When Miners March

by William C. Blizzard

  “It matters not whether those who opposed the armed marchers of Logan County were formally enlisted in the state militia or not, because that conflict was only part of an act of treason.”

  The judge’s ruling made matters look not very bright for the young coal miner defendant from Cabin Creek. However, Judge Woods did limit the discussion of overt acts of Blizzard to Logan County, where the indictments were returned. It is rather odd that Judge Woods made no mention in his ruling of what was obvious to so many both within and without the borders of West Virginia, that to rebel against the coal operators was to rebel against the state government for they were one and the same. Carrying the situation to its logical extreme, any coal miner who refused to abide by a decision of his boss was also refusing an order from the state government, and thus liable to prosecution. There was naked industrial tyranny in West Virginia, plain for all to see; that Judge Woods fails to note this fact is merely one example of many cases of judicial blindness.

  The United Mine Workers of America was to have other headaches than the treason trial and the national coal strike, both back-breaking burdens. For on the same day, May 19, on which Judge Woods made his adverse ruling quoted above, a suit was filed in Federal Court in Charleston, W. Va., asking $1 million in damages as a result of the alleged shooting up of the Willis Branch Coal Company during the 1919 strike. An attempt was also made to attach the property of the union, valued at about $150,000, in Charleston and Beckley. The coal operators were giving the UMW no rest, pouring in blow upon blow in an attempt to kill the organization which had the colossal effrontery to give their employees the right of collective bargaining strength.

  2/14/1953 (Sixty-second)

  Defense witnesses were called after the adverse treason ruling of Judge Woods, among them one Roy Roberts, a Charleston Gazette reporter who testified that he knew where Blizzard was from Aug. 24 through Sept. 1. Later than that he could not swear to, but assumed that he saw Blizzard at an even later date in the Charleston area, for he was assigned to cover the Union headquarters. This is hardly important, except to show that if you catch a reporter young enough in life and early enough in the newspaper business, he may still be a pretty nice person. Roberts at the time was 21 year of age.

  In accordance with the ruling of Judge Woods, limiting consideration of an overt act to what occurred in Logan County, the matter seemed to resolve around just why Blizzard was on Blair Mountain Sept. 2 and 3, 1921, if he was there at all. If the operators proved that he was present he still stood an excellent chance of acquittal if he could establish a reasonable alibi for his being in Logan at that time. But Army General H.H. Bandholtz was not of much help on the witness stand, in fact injuring the miners’ case by reading form the Charleston Gazette his statement about leadership carrying with it “responsibility for acts of subordinate,” a contention heavily emphasized by the prosecution.

  W.R. Thurmond, president of the Logan County Coal Operators Association, admitted on the witness stand that the operators had paid $15,000 to finance the treason trial against Blizzard, $1,000 of this money, he said, was for attorney fees, and the rest for witnesses. Judge Woods excluded the jury from the room while this evidence was being given, and it was not admitted into the record. Woods maintaining that it didn’t make any difference who was financing the trial, if Blizzard was guilty. Thurmond said that it was the hope of the operators that they would be able to get some of their money back from the state.

  Murray Takes Stand

  Philip Murray took the stand and stated that the UMW as an organization had opposed the March, but that he had no use for coal operator “desperadoes” who were responsible for the incident at Sharples.

  “Do you call state troops desperadoes?” demanded A.M. Belcher, prosecution attorney.

  “I call the troops who maliciously and deliberately murdered our miners desperadoes no matter who they represented,” said Murray.

  After five weeks of questioning and cross-questioning, both sides, judge, jury, and general public were growing weary of litigation. On May 25, 1922, defense and prosecution rested their cases. Final arguments were made and the jury was left to make a decision. Coal Operator Attorney C.W. Osenton made a bloody closing speech, demanding the life of Blizzard, and intimating that the prosecution of Chief Counsel Harold W. Houston, presumably also on treason charges, was to occur in the immediate future.

