracy so appalling, that
I distrusted my own judgment, and, whereas in my soul I believed that
at least thirty men and perhaps more should have been indicted for
murder, the developments in the case were of that kind, when the grand
jury was in session, that the facts could not all clearly be known.
And further, there was that feeling and inspiration in the matter, if
you please, that the leaders, the men who have incited these things,
the men who have caused this anarchy and bloodshed here, and who seek
for more—that they should be picked out and, if possible, punished
and blotted out.
“The _Arbeiter-Zeitung_, the paper itself—we shall attempt to show
you in proof here its circulation, or its sworn issue for a year. We
will have them translated for you. We will also attempt to show to you
from the _Alarm_, the English organ of the Anarchists—that is what
it is called, just think of it—the English organ of the Anarchists,
published by the redoubtable and courageous Parsons. We will show you
in proof its writings and its sentiments, its invitations to Anarchy,
to bloodshed, to the throwing of bombs, and his advice to people how
to make bombs.
“If I prove only this that I have stated to you, it seems to me that
from every principle of law and evidence, from every principle of
justice, the men whose names I have mentioned should be punished.
“But one step more. This was Monday night, remember, that Spies wrote
the ‘Revenge’ circular. That was not all he wrote. He himself wrote
the account of his speech, wrote the account of the McCormick riot,
wrote his notions about it, and that is in his handwriting. We have
the manuscript. And in that he said this, gentlemen—that ‘so far as
the McCormick matter was concerned it was a failure, and if there only
had been one bomb the result might have been different.’ The one bomb
at least was supplied by his inflammatory utterances the next night.
“On Monday evening, after Spies had inflamed these people up there—on
Monday in the daytime, rather, appeared in the _Arbeiter-Zeitung_, a
newspaper published at 107 Fifth Avenue—it is a four-page paper, it
has been constantly and carefully read in the progress of this trial
by the gentlemen seated over there in a row—in the _Arbeiter-Zeitung_
appeared on Monday, in a column devoted to editorial notices, a
secret word for the meeting of the armed men. That was in German—the
letter ‘Y,’ called ypsilon in German—“Ypsilon, come Monday night.”
Ypsilon was the secret word agreed on by the armed men to meet in
secret session, when they saw printed in this treasonable sheet that
secret word. As I am informed and believe from the proof, Balthasar
Rau wrote that secret word. The armed men of the Anarchists, to be
brief, are those of the Anarchists who are willing to throw bombs and
fire pistols behind people’s backs. It is divided into groups. Why,
all their literature from Pittsburg to San Francisco, including the
pen of Neebe, Spies, Schwab and Parsons—all of them have advised
how to make up groups, based upon the Anarchistic notions. On that
page appears this secret word. Balthasar Rau is the confidential
friend of Spies, works in their office; he is not an editorial
writer, he is not a writer at all, unless he occasionally essays to
say something in print. I do not know, but I believe that that is
his writing, the letter ‘Y’ in German—‘Come Monday night.’ That
is all there was of it. What does it mean? Pursuant to that secret
word, on Monday night—that is the same night that Spies got back
from McCormick’s—on that night the armed men did assemble pursuant
to ‘Ypsilon, come Monday night,’ and they knew where to go to. They
went to Greif’s Hall. Greif’s Hall is on Lake Street, just east
of Clinton.” Mr. Grinnell indicated the points on a map. “This is
Zepf’s Hall (indicating); the name will be mentioned to you. Here is
Desplaines Street Station, so that you can keep in your mind from
this map the idea. Here is Desplaines Street Station; north up here
to Lake, Zepf’s Hall; east, Greif’s Hall. They met. Greif’s Hall is
a four-story building, as I remember; a family lives in it, there
is a saloon, and down in the basement is a place for truck and one
thing and another, and also a rough-and-ready place for meetings.
