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and a state militia. Murphy and I were in constant communication. He was having the law looked up for all it was worth and I was having the law looked up for all it was worth.
All of the lawyers had agreed that there was no statute against the sit-down, and that if any action was to be taken by the Governor, he would have to declare it to be trespass. As Murphy said to me over the telephone one night, “My God, it seems an awful thing to shoot people for, doesn't it? - trespass.” It is conceivable, said the lawyers, that they are not even guilty of trespass. I had one legal opinion - I don't remember who it came from, but it was interesting - in which they said, “This isn't even trespass. These persons did not come on this property without permission. They came on this property with the permission and by the invitation of the employer. No charge of trespass would hold up in court.” Trespass means that the land has been posted by the owner. They went back to old common law action and a long chain of legal and court actions with regard to trespass. I know that it's true that if you live in New England, and I guess this is true in Michigan and everywhere else, and don't post your land, you can't arrest anybody for being on it. If you have your land posted, saying “No trespassing under penalty of the law,” all right, if you find somebody there, if he's only fishing, or picking blueberries, or having a
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