These conspirators were clumsy enough in their planning to drive the I.W.W. out of town; their intent was to stampede the marching soldiers into raiding the I.W.W. hall.  But how much more clumsy was the frame-up afterward—­the elaborate fixing of many witnesses to make it appear that Grimm was shot at Tower avenue and Second street when he actually was shot in front of the hall; and to make it appear that Ben Casagranda and Earl Watts were shot around the corner on Second street, when they were actually shot on Tower avenue, close to the front of the hall.

Then, you will remember, I compelled Elsie Hornbeck to admit that she had been shown photographs of Barnett by the prosecution.  She would not have told this fact, had I not trapped her into admitting it; that was obvious to everybody in this courtroom that day.

You have heard the gentlemen of the prosecution assert that this is a murder trial, and not a labor trial.  But they have been careful to ask all our witnesses whether they were I.W.W. members, whether they belonged to any labor union, and whether they were sympathetic towards workers on trial for their lives.  And when the answer to any of these questions was yes, they tried to brand the witness as one not worthy of belief.  Their policy and thus browbeating working people who were called as witnesses is in keeping with the tactics of the mob during the days when it held Centralia in its grasp.

You know, even if the detailed story has been barred from the record, of the part F.R.  Hubbard, lumber baron, played in this horror at Centralia.  You have heard from various witnesses that the lumber mill owned by Hubbard’s corporation, the Eastern Railway and Lumber Company, is a notorious non-union concern.  And you have heard it said that W.A.  Abel, the special prosecutor here, has been an ardent and active labor-baiter for years.

Hubbard wanted to drive the I.W.W. out of Centralia.  Why did he want to drive them out?  He said they were a menace.  And it is true that they were a menace, and are a menace—­to those who exploit the workers who produce the wealth for the few to enjoy.

Why Were Ropes Carried?

Was there a raid on the hall before the shooting?  Dr. Frank Bickford, a reputable physician, appeared here and repeated under oath what he had sworn to at the coroner’s inquest—­that when the parade stopped, he offered to lead a raid on the hall if enough would follow,—­but that others pushed ahead of him, forced open the door, and then the shots came from inside.

And why did the Rev. H.W.  Thompson have a rope?  Thompson believes in hanging men by the neck until they are dead.  When the state Employers’ Association and others wanted the hanging law in Washington revived not long ago, the Reverend Thompson lectured in many cities and towns in behalf of that law.  And he has since lectured widely against the I.W.W.  Did he carry a rope in the parade because he owned a cow and a calf?  Or what?