The Daily Worker Newspaper, February 28, 1925, Page 12

~ on which Thayer sat. als OR. manner in which Judge Webster Thayer sentenced him to fifteen years in prison on the charge of attempted highway robbery. “There was not a vibration of sympathy in his tone as he did so,” says Vanzetti. “I won- dered as I listened to him, why he hat- ed me so. Is not a judge supposed to be impartial? But now I think I know—I must have looked to him like a strange animal, being a plain worker, an alien and a radical to boot.” The modesty which is part of the make-up of Vanzetti never told him that the reason Judge Webster Thayer hated him was that in addition to be- ing “a plain worker, an alien and a radical to boot” ne was a man of fine intelligence devoting that intelligence to challenging the system of which Thayer is part. NE did not need to sit long in the c6urt room of Superior Court Judge Webster Thayer in Dedham while. Bartolomeo Vanzetti was there to realize that the two strongest per- sonalities in that court room were Thayer and Vanzetti. The cage in which Vanzetti sat faced the bench Vanzetti never took his eyes from Thayer and Thayer knew it. Thayer is a good lawyer in the sense that he knows the law. He has a fine brain which he has con- centrated on legal problems. Van- zetti has a fine brain which he has concentrated on ideas of brotherhood and the bringing about of a better system of society. Thayer has an education gotten in the best schools and univerities in the country. Van- zetti educated himself in the time left him after earning a living for himself. HAYER knows Blackstone, the de- cisions of the supreme court and the statutes of Massachusetts. Van- zetti knows Marx,.. Dante, ..Mazzini, Sirangely...ennf the Teint 8 jpencer and the other scientists are more than mere names to Vamzetti. He has studied them and said “my teeth were not made for such bones; nevertheless I Proceed to gnaw them desperately, and I believe not uselessly.” Vanzetti’s understanding of English | . is far from perfect, Thayer can make | the language of Milton and Shake speare do tricks for him that it was never intended to do. The legal im- | plications of his slightest always seem to be limitless. ITH all the advantages on the | side of Thayer one would as- sume he would be a good enuf sport or enuf of a gentleman to refrain from taking unfair advantage of Van zetti. But Thayer is neither gentle- man nor a good sport. Thayer knows and knows well that he is trying much more than a mur- der case when he is trying Sacco and Vanzetti. On the slightest provoca- tion he will deliver a lecture from the bench on the dignity of the law and the importance of upholding it. To these arguments in defense of capi- talism Vanzetti can answer nothing. But his steady gaze fixed on Thayer is a challenge. It is a challenge of which Thayer is conscious and he always seems to be addressing his remarks directly to Vanzetti, B. on one ocasion Vanzetti did f answer. It was during the hear- ings relative to the alleged insanity of Sacco. Thayer had just commit- ted Sacco to the hospital for observa- tien. He then delivered a talk on the idea that “this is &, government of laws, not men.” Sacco had been on a hunger strike ‘for twenty-nine days as a protest —— against the frame-up which had put him and Vangetti in prison, Thayer was pointing out that an individual could not stop or impede the work- ings of the law. That the law was more important than persons, “The time will never come I hope when one person can make his will felt over his fellows. When the word of one person will have the force of law,” he said. The harangue lasted about remark 3 | VANZETTI AND JUDGE THAYER ieee nS Se Nicola Sacco, His Wife and Son. Bartolomeo Vanzetti. ten minutes when Thayer reached this point in his argument. O doubt thru the mind of Vanzetti flashed pictures of the frame-up that had brot Sacco and himself into the -cage in the court room as pris- oners and he snapped in a loud,clear, challenging voice, “We are at that time now.” Baliffs hurried about the court room bellowing, “Silence in the court.” The clerk rapped his desk and a guard rushed to the edge of the cage where Vanzetti sat. The judge continued droning out his remarks, UT Vanzetti had at last challenged the bunk of the judge to whom he was compelled to listen. That little scene which was over in a mo ment symbolized vividly the challenge which the working class hurls in the face of existing society. It might well have been a part taken from a symbolite drama transplanted to real life. Today Vanzetti lies in the Bridge water state hospital for the criminal insane legally a crazy man but in reality suffering from the éffects of his years of prison life locked away from the free air he loved. Thayer has rendered his final decision in the case of Sacco and Vanzetti by pass- ing the buck and refusing their de- mand for a new trial saying the su- preme court could reverse him if it wished. ANZETTI’S future seems to hold but two possibilities, life in an insane asylum or death in the electric chair unless his class frees him. Thayer’s future seems secure. For his part in the now world famous case “The People of the State of Massa- chusetts vs, Nicola Sacco and Bartolo- meo Vanzetti” he will probably be given a judgeship in the supreme court of Massachusetts. There his life long ambition will be realized and he can continue to play a part in what has been called “the immortal adventure of the law in Massachu- setts,” Lines to the Unorganized Unemployed. Too many boots, and your feet are unshod, Too many suits, and you shiver with cold, Toe many houses, you bed on the sod, Too many meals, so your rations are doled. Over-production—the warehouse is full; Over-production—you starve on the street; | Over-production—a nice little lull With plenty stored up—but nothing to eat. Think of the boss that you love feed- ing fat, While you tighten your belt and go begging a meal; i Think of the banquet his family it at As you prowl by the shops and are tempted to steal, Over-production—you hell; Over-production— you took _ little speeded like pay; Over-production—you did your work well; Over-production—of Bosses today! Henry Geo. Weiss. GO TO YOUR CLASS MOVIES “The Beauty and the Bolshevik” “Russia in Overalls”: East Pittsburgh, Pa., Feb. 28. Gary, Ind., Eagle Theater, March 8, noon to midnight. Milwaukee, Wis., Pabst Theater, March 7, one matinee, one evening show. Neffs, Ohio, March 20. San Francisco, Cal., March 21. Los Angeles, Cal. April 8. Tacoma, Wash., April 19. “Polikushka” and. its companion comedy and news reel will be shown: Kenosha, Wis., Feb. 28. Bentleyville, Pa., May 1. “Russia and Germany” is being shown in the Miners’ Union Theater, Galloway, W. Va., Feb. 28. ee