The armed men were there; Fischer was there; Lingg was there; Engel
was there. The armed men met there with others—other armed men than
those that I have mentioned. They pass into Greif’s Hall; they say to
Mr. Greif: ‘Have you a hall we can take?’ He said: ‘No, my halls are
all occupied;’ one kind of labor association was meeting in one hall,
and another in another; but he said, ‘If you want the basement’—and
I have a plan and map of the basement—‘if you want the basement, go
down stairs and hold your meeting.’ So these men, the numbers of them
variously estimated from thirty to sixty, meet in that place. Among
them were Fischer, Lingg, Engel and Schnaubelt. Schnaubelt is in this
indictment, and not here. He has run away. These men met in this hall
underneath the saloon, a dingy and dark basement—the only proper
place for conspirators—by the light of a dingy lamp—and they held an
organized meeting. The plan of warfare was devised—not for the next
night. I will explain that. But for some night. Engel, a man who is
gray, has been in this country some years and talks some English—he
understands me, and laughs and smiles at every word I utter—Engel
was at that meeting that night, and told the plan. I am going to be
brief about the recitation of that plan. That was the most fearfully
declared plan that I ever heard in my life. It meant destruction to
this town absolutely if this programme had been carried out. Engel
said: ‘When you see printed in the _Arbeiter-Zeitung_, under the
Letter-box, the word ‘Ruhe,’ that night prepare for war.’ ‘Ruhe’ means
‘rest,’ ‘peace.’ The manuscript for that is in our possession and is
in the handwriting of Spies. That word on Tuesday morning appeared in
the _Arbeiter-Zeitung_ and in a double lead, with an emphasis under
it, before it and behind it. It meant ‘war.’ They understood it; and
Engel refers to Fischer in the meeting and he says: ‘Is not this the
order of the Northwest group?’ That is another group for conspiracy
and treason. Fischer said ‘Yes.’ As I am informed, Fischer undertook
to carry the word back to the _Arbeiter-Zeitung_ office and have it
inserted. Fischer was the foreman of the _Arbeiter-Zeitung_ office at
that time. He carried the word back, I assume. Spies wrote it out,
double-leaded it, made it emphatic, and they were ready for war.
“But that was not all. Somebody had to make the bombs. Lingg was
there, and he said that he would make the bombs. He was the bomb-maker
of the Anarchists, and we have found and traced to him at least
twenty-two of these infernal machines, one of which passed from his
hands to the man who threw it at the Haymarket Square. I will prove
to your absolute satisfaction that Lingg made the bomb that killed
the officers, and will show to you that it was his bomb, and his
manufacture alone. Lingg lived at No. 442 Sedgwick Street, occupied
a room in Seliger’s house. Seliger is in this indictment for murder
also. He is not on trial. I am not yet prepared to say whether the
State will use him as a witness or not. I will have a suggestion to
make on that subject directly.
“Lingg was to make the bombs. Engel devised the plan and deliberately
told him over and over so that there would be no mistake. Now, what
was the plan? That these conspirators should proceed to Lingg’s house
that next night, or before night, and obtain from Lingg the bombs. He
had already sixteen halves, or eight whole bombs. But he wanted more,
and they were to be filled with dynamite on Tuesday afternoon.
“And what next? Then these people were informed where they could
obtain them, and he was to go, as he did, in the evening, or between
seven and eight o’clock, to Neff’s Hall, at No. 58 Clybourn Avenue.
They went to work. There Seliger helped fill the bombs that afternoon.
Lingg was there. Lingg left in the afternoon. He didn’t stay there
through it all, but came back again. I do not think that Lingg was at
the Haymarket that night; he may have been; I don’t think he was. His
part on the programme—part of it had been performed—was to furnish
the bombs and do the work elsewhere.
“Now, gentlemen, just look at this plan, and this is the plan that
Engel told them should be performed. They were to get these bombs;
certain of them were to be at the Haymarket Square, where this meeting
was; and in this meeting, mind you, in this conspiracy meeting the
programme was that there should be at least twenty-five thousand
laboring men present; that they would not hold the meeting down on the
square, but that they would get up in the street, because they were
out in a great open place there, the police could come down on them
and clean them all out; but they must get back where the alleys were,
instead of holding the meeting down here where it was advertised.
You see there are two blocks here. Instead of holding the meeting on
this broad spot here (indicating on the map), they were to hold it up
here; and that very thing was discussed down there that night in the
conspiracy meeting, as to the feasibility of holding it here where
the police could corner them. Then these individuals with the bombs
were to distribute themselves in different parts of the city. They
were to destroy the station-houses; they were to throw bombs at every
patrol wagon that they saw going toward the Haymarket Square with
police officers. They expected there would be a row down there at the
Haymarket Square, of course. There was going to be one bomb thrown
there at least, and perhaps more, and that would call the police down;
but the police must be taken care of and must not be permitted to go,
and they were to be destroyed, absolutely wiped off from the earth
by bombs in other parts of the city. And Lingg went around with bombs
in his pocket that night and desired to throw them at a patrol wagon
and was only restrained by his friends. And they were to build a fire
up toward Wicker Park—some building was to be set on fire for the
purpose of attracting the police in that direction and scattering them
about. Others were to take other parts of the city and burn them so
that they would be destroyed.
