Page 1

Corona, NY,
12- 50th St.,
Oct. 11, 1915.

Governor of Utah,
Salt Lake City,

Dear Sir:-
Through the intervention of the [Woodrow Wilson|President of the United
States]], a reprieve was granted to Joe Hillstrom of your State, who
has been convicted of murder and sentenced to death. This sentence
hangs over him and he is to be executed on Oct. 16th.

Not only was the flimsiest testimony adduced against the
accused man, but, as he consistently states, instead of the State
being obliged to prove his guilt, the court required him to prove
his innocence. This is in direct contradiction to all legal proceeding
and precedent.

If, on the basis of such evidence as was produced, the
State of Utah is so desirous of removing Joe Hillstrom from among
the living, it would appear that particular malignance on the part
of certain interested parties must be a leading factor in the tragedy
that possibly will be enacted within a few days.

Joe Hillstrom is a fighter for the downtrodden. He has
been "on the firing line" in defence of the working people, just
as John Lawson was in Colorado. And as justice has proved to be
non-existent in Colorado (I am a Coloradoan), so, too, Utah is a-
bout to besmirch her name and add another to the great list of mur-
ders that are committed in the name of State.