I have been employed by the organized labor bodies of Charlotte and some of the families of men killed in the recent car barn tragedy in Charlotte to discover the truth about the responsibility for that affair. Eight days have passed since five citizens were shot down, apparently, by policemen and imported strikebreakers, and I must admit that no official investigation has been attempted.

Mecklenburg county is handicapped by a very peculiar situation. The coroner, Mr. Z. A. Hovis, is very ill; too ill, in fact, either to attend to his duties or to tender his resignation. A temporary appointment, made by the deputy clerk of court, has been vacated because of its alleged illegality. The clerk of court, in whom the duty of naming a temporary coroner is lodged, is also ill, and out of the county.

Moreover, the Grand Jury which was in session here last week returned one true bill in the case and then adjourned. This was a bill sent by Solicitor Wilson against one man in the crowd at the car barn which the police have variously estimated at from one to two thousand. 

In the meantime, every effort has been made to fasten the blame for the occurrence upon organized labor. I personally, do not know who was responsible. The terms of my employment do not bind me to vindicate anybody or to convict anybody. I was retained to discover the truth. If the truth hurts the Southern Public Utilities Company, the terms of my employment have been discharged. If the truth hurts my own clients, I shall feel that my duty has been fulfilled. But in either case, an impartial investigation is absolutely essential.

At a preliminary hearing yesterday in the case of one of the strikebreakers arrested on the charge of murder, evidence was developed that the shooting started when Chief of Police Walter Orr fired his gun; that up to that time, there was no indication of trouble; that the shootingcame from the car barn and its garrison of police and strike-breakers; that most of the men shot were shot in the back trying to get away; and that no policeman or strikebreaker was shot. In addition, one witness swore that he saw the man who shot Caldwell Houston and can identify him.

Under these circumstances, I suggest the advisability of an immediate investigation conducted by the solicitor or other qualified officer to clear up the situation here and establish for all time the blame for the smirch upon the record of Charlotte and North Carolina. I have proposed to the solicitor the wisdom of such a course. He has not acted and I have no assurance that he will. If you say the word, I stand ready to furnish to the investigator the names of two hundred or more witnesses from whom the truth may be known.

The situation has been muddled in Charlotte by a wave of propoganda and an unhealthy control of public sentiment through the agencies by which the truth, bold and unbiased, is to be expected. An impartial investigation will react to the best interests and healthiest public conscience of Charlotte and the State.