The 'Commonweal' Prisoners in Court
After weeks of legal maneuvering, fifteen members of the industrial army are released, though questions of their forced transport and detention remain.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The prosecution of the United States against the batch of Yakima 'Wealers' on trial before Judge Hanford practically closed its case last evening, and the trial resulted in the discharge of fifteen of the prisoners who had been identified by many of the witnesses heard for the state. The men appeared glad to get out of their cramped quarters and quietly left the courtroom as soon as they were told they were free, though one, who gave the historical name of McGinty, logically asked the court that as he was forcibly carried away from Yakima, where he belonged, he thought the court ought to see that he was returned there, especially as he had no money and was 'busted.' Judge Hanford could not see it in the same light and told him all he could do for him at present was to give him his liberty. McGinty waited no longer but left the court in a sulky mood. Attorney Carroll attempted to secure the release of others on the ground that their identification had not been positive and did not connect them with any overt act, but Judge Hanford said for the present he would put them on their defense.
“McGinty logically asked the court that as he was forcibly carried away from Yakima... he thought the court ought to see that he was returned there.”
This trial was part of the aftermath of the 1894 'Industrial Army' movement, where unemployed workers marched on Washington, D.C. It highlights the long-standing friction between labor protest and the judicial system in Seattle, echoing contemporary debates about how public spaces and public rights are policed.
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