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PAGE 12 THE TOILER SATURDAY, OCT. 30-th 15'SG The I. W. W. Political Prisoners By John Martin, Secretary, General Defense Committee, 1001 West Madison Street, Chicago, 111. The long and bitterly contested legal fight for the release of our fellow workers convicted on the Chicago Indictment, has reached a, new stage in its development. The summing up of the good and bad results of this fight is as follows: Starting with five points against the ninety-six, there now remain only two. The fifth count was thrown out of court by Judge Landis during the trial. Counts one and two have been quashed by the Circuit Court of Appeals. This leaves only counts three and four to be ap pealed to the Supreme Court of the United States. On the other hand, no acutual betterment of the lot of our convicted fellow workers has been secur ed. Their sentences were made to run concurrent ly ; and, serving sentences on the two remaining counts, they would have to spend as much time in the penitentiary as they would had there been no killing of counts one and two. It must be borne in mind that the two counts which were quashed were those alleging acts of violence and destruction by the defendants. After the newspapers have for the past two years been spewing their venon, accusing the I. W. W. of the most dire deeds of violence, now comes the Ap peal Court of the Seventh Judicial District of the United States, and renders the accusation false! There are now no charges against our fellow work ers except Infractions of the war-time draft act and the espionage act. This makes the men purely political prisoners, convicted only of the violation of war-time legislation. Many Still In Prison, This is, however, but very mild consolation to u? who must witness the sorry spectacle of nearly a hundred of our most able fellow workers losing their health, strength and usefulness behind the grim walls of the masters' prisons. All but thirty of them, it is true, have been released on bond except twelve who, being sentenced to only a year and a day, have served their sentences but there should not be these thirty yet in prison. There should not be one of them in prison, so long as there are friends and fellow workers on the out side with the energy and capacity to secure aid for them! Our attorneys are petitioning the District Court for a rehearsing of the case. We are not especially hopeful of securing this ; and, in the probable event that it is denied, we shall immediately appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, on the two remaining counts. This may mean another year of waiting of long, dreary waiting for our fellow workers in prison. They should not have to suffer this! They should be free free to regain their health, which has been shattered in the pest houses of the master-class. They should be free to come to the support of their grief-stricken families. We have every hope of being able to secure their release on the same bond as has been prviously set, during the Supreme Court appeal. Every" member of the organization, every sympathizer with the struggle of the working class towards its emanci pation, every believer in the rights of free speech, assemblage and organization, should aid in this crusade for the freedom of our fellow workers. Loans must be solicited, in case, property or secur ities, for bail. These should be turned over to the General Defense Committee who will secure the re lease of the imprisoned men just as fast as the money comes in. A Record Of Suffering And Courage. Statistics are usually considered and, perhaps, rightly considered dry and unsatisfactory. How ever, the following figures should not prove dull. For they represent untold suffering, unquenchable courage' and unswerving class loyalty. Just read and think it over: 303 members of the Industrial Workers of the World were indicted by Federal Grand Juries dur ing the war. 201 were brought to trial. 168 were convicted and sentenced to prison. 96 had their indictments quashed, or cases against them dismissed. 33 were dismissed during trial, or were found "Guilty" but were not sentenced. 8 won their appeal in the Appellate Court and were released.