The Ruthenberg Trial

The second of the Michigan criminal syndicalism trials opened with the selection of a jury to try Charles F. Ruthenberg, former Secretary of the recently dissolved Communist Party. The defense attorneys, led by Frank P. Walsh, former joint chairman (with ex-President Taft) of the War Labor Board, and defender of William Z. Foster, devoted most of their attention to questioning prospective jurymen in regard to their prejudices against Karl Marx, internationalism, the Soviet Government of Russia, organized labor, strikes and kindred topics.

The fact that the Department of Justice used agents provacateurs to trap the Communists was one of the sensational revelations of the Foster trial. The State revealed the identity of another "under cover" man from the Department by adding the name of Louis Lobel to the list of witnesses against Ruthenberg. Lobel was one of the Government spies who watched the secret convention of the Communists before it was raided by direction of Francis Morrow ("K-97"), star witness for the prosecution against Foster. Dramatic developments are expected.