“Now, this sounds as if it was a large story. But that is what Spies
had been talking for years; that is what Parsons had been talking for
years; that is what he came back here so courageously, on the arm of
the learned counsel on the other side, to hear again in court.
“That meeting that night was fruitful of great results. A bomb was
thrown at the Haymarket, and seven killed and many others injured. It
is not necessary for me to go into any more of the details of that
conspiracy. It was carried out to the letter.
“Now, there is one other little step in this case, gentlemen, that
I wish to bring to your attention. When that ‘Revenge’ circular was
circulated, Fischer, immediately thereafter, and at the conspiracy
meeting—Fischer is the foreman printer of the _Arbeiter-Zeitung_,
and the immediate friend of Spies and all these people—Fischer
was to advertise, to see that the proper number of people came to
that meeting, and he got up an advertisement, and it was printed.
He ordered twenty thousand. That advertisement will be presented to
you in the proof. That advertisement called for ‘Revenge’ and ‘A
big meeting of the workingmen at the Haymarket Square on Tuesday
night.’ Now, you see, the ‘Ruhe’ had appeared. The conspiracy was
all complete; everything was arranged; there was only one step more
to make—to get the laboring men there—because, thank God, all the
laboring men were not in this conspiracy. A very few were in it.
It is to their credit, gentlemen; and in my investigation in this
case I have more respect for the laboring man than I had before.
The laboring man as a class is an honest man, and when he saw the
‘Revenge’ circular and the call ‘to arms’ he stayed away. Fischer had
the advertisement printed, and the last sentence is this: ‘Workingmen,
come armed.’ But that was a little too much for Spies; that was too
close home. After about five thousand of these circulars were printed,
Spies orders that sentence stricken out; but the whole twenty thousand
were distributed, and with Spies’ knowledge. Spies was preparing the
alibi.
“On the evening of Tuesday, at 107 Fifth Avenue, there was a meeting
of these conspirators, of these Anarchists, of what is called the
American group, that Parsons and Fielden and, I suppose, Spies belong
to, and some others. That was held at 107 Fifth Avenue. That is at
the _Arbeiter-Zeitung_ office. They were there on Tuesday night.
Parsons was on Halsted Street, to be sure, but yet seemed anxious to
get away and go down to this other meeting on the South Side. He went
down there. The meeting was advertised for a large number of laboring
men. The laboring men did not materialize to any large extent.
Between Halsted and Desplaines there were hundreds of people walking
backwards and forwards, wondering why the meeting did not take place.
It was advertised for half past seven; they expected to precipitate
the matter at half past seven, because, pursuant to ‘Ruhe’ and the
other declarations, and pursuant to Engel and Lingg and Fischer’s
arrangement at the conspiracy meeting, they were to begin their work
in the other parts of the city about eight o’clock, as they expected
the police would precipitate the difficulty—they would precipitate
the difficulty by the police coming about eight, or between half past
seven and eight. Good speakers were advertised, yet no names given.
Spies went over there that night himself, wandered around, seemed
careless, walked over here with his friend Schnaubelt, up to the other
street—with Schwab, too. Schwab went away finally and went up to
Deering. They marched backwards and forwards there, and finally Spies
comes back to the corner here and opens the meeting, and says, when he
opens it: ‘We will not obstruct that road on Randolph Street, but will
go up here.’ So he got where he had always said they would get, just
above the intersection of the streets. They got up there on the wagon,
and Spies opened the meeting.
“Now, gentlemen, we have got down to the meeting. I have endeavored
to give you, in a kind of historical way, how this thing leads up to,
without saying specifically, the proof. I have told you that we would
prove declarations of these men, time out of number, about dynamite
and bombs, and the destruction of property and the destruction of the
police. That we will attempt to do. There is no need of my specifying
or saying what each individual witness will say.
“Neebe has upheld bloodshed and riot time and again, although from all
the inquiries put to you it would seem as if he was known as one of
these peaceable, peaceful, quiet labor organizers.
