C: Oct.-Nov. 15, 1915

RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, we, the members of Quinsigamond Val Lodge, I.O.G.T., in meeting assembled, have learned that one Joseph Hillstrom by name is being unjustly held in jail in Salt Lake City, Utah, under sentence to die on Nov. 19, 1915;

Whereas, we from all accounts of his trial have become convinced that the said Joseph Hillstrom is innocent of the crime of which he is accused and is merely a victim of conspiracy, due to hatred and prejudice on account of his activity in the labor movement; Whereas, he has been denied a new trial in spite of the gravest errors in his tiral; and Whereas, this innocent man is in immediate danger of being judicially murdered, due to the stubborn prejudice of his judges, and Whereas, the same judges in the Board of Pardon have tried to justify their position by slandering the character of the man they unjustly deliver to death, by falsely imputing to him a criminal record;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that we, one for all, and all for one, demand that the execution of Joseph Hillstrom be stayed, and he be immediately liberated or granted a new trial.

The sentence has been pronounced by men, and it can be set aside by men as long as Hillstrom lives. Law was made for the sake of man and not man for the sake of the law. And be it further Resolved, that we condemn as cowardly the action of the Board of Pardon in falsely imputing, through the press, a criminal record to a man whom they deny a chance to defend himself; and be it further Resolved, that should, contrary to our expectations, the sentence be carried out, we shall hold the whole American people responsible for such an outrage; and be it further

RESOLVED, that these resolutioins be imediately communnicated to the President of the United States, also to the Governor of the STate of Utah.

Frank E. Carlson CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE

Kulm, N. Dak

To the Governor of Utah

Sir

To you as the supreme executive of the State of Utah I address this protest against the execution of Joe Hillstrom.

Although you do not belong to the wage-earning class, surely you must have some vague conception of the intense bitterness engendered amongst us by the Hillstrom case. The death of Joe cannot and will not cow the workers in Utah or in any other state. If you and the employers of Utah think it will crush agitation there, it only shows how negligently you and they have read history. "The blood of martyrs

2

is the seed of the church" A platitude you may say. Yes, but one which never seems to get inside the heads of the ruling class.

If the cause which Jos Hillstrom advocates, and for which you know and I know he is being judicially murdered, is wrong, then it will die of itself; if it is right, then the snuffing out of Hillstrom's life, or a hundred Hillstroms will only give it a fresh impetus.

I lay no stress on the judicial formalities of this case, because I am already aware of what a hollow mockery so called justice is when the issue is between capital and rebel labor. But do you

3

realize that there are thousands of the great working class who still believe in the purity of the courts, the equality of rich and poor in the eyes of the law. Cases such as this must rudely jolt many of them from their childlike faith. Finally, you or some other member of the ruling class, will tear the last fragment of a veil dividing the common herd from the holy of holies in the temple of the law, and the workers shall behold the goddess of justice for what she really is, a common prostitute, bought and sold for money Do you desire to hasten that day of disileusionment (?0 enlightment?

You will entirely misread

4

the temple of the working class, if you put this down as the raving of an ignorant fanatic. Ignorant, indeed, I confess myself on many subjects- but not of the moods & temperature of my own class.

If then, I regard the execution of Joe Hillstrom as a boost for labor, why do I plead for clemency, and a new and fair trial.

Simply, because I have conceived an intense admiration for Hillstrom. He has proved himself under an intense mental strain to be entirely captain of his soul. If I were confident I could face death as indomitably as Hillstrom, I would not trade

5

my precarious existence for your exalted position and a million dollars to boot.

Sir, I know not your character or record. You may be a fat, gross, materialised tool of the interests, your loftier idea the champagne bottle and a epicurian cuisine, or you may be a real man, for such are occasionlly found in a gubernatorial chair. If you are the latter, then every [?] manhood in your must recognize a brother in Hillstrom, and if you allow your better self to be dragged under by the baser, then surely you are to be pitied. It is to this nobler self that I

6

appeal, if this letter ever gets past your secretary.

You will observe I use no threats. I merely point to the best of my poor ablity that sharpshooting prominent agitators never has suppressed legitimate discontent and never will, and that a large section of the wage-earners have formed an idea that the Hillstrom case is such an attempt. I subscribe myself in all sincerity yours for a commonwealth of beauty, love, and health.

John M. Bree