  The brilliance of Osenton’s oratory was somewhat obscured when, at a high point in his tirade, a juryman’s chair broke and one of the 12, good and true, tumbled into a cuspidor.

  Coal Operator Attorney A.M. Belcher attacked Attorney General E.T. England, whom he said was “against the state,” meaning, of course that England could not stomach the high-handed methods of West Virginia coal operators.

  Perhaps 500 people crowded the old courthouse in Charles Town where John Brown had been hanged for treason in 1859, as the jury deliberated the fate of Blizzard, the fate of the other defendants, and the fate of the United Mine Workers of America. For the conviction of Blizzard would be the first explosion in a chain-reaction of coal operator thrusts at the miners and their union. A large burden of responsibility lay upon the shoulders of the jurymen who retired for about two hours and then shortly before 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 27, announced to the tense crowd that they had been unable to reach a decision.

  The jurymen retired again at 7:30, after a short recess, and at 9:37 they once more filed into the courtroom. This time the foreman announced that they had reached a verdict. Judge Woods warned against any demonstration. The clerk read the verdict: “We, the jury, find for the defendant.” Every person in the courtroom rose to his feet, but there was complete silence, broken only by a defense motion that the wording of the verdict be changed to conform with the law. But legal technicalities did not matter to the raw-nerved crowd in the Charles Town courtroom. The verdict was clear. Blizzard was acquitted.

  Operators Spurn Defeat

  Judge Woods adjourned court until 10 o’clock Monday, and the pent-up feelings of five grueling weeks could be restrained no longer. Cheers resounded throughout the courtroom. Blizzard’s mother, wife and children clung to his neck, while the young defendant, all smiles, shook hands with friends until his hand was sore. He later headed a parade, complete with drum corps, which marched through the streets of Charles Town.

  The following comment from The Nation magazine was typical of the opinion of the liberal press:

  “The acquittal of William Blizzard, charged with treason in connection with the march of the miners in West Virginia last summer, is a welcome sign of the probable collapse of the entire prosecution. The fact that Blizzard was picked for trial first has been accepted as an indication that the case against him was the strongest, and its failure to stand up before a jury confirms the impression that there never was any justification for charges of treason as a consequence of the unhappy events of nearly a year ago. The sham and animus of the proceeding is further illuminated by the testimony of W.R. Thurmond, president of the Logan County Coal Operators, that his organization financed the prosecution to the extent of at least $15,000. The ruling of the judge that this fact had nothing to do with the guilt or innocence of Blizzard may be technically correct, but it warrants the assumption of persecution rather than prosecution, and ought to jolt the citizens of even coal controlled West Virginia.”

  But it was not true that the coal operators had accepted defeat. One other miner, Walter Allen, was also tried at Charles Town on treason charges, and convicted on Sept. 16, 1922. He was sentenced to ten years in the penitentiary, but gave bond and appealed to the State Supreme Court. While decision was pending Allen apparently decided that his faith in courts of law was somewhat shaken, for he simply disappeared, forfeiting bond, and has not been heard from since. His case yet reposes in the Supreme Court files, and decision is still pending.

  The Rev. James E. Wilburn and his son, John, were tried on murder charges at Charles Town in June, 1922, for the killing o
f Don Chafin’s deputy, John Gore, on Blair Mountain. That is, they were charged with being in the patrol which fired on Gore and his party. The two miners were convicted and sentenced to 11 years each in the penitentiary. But, in the 1923 murder trial of Blizzard and other UMW leaders, growing out of the same incident, the Wilburns became stool pigeons for the coal operators. As a reward, evidently, their sentences were commuted to five years each by Governor Morgan, and they were later given full pardons by Governor Howard M. Gore. Which proves how great and kind are the hearts of the governors of West Virginia.

