_People of United States of America_,
Listen to the appeal of an old man of the old world who is not a
foreigner, for he is the fellow citizen of all mankind.
In one of your states two men, Sacco and Vanzetti, have been convicted
for a crime of opinion.
It is horrible to think that human beings should pay with their lives
for the exercise of that most sacred right which, no matter what party
we belong to, we must all defend.
Don’t let this most iniquitous sentence be carried out.
The death of Sacco and Vanzetti will make martyrs of them and cover you
with shame.
You are a great people. You ought to be a just people. There are crowds
of intelligent men among you, men who think. I prefer to appeal to them.
I say to them beware of making martyrs. That is the unforgivable crime
that nothing can wipe out and that weighs on generation after
generation.
Save Sacco and Vanzetti.
Save them for your honor, for the honor of your children, and for the
generations yet unborn.