“The laboring men did not come to any large extent. There probably
were not two thousand men there at any time, even early in the
evening. There were not enough there to get up a riot. They could
not get up a riot with such a small number as that, and they were
compelled to have somebody speak to keep what they had; they were
dissolving—going away. Now, Spies was there. He is the man, I think,
that knew of ‘Ruhe;’ I think that he himself will state—I think
others will state—that they knew of all the circumstances about the
‘Ruhe,’ and about what they were going to do. I think the proof will
show that he knew of the whole conspiracy. He did not stop it. They
will undertake to show that he tried to. Now, I want you to watch that
carefully. We will have something to say on that subject as the basis
of all this. There never was a great criminal in the world, especially
if he was a coward, but what, if he undertook to commit a great crime
and wanted to conceal himself, he prepared an alibi. Parsons, Fielden,
Schwab, Neebe and Spies prepared that alibi. They were going to let
these three other men suffer, let the man that threw the bomb suffer;
but they, who had been teaching dynamite for years, asking people to
throw bombs for years—they, after the bomb had been thrown, were
going to say that they were not liable at all.
“Now, at that meeting, Spies got back up here and opened the meeting.
There was some significance in the very way he opened it. We will
have it all here. Fortunately, one of the newspaper reporters—Mr.
English, of the _Tribune_—stood there with his overcoat on, with his
hands in his pocket, not daring to take his paper out, and took a
minute of everything that was said—wrote in shorthand, with his hand
in his pocket, what they said, as long as he could. Spies opened the
meeting up here near the alley. A wagon was standing there upon which
they stood and from which they spoke. Spies found that the meeting
was going to dissolve; there wasn’t going to be any interference by
the police to any extent unless they could keep that crowd there. So
he sends Balthasar Rau over to the _Arbeiter-Zeitung_ office, where
the American group were. Now, how did he know that they were over
there? They went over to the _Arbeiter-Zeitung_ office to get Parsons,
Fielden and the rest of them to come over and address the meeting, and
they came over, and we will have what they said—where speeches were
inflammatory, denunciatory, crying for bloodshed—everything of that
character.
“Gentlemen, I have called several of these men cowards. The testimony
will show that they are. I am rather inclined to think that Fielden,
although he is an Anarchist, is the only man in the whole crowd that
stood his ground that night.
“The history of the throwing of that bomb shows that the police did
not interfere any too soon. Gentlemen, it is our humble opinion, from
looking this case all over, that Inspector Bonfield, although it is
sad to think that life is destroyed—I think Inspector Bonfield did
the wisest thing that he possibly could have done, to have called the
police there that night as he did. If he had not, the next night it
would have had to be done, or the next, and whereas seven poor men are
dead, there would have been instead hundreds, perhaps thousands. I say
again, to the credit of Bonfield and the police, I wish it understood
that at that meeting it was the wisest thing that ever happened to
this town, although cruel as it may seem in the light of the fact
that seven died. Hundreds and perhaps thousands were saved. Anarchy
had been taught and cried for months; it had almost come with its
demoralization, and the strength and courage of the police saved the
town.
“About ten o’clock, from the reports coming to Bonfield, as will
appear in proof, the inflammatory utterances of these American
citizens, of these people, had decided Bonfield that the meeting must
be broken up. He was wise. He passed down there with his force of
police, and, gentlemen, not a policeman except the commanding officer
in front had a weapon in his hand. They marched down there shoulder to
shoulder, covering the whole street, and came to the wagon. Fielden
was shouting to the police, talking about the bloodhounds as they
advanced, because he was facing them as he spoke. He probably saw them
as they turned the corner. They formed here (indicating on the map),
in this court back here, and marched into the street at Desplaines,
occupying almost the entire width of the street, facing down—what we
may call up Desplaines Street, north towards where this meeting was.
The meeting was held about the vicinity of that alley. This property
here, all through there, is Crane’s factory—R. T. Crane & Co. Here
is an alley that runs in through here. Eagle Street is here, and of
course here is Lake, and here is Randolph. Fielden was speaking; the
police came up to the wagon; Captain Ward stepped up to the crowd
and told them that he commanded them, in the name of the people of
the State of Illinois, to depart, to leave, to disperse. He made the
ordinary statutory declaration. Fielden stepped from the wagon and
said: ‘We are peaceable,’ so that it could be heard a long distance
around him. At that moment a man, who a moment before had been on
the wagon, stepped to the corner of that alley, lighted the bomb and
threw it into the police. Fielden stepped from the wagon and began
firing. He is the only one, I told you, of the crowd, that has got
any of the elements of the hero in him; he was willing to stand his
ground. The others fled. Parsons never did a manly thing in his life,
and neither did the others. They are not for law; they are against the
law. Although Fielden is against the law, he did have the English
stubbornness to stand up there and shoot, and he fired from over the
wagon until finally he disappeared.
“I have given you in detail a good deal of the proof. I have told
you the reason that I did it was, not only for your own edification,
but so that these gentlemen could know what we expect to prove. We
have nothing to conceal, we have nothing to hide. We expect as fair a
statement from them as to their case.