  2/17/1953 (Sixty-third)

  A series of murder trials during 1923 and early 1924 kept the District 17 officials and their attorneys busy. Again the State of West Virginia chose to put on trial William Blizzard, alleging that as a leader of the miners he was therefore responsible for the deaths of George Munsey and others on Blair Mountain. There was a change of venue from Jefferson County to Morgan County and then to Greenbrier County. Blizzard went to trial in Lewisburg, in the latter county, in mid-June, 1923, and after a month of litigation the jury was unable to agree and was discharged by Judge S.H. Sharp.

  Blizzard was scheduled for another trial in August in Lewisburg, but grand jury charges of bribery of jurors in the first trial caused another change of venue, this time to Fayette County.

  This time C.F. Keeney, District 17 President, had to face a murder charge, but was acquitted in March, 1924. Other trials were set for June, but they never occurred. The coal operators apparently felt that they were going to useless expense in attempting to convict the District 17 leadership of major crimes, for they dropped all charges against Blizzard, Keeney, and Sec.-Treas. Fred Mooney. Nor were any of the many other defendants ever brought to trial.

  Without a doubt this sudden cessation of hostilities had behind it very good reasons. It may be that the operators knew that they would deal with the men from the local Union at Eskdale, on Cabin Creek. (Keeney, Mooney, Blizzard and others of the District leadership were all from this same area.) But whether the operators knew it or not, the end of an era was in sight. Gone were the days of District autonomy in the UMW. John L. Lewis had apparently decided that the International Union could better handle the vast miners’ empire through a network of appointed District officials, and the effect of this new policy was soon to be felt in District 17. But more of this later. Let us revert briefly to this period of court battles.

  A ‘Deliberate Distortion’

  This time of the treason and murder trials – 1922 to 1924 – was one of real crisis for District 17 and West Virginia miners. It will be recalled that a national strike was in progress from April 1, 1922, and West Virginia miners were idle for many months. The expenses of this strike, plus the heavy expenses of the trials, were a real burden to the District. There are many references in Union reports of trips to Cleveland and elsewhere for the purpose of borrowing money. But the District weathered this storm, there being, on July 5, 1923, $43,184.77 in the treasury.

  The UMW had its difficulties with the press during the time when the very lives of the District 17 leadership were at stake. For instance, here is a telegram signed by UMW Defense Counsel T.C. Townsend and Harold W. Houston, dated July 8, 1923:

  “Frederick Roy Martin, Gen’l M’gr.

  “Associated Press

  “51 Chambers Street

  “New York City.

  “We hereby re-affirm and stand by the statements made in our joint telegram to you of July fourth to the effect that the reports of the Blizzard trial at Lewisburg, W. Va., as carried by the Associated Press were unfair and prejudicial to the defendant, and unwarrantably favorable to the pseudo prosecution. We are alone responsible for the sending of that telegram and for the protest, and have no notion or desire of retracting one word of it. Am writing you fully.”

  One or more of the same attorneys, under date of July 10, 1923, also wrote as follows:

  “Hon. Herbert Phaler,

  “Editor, Charleston Gazette,

  “Charleston, West Virginia.

  “My dear Mr. Phaler:

  “I am enclosing you herewith a transcript of a portion of the evidence of Viars containing a portion of his direct and a portion of his cross examination. You will observe from this testimony that Viars went to Marmet to Indian Creek on Big Coal River, reaching Indian Creek about the 25th or 26th of August, 1921. On Saturday, the 27th of August, 1921, Viars returned to his home. He did not leave his home until Tuesday evening, August the 30th, 1921, and reached Blair late Wednesday evening. He remained in Blair on Wednesday night, and went to the mountains on Thursday.

  Newspaper Bias Shown

  “On his return from the mountains on Thursday evening, which was September the 1st, 1921, he saw Blizzard. This was the only time he saw Blizzard in and around Blair. Compare this testimony with the article in the Gazette of Thursday written by your correspondent here, and you will see clearly that the article places Viars in Blair on August the 30th, and that he saw Blizzard on August the 30th in Blair. By his own testimony he did not leave his home until the evening of August the 30th, and did not reach Blair until Wednesday evening, the 31st of August, and did not see Blizzard until Thursday evening, September the 1st. The article further states that the ammunition which Viars secured from Blizzard was used in the battle where Munsey, Gore and Cafalgo were killed. This battle took place on the 31st of August, 1921, before Viars had reached Blair and before he testifies to seeing Blizzard in Blair. You can clearly see that the article is a deliberate distortion of the testimony.”

