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Hellraisers Journal – Monday February 28, 1910
Spokane, Washington – Trial of Gurley Flynn and Filigno, Part II
From The Workingman’s Paper of February 26, 1910:
[Part II of II.]
The Jury
The first two days of the trial were taken up with impaneling the jury. It fell to Mr. Don Kiser’s lot to have charge of the prosecution’s side of this part of the performance.
About forty men were called before it was possible to get twelve men who were satisfactory. The vast majority were prejudiced against the I. W. W.; in fact, it was a surprise when a man would make the statement that he had formed no opinion concerning the case, or even when one would say he considered labor had a right to organize in order to better its conditions, etc.
Finally, however, by Friday afternoon the jury began to look like a jury and things were ready for taking up the testimony.
[The Prosecution’s Case.]
[Main witness for the prosecution were:
-Detective Martin J. Burns who testified that 20% of those arrested said no more than “Fellow Worker.”
-Chief Sullivan, witness for the prosecution, was unable to explain why foreigners who said no more than “Fellow-Workers” could draw such big crowds.
-“Floor-Spitter” Detective McDonald testified that the men he arrested were all foreigners whose names he could not remember nor pronounce.]
Defense Opens
At 3:30 [Tuesday February 15th] Mr. Symmes addressed the jury, and on request of defense court adjourned at about 4, to take up defense testimony in the morning.
Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Testimony of Fellow Workers Elizabeth Gurley Flynn and C. L. Filigno at Spokane Free Speech Trial” →
HE agitation of the I. W. W. and free speech fight in Spokane, Washington, if it brought no other effects has been valuable in that it has forced the officials to take action against the employment agencies. In the beginning of the difficulty they were admitted by Judge Mann to be the cause of all the trouble. Since that time Mayor Pratt has frankly admitted refunding thousands of dollars to working-men who had been sold fictitious jobs by the employment agencies. There were about thirty-one in the city of Spokane but the licenses of all but twelve of these were revoked.
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