BY P.
se ——
GRAY MEEK.
Ink Slings.
They say Justice is'blind,
So keep this in mind,
And you'll understand how she got lost |
Midst the wiles and the schemes
Of the Quay machine
And said “not guilty,” but “pay the costs.”
_ —The ground hog’s days are numbered
but he is giving us chilly reminders of it.
— Well, the libel suit is over and the
WATCHMAN is not such a notorious misrep-
resenter of the facts after all.
—What if the Oregon did cost the most.
Didn’t she do the most. Aye, even the
mostest, when it became necessary ?
—With Japan and England in an offen-
sive and defensive alliance with the ulti-
mate purpose of stopping Russia's designs
on China we wonder what is to become of
the poor old celestial empire.
—Thank you, Mr. Sheriff of Clearfield
county, but twelve of your good men think
I had better not stop with you and though
I know you would be good to me Icouldn’t
think of being rude to them.
" —Let us hope that whatever way be the
outcome of this latest combination of Eng-
land and Japan it will not involve this
country in any more foreign complications
than we have on hand at the present.
—Prince HENRY has decided to come
whether TEDDY ROOSEVELT Jr. gets better
or not. We hope TEDDY will get better,
however, as his serious illness at the time of
the Prince's visit would puta damper on
all the celebrations.
—When an unpleasant incident is over
the best thing to do is to forget it, but the
next State Treasurer of Pennsylvania will
have a job on his hands, when he tries to
dismiss from his mind the charge that a
jury in his own county court convicted him
of last week.
—A team of horses ran away in Philips-
burg a few days ago and dashed into a
bottling works, with the result that one of
the horses was very badly ‘done up” It
is not strange, though, for men usually
meet the same fate when they ‘‘go up
against” a bottling works.
—We can easily pay the fiddler as long
as Mr. HARRIS bas to do the dancin’. And
don’t you think be won’t have todo a big
lot to explain why a jury in his own coun-
ty should decide that he was not libeled
when he was called a ‘‘king of crooks’ and
‘an unblushing bribe taker.”’
Justice stands with scale in hands
Her way oft times is lost
For instance, she acquits a man
Then makes him pay the costs.
© —The Lenten season began on Wednes-
aay aud there will be a period of self abase-
ment apd negation among sincere chris- |
tians, while the butterflies will stop eating
candy, playing cards and going to the
theatres in order to have a little more time
in which to scatter scandalous stories about
their neighbors.
—The fact that chairman GUTHRIE of
the Pittsburg Democratic city committee
bas $50,000 in his hands with which to
pay for evidence that will conviet frand-
mlent voters and those counting returns in
that city may have the effect of uncovering
the hiding places of the thousands of Demo-
crats in that city who are never heard from
at the polls any more.
FRANK DaMRroscH’s idea of making
the children of the public schools of New
York lovers of music is a most excellent
one. There is. nothing more ennobling
than some of the grand old symphonies and.
hymns of the masters, that penetrate to the
innermost recesses of the mortal soul, call-
ing forth all that is good and honorable in
it. Teach a child to love music and you
make its life higher and happier for having
given it a desire for something that will al-
ways uplift it.
—The statement of the auditors of the
county, which is published in another
column in this issue, gives unanimous ap-
proval and commendation to the present
county officials, for the careful and econom-
ic manner in which they have kept the
trusts reposed in them. It 1s a matter of
which all have reason to be proud ; the of-
ficials concerned, because of this unmistak-
able evidence of their ability and integrity;
the public, because of the good judgment
displayed in the selection of such men.
.— While we don’t doubt for a moment
that there were some who would have
gloated in seeing the editor of the WATCH-
MAN behind the bas in Clearfield we can’t
say that we are sorry that their wish was
mot gratified. The sneaking mutterings of
‘the few were unheard, however, in the great
deluge of telegrams, letters, telephone and
personal calls of congratulation that were
received at this office after the verdict was
made known. It was the most gratifying
ineident of the whole affair, that is to know
that so many good people are in sympathy
‘with the WATCHMAN in its fight for purity
.and honesty in politics.
* —The Pittsburg Dispatch points to an in-
dependent coal and coke company 1n the
Pittsburg district that has just showed
earnings of $150,000 on a capitalization of
:$250,000 as an example of competition that
has been most successful outside of the
railroad combine. There are numbers of
-guch illustrations all over the country.
Business enterprises that are able to live
.and flourish without the pampering security
thas trust legislation throws about them.
Right here in Bellefonte we bave a great
scale wor ke, two magnificent mateh mak-
i anda works that ‘are all
og Dae Ae ted 0 ne face of
the meanest competition the respective
STATE RIGHTS AND FEDERAL UNION.
BELLEFONTE, PA., FEBRUARY 14, 1902.
&
Spawlis fram the Keystone.
—It is estimated that only about eighty
million feet of logs will reach the Williams -
pert boom this year. This will be 45,000,000
feet less than last year.
—Mrs. Francis Gallo, the Mt. Pleasant
woman convicted of arson, and who was sen-
tenced to the penitentiary for eighteen
months, tried to commit suicide in the West-
moreland county jail Friday afternoon, but
was prevented by the other women confined
therein.
—Shooting himself through the breast,
Lucas Blazovsky, aged 20 years, committed
suicide Tuesday night in the Shenango hotel
bar at Sharon. He left a letter, in which he
we
That Libel Sait.
Whatever may be the opinion of others
as to the result of the finding in the HAR-
RIS libel case, the editor of the WATCHMAN
certainly bas just reason to be gratified
over the result, and to accept the verdict of
“not guilty”? as a complete vindication of
the course of this paper.
