August Spies' Address to the Court: The Haymarket Affair and Class Justice

Date and Setting: The event took place on the evening of May $4$ , $1886$ , at Haymarket Square in Chicago.
Provocation: The meeting was organized to protest the killing of $4$ strikers at the McCormick Harvester Works, which had occurred the previous day, May $3$ , $1886$ .
The Meeting Conditions:
- Initially described as a peaceful gathering.
- Attendance dwindled from several thousand people to a few hundred toward the end of the evening.
- A detachment of $180$ policemen arrived and ordered the remaining crowd to disperse.
- The speaker responded that the meeting was nearly over just before the incident occurred.
The Incident:
- A bomb was thrown into the midst of the police force.
- Impact: The explosion wounded $66$ policemen, $7$ of whom eventually died from their injuries.
Legal Aftermath:
- There was no evidence identifying the specific individual who threw the bomb.
- Despite the lack of direct evidence, $8$ Chicago anarchists were arrested, tried, and sentenced to death.
- This event gained international notoriety as the "Haymarket Affair."
- Of the $8$ sentenced, $4$ were executed. Among the executed was August Spies.
August Spies’ Last Words: Prior to his execution, Spies famously stated: "There will be a time when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you strangle today."

Date of Address: October $7$ , $1886$ .
Class Representation: Spies frames the proceeding as an interaction between two distinct classes, stating he speaks as a representative of "one class" to the representative of "another" (the court).
Historical Precedent (Doge Faheri): Spies opens by quoting Venetian Doge Faheri from an event $500$ years prior: "MY DEFENSE IS YOUR ACCUSATION." This suggests that the legal record of the court itself serves as evidence of the state's own wrongdoing.
The Indictment: Spies was indicted as an accomplice or accessory to murder. He argues that he was convicted despite a total absence of evidence produced by the State to show:
- Any knowledge of the man who threw the bomb.
- Any personal involvement in the act of throwing the missile.
Critique of Witness Credibility:
- Spies specifically names witnesses Thompson and Gilmer.
- He asserts that their testimony should be weighted "BY THE PRICE THEY WERE PAID FOR IT," implying the State purchased fabricated testimony.
Charges of State Malpractice:
- Spies characterizes his conviction as "willful, malicious, and deliberate murder."
- He distinguishes this from other "judicial murders" where the State acts in good faith. Here, he claims the State fabricated testimony as a "pretense" for a conviction.
- He charges the State’s Attorney and Bonfield with a "heinous CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT MURDER" via a rigged jury selection process.

Critique of the Court's Legal Interpretations: Spies argues that if the logical framework used by the court is considered "good law," then any citizen could be lawfully hanged.
The Fouché Quote: He references Fouché, a figure under Napoleon, who said: "Give me a line that any one man has ever written, and I will bring him to the scaffold." Spies claims the Chicago court has applied this same logic to convict based on ideology rather than action.
Threat to Labor Organizations:
- Spies warns that this legal precedent allows every member of a trade union, Knight of Labor, or other labor group to be convicted of conspiracy.
- He posits that workers could be held responsible for any local violence, even if they had no personal involvement.
The Safety Valve Metaphor: By closing off peaceful legal avenues for labor agitation, the court is "shutting off the last safety valve," which Spies predicts will force the masses into "open rebellion," leading to the shedding of innocent blood.

"Savage" Jurisprudence: Spies critiques State Attorney Grinnell’s demand for a "life for a life" as a primitive form of justice.
Cultural Comparisons:
- He compares the court's logic to the practices of the Chinooks, Arabs, and natives of the Sandwich Islands.
- In these "savage" systems, any life from an opposing group is taken to equalize an injury, regardless of the individual's specific guilt.
Irony of Civilization: He sarcastically questions the "civilized and Christian" nature of a country where the legal system serves the interests of "money hamsters" like the Goulds, Vanderbilts, Stanfords, Fields, and Armours.
The Verdict as Class Anathema: He defines the verdict not as an act of justice, but as a curse (anathema) shouted by the wealthy classes against their "despoiled victims"—the army of wage workers and farmers.
Historical Systems of Oppression: He warns that if the sentence is carried out, the people will see the court as a modern version of the Spartan Senate, the Athenian Areopagus, or the Venetian Council of Ten.

The Indestructibility of Ideas: Spies asserts that ideas are part of his being and cannot be crushed by death or the gallows.
The Fire Metaphor:
- He warns the court that while they might "tread upon a spark" (by executing the defendants), they cannot extinguish the "subterranean fire" of the labor movement.
- "THE GROUND IS ON FIRE upon which you stand."
- He predicts that flames will blaze up everywhere—behind, in front of, and all around the ruling class.
The Role of the Wage Slave: The labor movement is described as the only source of "salvation" for "downtrodden millions" living in misery and want.
Historical Martyrs and the Pursuit of Truth: Spies frames his execution as part of a long lineage of truth-tellers who were martyred by their respective states, including:
- Socrates: Executed for his philosophies.
- Christ: Crucified for his teachings.
- Giordano Bruno: Burned at the stake for his scientific and cosmological views.
- Jan Huss: Reformer executed for heresy.
- Galileo: Persecuted for supporting heliocentrism.
Final Stance: Spies declares himself "ready to follow" these historical figures, stating that if death is the penalty for truth, he will "proudly and defiantly pay the costly price."