Francisco Ferrer; his life, work and martyrdom, with message written ...

His Life and Work. 47
in itself was a grave injustice, and, it should be added,
a grave violation of Spanish law. The Spanish Government
must have been conscious of irregularity, for it
allowed false reports to be sent out to the newspapers
conveying the idea that the witnesses had actually been
heard. It was only through dispatches in the London
Times that the truth leaked out.
The evidence against Ferrer may be conveniently
divided into two parts. The first part bears on his
alleged complicity in the Barcelona riots ; the second on
his alleged insurrectionary activities in the neighboring
villages of Masnou and Premia.
Following are some of the stories told by witnesses
who tried to prove that Ferrer was one of the leaders
of the anti-militarist uprising which broke out in Barcelona
on July 26
TESTIMONY OF THE BARBER DOMENECH.
Domenech, a barber of Masnou—a Figaro was needed
for this tragic drama !—testified that he accompanied
Ferrer across the city of Barcelona. They went to a
cafe and met Litran, the manager of the Modern School
Publishing House, and others of Ferrer's friends. They
all together, according to Domenech, prepared a manifesto
appealing to the Government and threatening to
let loose the dogs of revolution if it did not disembark
the troops bound for Morocco. But the radicals refused
to join in this move. Ferrer tried to get Moreno, of
the Workmen's Federation, whom he met later, to go to
the office of the Republican journal, El Progreso, and
make one more attempt to arouse the radicals. Moreno
replied that these last named were already compromised.
Then he added : "And woe to him who would betray us
now, for we should do to them what is done to traitors
in Russia."
Such was Domenech's story. Some points he had to
retract, but even if the truth of all he said is conceded,
what does it signify Simply this: Ferrer was, in
spite of himself, the witness of events in Barcelona. He
took an interest in what was going on around him, and
made propositions that were not accepted. Certainly
that is not the attitude of a leader.