ght for a cause, that these men fought for liberty. They fought for
these things for which we stand and for which all true lovers of liberty
stand, and those who smashed them up are the real enemies of our country.

This is a big case, counsel says, the biggest case that has ever been
tried in this country, but the biggest thing about these big things is
from beginning to end it has been a struggle on the one side for ideals
and on the other side to suppress those ideals. This thing was started
with Hubbard at its head. It is being started today with Hubbard at its
head in this courtroom, and I don't believe you will fall for it.

Vanderveer's Closing Argument

There are only two real issues in this case. One is the question: Who was
the aggressor in the Armistice Day affray? The other is: Was Eugene
Barnett in the Avalon hotel window when that affray occurred?

We have proven by unimpeachable witnesses that there was a raid on the
I.W.W. hall in Centralia on November 11--a raid, in which the business
interests of the city used members of the American Legion as catspaws. We
have shown that Warren O. Grimm, for the killing of whom these defendants
are on trial, actually took park in that raid, and was in the very doorway
of the hall when the attack was made, despite the attempts of the
prosecution to place Grimm 100 feet away when he was shot.

We have proven a complete alibi for Eugene Barnett through unshaken and
undisputable witnesses. He was not in the Avalon hotel during the riot; he
was in the Roderick hotel lobby; he had no gun and he took no part in the
shooting.

In my opening statement, I said I would stand or fall on the issue of: Who
was the aggressor on Armistice Day? I have stood by that promise, and
stand by it now.

Mr. Abel, specially hired prosecutor in this trial, made the same promise.
So did Herman Allen, the official Lewis county prosecutor, who has been so
ingloriously shoved aside by Mr. Abel and his colleague, Mr. Cunningham,
ever since the beginning here. But a few days ago, when the defense was
piling up evidence showing that there was a raid on the I.W.W. hall by the
paraders, Mr. Abel backed down.

Why Were the Shots Fired?

I was careful in the beginning to put him on record on that point; all
along I knew that he and Mr. Allen would back down on the issue of who was
the aggressor; they could not uphold their contention that the Armistice
Day paraders were fired