“Court Held In Pen., Remands Strikers,” Toronto Star. June 18, 1919. Page 03. --- Winnipeg Leaders Are Remanded Eight Days for Trial - To Ask for Bail. --- Special to The Star. Winnipeg, June 18. - Twelve hours after they had been placed in cells at Stony Mountain Penitentiary on a series of charges of sedition and conspiracy against the constitutional Government of Canada, ten Winnipeg strike leaders appeared before a justice of the peace yesterday afternoon and were remanded for eight days. They will come up again on Wednesday, June 25th.
Ald. John Queen, Ald. Abraham, A. Heaps, Wm. Ivens, George Armstrong, Robert B. Russell, R. E. Bray, Max Charietonoff, Moses Almazoff, Mike Berenczuk, A. Schopplerei, were the men arrested.
Four Warrants Unserved. Warrants for W. A. Pritchard, R. J. John, B. Devyatken, and S. Blumenberg still remain to be served.
A. J. Andrews, K. C., has been retained by the Dominion Government as prosecutor. He stated the warrants for the four yet to be apprehended can be executed anywhere in Canada. Sam Blumenberg, a radical socialist, is reported to have crossed the boundary line into the United States; W. A. Proychard, a prominent Victoria, B.C., labour leader, is said to be on his way back to the pacific coast; R. J. Johns, local strike leader, is in Montreal, Que., and of B. Devyatken little is known by the city police as to this man or his whereabouts.
Only Few Present. The only persons present when remand was granted were the Justice of the peace, Edgar A. Andrews, assistant clerk of the Winnipeg Police Court, and A. J. Andrews, K.C., Crown prosecutor. T. J. Murray, who has been retained to act as counsel for the defence, left Winnipeg for Stony Mountain at 4 o’clock, accompanied by Ald. Ernest Robinson, secretary of the Trades and Labor Council; J. K. McBride, Business agent of the Electrical Workers’ Union; Andrew Scoble, business agent of the Street Railway Men’s Union; and four or five other members of the Strike Committee. They were going out to see the prisoners if possible and to assure them of support and continued allegiance to the cause of which they had worked together. Two motor cars carried the labor delegation. One car turned back when it was discovered that a section of the road was almost impassable, while the other car, in which were Mr. Murray, Mr. McBride, and Ald. Robinson, attempted to push on. The gumbo was too much for them, however, and they remained on the road until given a lift by a passing car. Mr. Murray will go to Stony Mountain again to-day, making the trip by train owning to the condition of the roads.
Will Apply for Bail. Mr. Murray announced last night that application for bail for all the men gathered in when the most spectactular round-up in Winnipeg’s history was pulled off, will be made to-day. Mr. Murray will take the matter up with the Crown prosecutor. He stated last night that there would be no difficulty in raising any amount of money that might be required to furnish bail. Mr. Murray was to have been present at the penitentiary when the prisoners came up yesterday afternoon, but when five o’clock, the hour set for the proceedings, came around and counsel for the defence had not arrived, the formality of remanding the men for eight days was gone on with. Eight days is the longest period of remand which can be granted in the initial stages of a case of this nature.
Mr. Andrews brought back to the city a number of letters from the strike prisoners to their families and friends in Winnipeg. In conformity with the rules of the prison, the letters were first read by the penitentiary authorities. Each of the men has a cell to himself.
Arrival Not Expected. The arrival of the prisoners, under a strong guard of members of the mounted police fire and city police yesterday, was a real surprise party for Warden Graham. The penitentiary officials had received no intimation that the Winnipeg delegation would be brought there and some little time passed before the door were opened and the prisoners taken in. Most of them appeared so amazed by the proceedings that they could hardly realize where they were. They bore up as good naturely as possible, under the circumstances. The party reached the penitentiary about 5.30 in the morning.
If bail is granted the preliminary hearing of the strike leaders will likely take place in Winnipeg. The Strike Committee has ever hope that bail will be allowed.
Text of information. Here is the text of the information and the complaint upon which warrants for the arrest of the men were issued. ‘The information an complaint of Albert Reams on the 16th day of June, 1919, that Rev. W. Ivens, R. J. Johns, R. B. Russell, W. A. Pritchard, (of Vancouver), John Queen, A. A. Heaps, A. Blumenberg, George Armstrong, R. E. Bray, Narrgew Chartanoff, B. Devyatken, Oscar Schoppelrel and Moses Almazoff, during the months of May and June, did conspire with one another and divers persons to this informant unknown, to excite divers, subjects of the King, to resist laws and resist persons, the same being part of the police force of the City of Winnipeg, in the due execution of their duty, and to bring the said force into hatred and contempt and to cause divers leal subjects of the King to believe that the Laws of the Dominion were unduly administered, and intending to disturb the public peace and to raise discontent in the minds of subjects of the King, and to raise and excite tumult and disobedience of the laws, and did cause to be published certain false and libelous statements with reference to the said police force and administration of justice in a publication known as the Western Labor News, special strike edition, in the words following, to wit: <<The Committee of One Thousand has achieved a distinct success in dismissing the Winnipeg police force and filling our streets with special police, many of whom are thugs, they have spilled blood, caused booze to be sold openly on the Main street at 50 cents a drink, and allowed fifteen to twenty bunches to carry on games of ‘crap’ for hours on the said Main street without interference. These are the magnificent forces of law and order that replace the police who were said to have refused to obey law and order. The special police are panicky and uncontrolled. When one man who kept cool drew his baton and quietly urged the people to get back to the sidewalk, he was charged by another special police man and went down under a smashing blow from his baton. So excited were these men that they slashed out at everybody promiscuously and received a shower of missiles in reply. When one became separate from his fellows he was quickly unhorsed and understood the meaning of rough house. Several blackjacks were wrenched from the ‘specials’ by the strikers and are now one exhibition at the Labor Temple. They are heavy chains loaded with a clevice and bolt and covered with leather. Whoever made them had murder in his brain. One fellow was seen to take a daily paper, fill it with filth from the street and wipe the dirty mess all over the face of a ‘special.’ He spat and swore, and got off the street at the double quick. The rioting lasted some time, but was ended when the special police and the mounties dispersed in all directions and left the field to the crowd. It is understood that Canon Scott begged the Mayor to dismiss the thugs and enroll a police of returned men. A strong committee of soldiers left Victoria Park and offered Mayor Gray their services to maintain real order if the thugs were removed.>>
<<Further, they offered that, provided the special police ceased provocations and that these thugs were sent out without guns and with short batons which are concealed and that the mounties rode in twos instead of fours, sixes and eights, that they would not be molested. But if these specials were looking for trouble they would be sure to find.>>“