  Additional communication was had with the Baltimore Sun and H.C. Ogden of the Wheeling News and Intelligencer, in efforts to get unbiased coverage of the court proceedings. The coal company bias of the Charleston newspaper had long been the lament of the UMW, as, indeed, it is today. We have no record of UMW communication with the Charleston Daily Mail, and it may be that Union attorneys felt that protest was useless with the hopelessly biased ‘Evening Wail ‘, as it was christened by the pro-labor West Virginia Federationist.

  As to the charges of bribery in the trial of Blizzard at Lewisburg, this writer is unable to comment, except to indicate that he has in his possession a letter signed by Harold W. Houston, along with some rather interesting hand written statements relating to same which were evidently torn from a small notebook. Houston’s letter concludes as follows: “You can trust the bearer of this note. Destroy it as soon as read.” The handwritten notes indicate that an unknown party was attempting to sell the letter to A.M. Belcher coal operator attorney, for $3,000. They also indicate that some very well known West Virginia lawyers and politicians did offer this unknown party three one thousand dollar bills for the letter, although they suspected a trap. And it may have been a trap, for all this writer knows. The parties concerned are not likely to do much talking about it, so it must remain something of a mystery. It is mentioned merely to show that the coal operators apparently were not above spending a little money in the worthy cause of hanging members of the United Mine Workers of America.

  2/18/1953 (Sixty-fourth)

  While the leaders of District 17 were fighting off the attempts of the coal operators to hang them by their necks until dead, the coal owners were quite busy doing “publicity” work designed to show that all this silly talk about miners getting shoved around in West Virginia was merely “radical” poppycock.

  To succeed in their purpose they desired something a bit more effective than the sometimes rather dry, although always helpful, reports of the state Chamber of Commerce, and the aid of the editors of the various local newspapers. The latter were doing well in pulling the wool over the eyes of the residents of West Virginia towns, but it was unfortunately true that national attention had been turned toward West Virginia by the Armed March and the consequent treason and murder trials. And this attention, as few remarks from conservative and liberal journals, was not of the most flattering type for the coal operator, who wailed that the honor of West Virginia was being besmir
ched.

  For it has ever been true, and is true today, that the West Virginia coal operator identifies the interest of the state with his own private welfare. In 1921 and thereafter the coal operator was quite justified in this viewpoint, and could say, with Louis XIV, L’etat, c’est moi, that is, the operator could say so with regard to the state governmental machinery. His welfare and the welfare of the people who worked for him were often a long distance from identical, although you will never, if you live to be a thousand and there is still coal left in West Virginia, get him to admit this point.

  Anyway, the West Virginia coal operator at this time was worried about adverse national publicity. In order to secure a “good press” and in order to continue a tight grip over governmental affairs in the Mountain State, a group of operators and public officials who were hand in glove with them banded together to form the American Constitutional Association. We have briefly mentioned this organization in a previous chapter, and asked that it not be confused with the Constitutional League, an organization which the miners attempted to form in 1921.

  A Whitewash Job

  The American Constitutional Association was a forerunner of such groups as the present-day Committee For Constitutional Government, America’s Future, Incorporated, and other ultra-reactionary bodies whose purpose seems to be to take away the liberty of the ordinary American with one hand while holding fast to the American constitution and a hymn book with the other. They do not like to be thus characterized and they are hypocritical enough and clever enough to fool some very good people, so their power is often rather awesome.

  Nevertheless, it must be said that the American Constitutional Association of this era was formed for two purposes only: to consolidate and increase, if possible, the power of the coal operators in West Virginia, and (2) to hoodwink the more-or-less-gullible public into believing that there was not a selfish desire in their coal-dust hearts.