The
Pinkerton Labor Spy
by
Morris Friedman

CHAPTER XVIII.

JAMES M'PARLAND TELLS THE TRUTH,
CONFIDENTIALLY, TO GENERAL MANAGER BANGS— PRESIDENT CHARLES H. MOYER IS RELEASED.

The labor troubles which kept Colorado in a turmoil for over two years, and the high-handed operations of Governor Peabody in overthrowing law and order, aroused considerable interest the country over, and a number of articles were written on these subjects by different people.

Among others, one I. Edwin Goldwasser, of New York City, was seized with a desire to write up an account of the troubles, and as he had once had the pleasure of meeting and talking with Principal Robert A. Pinkerton in Denver, he concluded that Mr. Pinkerton resided in that city, and addressed a letter to him, accordingly, on Jan. 4th, 1905.

In this letter Mr. Goldwasser reminded Mr. Pinkerton that about two years ago he had called on him at Denver while en route to San Francisco, bearing a letter of introduction from Mr. Meyers, a theatrical manager, and that during this visit Mr. Pinkerton had explained to him some of the workings of the Agency, and extended a promise of assistance, in case he required help.

Mr. Goldwasser then stated that he was very anxious to know the actual conditions that prevailed in the Cripple Creek District at the time of the wholesale deportations by the militia, and whether or not Governor Peabody was justified in permitting those excesses.

In conclusion Mr. Goldwasser requested that in case the Agency could not supply him with the information desired, Mr. Pinkerton should let him know which of the Denver daily newspapers would be apt to do so.

As a matter of fact Mr. Robert A. Pinkerton resides in New York City, and Mr. Goldwasser's meeting him in Denver was simply due to the fact that Mr. Pinkerton must have happened to be in that city on a brief visit. However, the Denver post office authorities delivered Mr. Goldwasser's letter to the office of the Pinkerton Agency, where it was turned over to Manager James McParland for reply.

Manager McParland wrote Mr. Goldwasser a letter telling him that as Mr. Robert A. Pinkerton resided in New York, he had referred his letter to the New York office of the Agency for attention; and furthermore, that the Denver office was not in a position to give him the information he required.

And Mr. McParland did, indeed, send Mr. Goldwasser's letter to General Manager Bangs of the Pinkerton Agency. He did more. He wrote Mr. Bangs a letter on the subject of Mr. Goldwasser's inquiries, dated Jan. 10th, 1905, and incidentally gave his honest opinion of Governor Peabody.

In the course of this letter Manager McParland stated that Mr. Goldwasser evidently wanted the information in question for the purpose of writing an article for some magazine or journal; and if the Agency gave him any data, he would undoubtedly point to the Agency as authority for his article. Mr. McParland insisted that it would be very undiplomatic to implicate the Agency in this controversy, and therefore counselled that Mr. Goldwasser's request be refused.

However, the main interest attaching to Mr. McParland's letter is where he tells General Manager Bangs that the maneuvers of the Peabody administration were fully approved by a great number of prominent citizens of Colorado, including himself and all the officials of the Agency in Denver, DESPITE THE FACT THAT THERE WAS SCARCELY ONE AMONG THEM (the citizens and Pinkertons) BUT KNEW THAT MANY OF THE ACTS OF GOVERNOR PEABODY WERE IN VIOLATION OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES AND COLORADO.

Governor Peabody, Judge Gabbert, Bishop Matz, C. C. Hamlin, General Sherman Bell, Manager Bulkley Wells, and other prominent citizens of Colorado might have felt strongly inclined to denounce our opinion of their doings and decisions as the opinion of an "Anarchist."

But, surely, James McParland of Pinkerton's National Detective Agency, the fountain-head of conservatism, the pitiless destroyer of the Molly Maguires, the faithful servant of the corporations, the arch enemy of the Western Federation of Miners, and the sole hope of the prosecution in the famous MoyerHaywood-Pettibone conspiracy and murder case in Idaho, cannot in all fairness be likewise denounced as an "Anarchist," and yet his opinion of Governor Peabody's actions is as little complimentary to the latter as is our own.

We do not wish to dwell long on Manager McParland's opinion. We know well enough, without him, that we are right. The only value of Mr. McParland's confession is that it corroborates what we have already said; namely, that the great and the rich are willing to inaugurate and uphold even a despotic form of government, when it subserves their selfish interests, and that they would force the people to believe that such a government is a republic, although in their heart of hearts they know that such a government is a tyranny, and can exist only in gross violation of the Constitution of the State and Nation.

But we must not leave Mr. Moyer in the bull pen; and the reader is certainly curious to know how he finally obtained his liberty.

After the Colorado Supreme Court denied Mr. Moyer's application for a write of habeas corpus, the attorneys for the Federation of Miners realized that if they depended on Colorado justice, Mr. Moyer would have to spend the rest of his life in the bull pen. They therefore applied to the United States Circuit Court of Appeals at St. Louis, Missouri, for a writ of habeas corpus, and Justice Amos M. Thayer of that court issued the writ, ordering Governor Peabody to produce the body of Charles H. Moyer before him in St. Louis on July 5th, 1904.

When Governor Peabody discovered that the United States Court had assumed jurisdiction, he became so alarmed and confused that he scarcely knew what to do. He had a premonition that if he permitted the Moyer case to be tried by an impartial Federal court, far removed from the disturbed and corrupt atmosphere of Colorado, that his cause would be sure to meet with ignominious defeat.

The governor decided it was high time for him to beat a retreat; and with a haste that almost amounted to trepidation, he wired Capt. Wells that martial law was revoked in San Miguel County, and that President Moyer should be turned over to the civil authorities without delay.

In turning President Moyer over to the civil authorities, Governor Peabody repeated the Victor Poole maneuver. He escaped the ordeal of going before the United States Court. The hasty action of Governor Peabody in revoking martial law the instant he discovered that the victim of his hatred was about to get a fair and impartial hearing is proof conclusive, first; that his proclamation placing San Miguel County under martial law was simply a subterfuge to work the miners injury; and second, that the governor was well aware that his treatment of President Moyer was utterly illegal.

Immediately after Mr. Moyer was placed in the custody of the civil authorities, the military commanders, for form's sake, charged him with the commission of a number of serious crimes. Mr. Moyer furnished bond, was soon at liberty, and no attempt was ever made by the mine owners or military to bring him to trial on any of the charges.

The release of President Moyer from military and civil arrest marks the close of the great struggle between the Western Federation of Miners and the allied State and corporation forces in Colorado.

Chapter XIX. Two Black Sheep Meet, But One Doesn't Know The Other.