The reader can form an opinion as to McKinney when we state that he also made and signed confessions which he gave to counsel for the Western Federation, wherein he stated that he did not know anything about the crime with which he was charged; that the men he accused were innocent, and that the confessions he had made were written by him at the instigation of Detectives Scott and Sterling.
84 The Pinkerton Labor Spy.
Counsel for the Federation also produced a letter McKinney had written in jail to his wife, wherein he exonerated the union prisoners. While these conflicting confessions were of themselves sufficient to invalidate his testimony, McKinney nevertheless attempted to square himself by stating that all his confessions were false, excepting the ones he had made to Detectives Scott and Sterling.
When cross-examined by counsel he said he would do the same kind of a job for $250.00; that he had attempted several times to wreck a Florence & Cripple Creek train; that the union had plotted everything; and that he would wreck a train or commit most any kind of a crime for money.
After staying out for thirty minutes the jury returned a verdict of not guilty for Foster, Parker and Davis.
The attempted derailing of F. & C. C. train No. 51 is a remarkable case, as it proves that organized capital will go to any lengths to crush organized labor. Let us make a little analysis of the case.
The train in question carried a great number of union miners, as well as non-union men. What good would it have done the Federation to commit such a frightful crime in the first place, and in the second place, is it possible that the Federation would have murdered a number of its own members just for the sake of killing some non-union men? There might have been some little ground upon which to base such an