“I have only a word or two more to you, gentlemen. Remember,
gentlemen, that this meeting was called for half-past seven. The
police did not appear until half-past ten. There are nearly three
long hours—about half-past ten, between ten and half-past ten.
The bomb-throwers had become discouraged. Those individuals that
were situated in different parts of the town had not received the
communication, because the conspiracy embraced the fact that spies
were to be located there to scatter the word, and then was to continue
this destruction. The police came so late, and so many went away, that
it was absolutely coming very near to being a fiasco. They had been
arranging for it for months. The conspiracy had been clearly declared
and established. The only thing they needed was the crowd. The crowd
failed to come. The police failed to interfere, and finally, at the
last moment, having interfered, most of those that were there had
gone. And there was another thing. These men that were interested
in the throwing of the bomb were paralyzed, notwithstanding their
firing and the shooting, by the attitude of the police who stood up
there; and in all my examination of these men, asking each and every
one of them as far as I could what they did there that night, I have
failed to find a man that ran. They stood up there and fired at these
wretches who were pouring into them, from both sides of the street,
a volley of shots from pistols. One bomb was fired and thrown, and
just the moment that happened, not a policeman with his club—scarcely
one—not a policeman with a pistol in his hand, but every one standing
there waiting for orders. The bomb was thrown, and the firing began
from both sides of the policemen and from the crowd, and them alone.
The police never fired a shot until after many of their men had
already bit the dust.
“I will attempt to show to you, gentlemen, who threw the bomb, from
this locality (indicating on map). I have said to you that the bomb
that was thrown was made by Lingg. I will prove that.
“I have one other suggestion to make to you. There never was a
conspiracy in the world, either small or great—not a conspiracy ever
established in the world, but what there was needed some conspirator
to give the first information of its existence and its purposes. I
want you to be cautious, gentlemen, about an unjust criticism of any
member of that conspiracy who first gave us the ideas about it and its
ends. Seliger gave us the information, the first information, which
led to the knowledge of this terrible conspiracy, led to the knowledge
of the facts relating to it. I said to you, we may not use Seliger;
but I say to you this, gentlemen, that not a single conspirator placed
upon the witness-stand by the State shall be so placed there without
we can do something to corroborate his statements; and even if we do
not, I have yet to learn of a man that dare say that that conspiracy
did not exist. And so far as that is concerned as a question of
law, when a conspirator or a co-conspirator gives his testimony in
court, you have a right to reject it if you desire. But, gentlemen,
before you reject it the court will simply instruct you in regard to
a conspirator’s testimony that his testimony is to be considered
like any other witness, and that you have a right to consider his
credibility in view of the fact that he is a co-conspirator.
“This indictment is for murder, a serious charge. Under our statute
the jury fixes the penalty. If murder, the penalty is not less than
fourteen years; it may be for life; it may be the death penalty. For
manslaughter, the lower degree under murder, under our statute, which
is somewhat different from statutes in other States, the penalty is
any number of years’ imprisonment and may be for life. The indictment
in this case is for murder. There are a great many counts here, but
the chief thing is the count against these men for murder. Now, it
is not necessary in a case of this kind, nor in any case of murder,
or any other kind, that the individual who commits the exact and
particular offense—for instance, the man who threw the bomb—should
be in court at all. He need not even be indicted. The question for
you to determine is, having ascertained that a murder was committed,
not only who did it, but who is responsible for it, who abetted it,
assisted it, or encouraged it? There is no question of law in the case.
“We will show to you, I think to your entire satisfaction, that,
although perhaps none of these men personally threw that bomb, they
each and all abetted, encouraged and advised the throwing of it, and
therefore are as guilty as the individual who in fact threw it. They
are accessories.
“I have talked to you, gentlemen, longer than I expected to, and
chiefly so that you would know something about this case, know
something about the facts. I have given you not, perhaps, all the
details, but I have given you, as a whole, the facts. I want you to
patiently listen to the evidence in this case from both sides, and
be careful in your analysis. You have, most of you, been here some
time, and you have been admirably patient. Only continue that way, and
be patient in the matter, and make up your minds when the testimony
is all presented, and not before. It may take some days to get at
the proof and to place it all before you, so that you can clearly
understand it. A great deal of the proof has to come from the mouths
of witnesses whose language will have to be interpreted to you. That
will take more time. But the whole case will finally be presented to
you substantially, I think, as I have stated it. I will now leave the
matter with you.”