The Rise and Fall of Anarchy in America. George N. McLean
you ever see anybody excluded by the doorkeeper?”
“No, sir.”
“Did you ever have any ushers—anybody who got seats for strangers.”
“No, sir; but I saw some of the old members get up and give their seats when strangers came in.”
“You stated that Mr. Spies introduced resolutions in sympathy with a girl?”
“Somebody else introduced them but Spies opposed it. He said there was no use making resolutions.”
“That is, the girl had had her day in court and it was no use passing resolutions?”
“He said it would be a good opportunity for some one to take a pistol and go and shoot Wight.”
“You are sure Spies said that?”—“Yes, sir.”
“You wrote out your report immediately with all the facts fresh in your mind.”—“Yes, I wrote it that night.”
“Didn’t you write in your report [reading from it] that Keegan said that after Spies got through with his remarks?”—“Yes, but Mr. Spies said it also.”
“You are sure of that?”—“Yes, sir.”
“Will you show me the place in your report where this is said?“—“I don’t find it.”
“Then your memory is better now than it was immediately after the meeting?”
“It is considerably better now that I have refreshed it.”
“A detective’s memory gets better as the time goes on, does it?”
Mr. Grinnell objected to this kind of cross-examination.
Referring to the charges against Sergt. Patton, Mr. Foster asked: “Were the circumstances stated that the girl had been grossly abused, but his brother officers stood round and swore him out?”
“It may have been.”
“And was it not stated as a general expression that such a man ought to be shot?”
“It may have been.”
In regard to the strike at La Salle, Mr. Foster made it appear as if Parsons had simply stated in general terms that if soap was put on the rails the train would not be able to move, but that he did not advise anybody to go and put the soap on. Fielden’s remark that something had been discovered by which the working men could resist the police and militia, and Parson’s remark that he would not live on snow-ballssnowballs another winter, were represented by Mr. Foster in an equally innocent and harmless light.
Oscar Neebe.
The cross-examination for the day concluded with the following questions and answers:
“You heard Fielden say: ‘While we march toward the Board of Trade we will sing the Marseillaise hymn?’ ”—“Yes, sir.”
“That you understood to be the French national hymn?”—“Yes, sir.”
W. H. Freeman, a reporter, testified as follows:
“I was at the corner of Randolph and Desplaines streets. Saw Parsons speaking, and listened to what he had to say. Some one said Mayor Harrison was there and I tried to find him. There was a big crowd. Parsons said that Jay Gould was a robber, and asked what was to be done. Somebody shouted, ‘Throw him in the lake.’ Parsons said: ‘No, that won’t do. We must overthrow the system by which he was enabled to secure so much money.’ He shouted frequently: ‘To arms! to arms!’ and the crowd applauded. There were six or eight persons on the wagon. Fielden, the next speaker, discussed legislation, saying that Martin Foran had admitted that it was impossible for the working men to get their rights through legislation, and that the people were fools to send such a man to Congress when he owned that the legislation could not better them. He justified the forthcoming revolution, saying it was just as proper as the colonial revolution. The police came up quietly and my first knowledge of it was the command to disperse. Then the bomb exploded. It made a terrible noise, and a moment after the firing commenced. Parsons, Spies and Fielden were on the wagon, and I think I saw Schwab there. I crouched down behind the wagon until after the firing was over; then I went to the Desplaines street station. On getting out on the street I saw two officers lying wounded. I spoke to them but they didn’t answer, so I told the sergeant of a patrol-wagon about it.”
Officer McKeogh testified:
“I was at the Haymarket on the night of May 4. Parsons followed Spies, saying: ‘I am a Socialist from the top of my head to the soles of my feet, and I’ll express my sentiments if I die before morning.’ Again he said: ‘I pay rent for the house I live in.’ Some one asked: ‘What does the landlord do with the money?’ Parsons replied: ‘I am glad you asked that question. The landlord pays taxes, they go to pay the sheriff, the militia, and the Pinkertonites.’ The crowd cheered, then Parsons cried: ‘To arms! to arms!’ and Fielden took the stand. He said: ‘The law does not protect you, working men. Did the law protect you when the police shot down your brothers at McCormick’s? Did the law protect you when McCormick closed the doors of his factory and left you and your wives and children to starve? I say throttle the law; strangle it, kill it!’ ”
H. E. O. Heineman, formerly a reporter on the Arbeiter Zeitung, was asked:
“Mr. Heineman, you were formerly an Internationalist?”—“Yes, sir.”
“When did you cease your connection with them?”—“About two years ago.”
“Whom of the defendants do you know that were in that association or society before you left it?”—“Of my own knowledge I know none but one, that is Neebe. He used to belong to the same group that I did.”
“Did you ever meet with any of the others at any of the meetings?”—“Yes; Spies, Schwab, and I think, Parsons.”
“That was about the time Herr Most came here and delivered some speeches?”—“Yes, sir.”
“And it was on account of those speeches you severed your connection with the Anarchists?”—“Yes.”
“Whom did you see on the speaker’s wagon at the Haymarket?”—“I saw the speakers, Spies, Schwab and Fielden, and Rudolph Schnaubelt, whom I had formerly known from my connection with the Internationalists.”
“You say Schnaubelt was on the wagon. How long after the cloud came up and the crowd thinned out did you see him?”—“I cannot say.”
“Well, how long before the police came did you miss Schnaubelt?”—“I cannot say; perhaps ten minutes.”
“You say Mr. Neebe was a member of the Internationalist organization. Now, you didn’t have any passwords, did you? It wasn’t an organization where you drilled, was it?”—“It was an avowed Socialistic order.”
Another sensational witness was Harry L. Gilmer, a workman, who testified that he saw Spies and Rudolph Schnaubelt standing inside the mouth of the alley at the Haymarket; that Spies lit a match for Schnaubelt, who in turn lit the fuse of the bomb and threw it among the police. An effort was made to shake the testimony of this witness, which was not successful, and witnesses were then brought forward to impeach his veracity, but the state produced many prominent men who knew him, and who stated that they would believe him under oath.
Captain Frank Schaack, in charge of the East Chicago avenue police station, who unearthed the Anarchists’ conspiracy after the Haymarket, was called to the stand on Thursday, July 29. Lingg’s trunk was placed before him. He was asked:
“Do you know any of the defendants in this case?”
“I have seen Spies, Schwab and Parsons, and Engel and Lingg were arrested and confined in my station.”
“When