The case, brought as it was at the home
of the prosecutor, where if he had friends,
or admirers, or local influence, they could
be called into service, and by one promi-
nent enough to be selected out of all the
other adherents of the State ring for the
responsible position of State Treasurer; the
prosecution backed by the power and in-
fluence of the Republican state machine;
tried before a jury drawn by the friends of
that machine and by a court whose sympa-
thies and support it has always bad ; com-
pelled to submit to ‘‘judicial rulings’’ that
prohibited the presentation of the most
convincing evidence, and confined to the
narrowest limits a biased court could pre-
seribe for such testimony as could be given
to the jury; to win in the face of all this
was a victory for the truth,and the right to
criticise corrupt public officials,greater than
a score of triumphs under circumstances
where fair play could be given, or political
necessities did not require the hiding of the
truth in order to hide the shame of a great
party.
What State Treasurer-elect HARRIS may
think of the ending, isa matter for him-
self. This paper had charged that he
could, as a member of the Legislature, well
lay claim to the title of “king of the
crooks’? and that ‘‘from betraying his con-
stituents in 1899 he became an unblush-
ing bribe taker in 1901.” These were the
expressions he charged as being libelous,
and to show that there were good grounds
for these assertions and ‘‘probable cause’’
for their publication was the duty of the
defendant. - An innocent man in Mr. HAR-
RIS’ position would have said : *‘Tell all
you know to establish the truth, bring all
the witnesses you can and let them testify
ax they will. I feel that T am innocent and
now ask that the fullest and freest investi-
gation of all my official records be made.’
It was not so.in this case. While four-
fit ths of the withesses subpienaed were per-
sonal and political friends of the prosecutor |
—men who knew of his official actions and
who were interested in his vindication—
their evidence was objected to and every
avenue of information closed by technical
objections presented, at the instance of the
prosecutor, by his attorneys. In fact every
scintilla of evidence, except that which
could not under any rule of court he ex-
cluded, was ruled out at the request or up-
on the demands of the individual who re-
garded himself as libeled,and yet in spite of
these efforts to hide the truth, the verdict
came— ‘not guilty.”
What inust be the inferences that will be
drawn from. these facts ?
On ‘the ralings of the court the WATCH-
MAN has neither censure to offer nor eriti-
cism to make. These may have been in ac-
cordance with the technical rules governing
the presentation of evidence. We do not
know. They way have been right, but if
they were God help the opportunity the
courts furnish to get thie truth and the facts
to a jury ! Such rulings in a case to deter-
mine the truth of the resurrection, would
eliminate all teachings of the bible; all
knowledge of its truths; all beliefs and all
evidence that christianity could produce,
unless it could put upon the stand the
doubting Thomas who thrust his hand into
the bleeding side of the resurrected Savior.
They were sufficient, "however, for the
purposes of the machine, that profited by
them. : : ;
They prevented THOMAS S. BIGELOW
from affirming, or denying, that he furnish-
ed $460,000.00 to secure such legislation as
the Pittsburg ripper bill.
They prevented A.M. BROWN from re-
itterating. or denying, the charge he made
in a public declaration that the Governor
of the Commonwealth demanded to be
made the custodian of this corruption fund.
They gave the Governor of this great State
an excuse for not testifying as to the truth
or falsity of Mr. BROWN’S statement, as
well as for the failure to explain to what
purposes this money was put and into
whose hands it went for distribution.
They relieved Insurance Commissioner
ISRAEL DurHAM. and Superintendent of
Public Buildings and Grounds, T. I. EYRE,
from swearing as to the safes and places
this money was kept in until divided and
placed in envelopes ready for distribution,
or as to the lesser lights of the ring who
acted as messengers and agents in distribut-
ing it. y SE ta
* They excused Lieut. Gov. GoBIN from
testifying as to the truth of the statement,
published as coming from him, that ‘Sena:
tors and Members: of the last Legislature
were sold like sheep in the shambles, and
votes for or against ertain ‘measures were
placed upon the auction block and knock-
ed down to the higliess bidder.!’ .
£rusts can make for them.
They gave Mr. CLARENCE WOLF, bank-
er. of Philadelphia, the opportunity to keep
hidden from the public the exact amount it
cost to secure from a Republican Legisla-
ture, franchises for which a citizen of
Philadelphia openly offered $2,500,000.00.
They relieved the Attorney General of
the State and prospective Republican can-
didate for Governor from explaining the
conditions that were imposed upon Mr.
HARRIS in return fora check of $250 sent
him by Mr. ELKINS, prior to his election
as a member of the Legislature, and denied
him the opportunity of telling why an in-
dividual not sworn as a clerk and responsi-
ble to no one, was placed in charge of the
corporation desk in the transcribing room
of the House of Representatives and why he
should pay him for work done in that posi
tion.
They relieved Representative VOORHEES,
a leading Republican member of the Legis-
lature, and who is said to know ali about
the transactions of that body, from explain-
ing on the witness stand why he told, in
the presence of a number of persons in the
Commonwealth hotel, that the prosecutor
had “‘held his party up for a political office
in return for his betrayal of Col. ED IRVIN,
for whom he was instructed to vote for for
United States Senator. and in addition had
the gall to demand a ‘‘divvy in every-
thing that wasgoing.”’
They excused Representatives BLiss and
StuLB and Speaker MARSHALL from tell-
ing the cost of defeating game bills and
how the fund furnished by the cold storage
people disappeared, before reaching the in-
dividual for whom a goodly portion of it
was intended. They also served the par-
pose of keeping from the public informa-
tion, that these gentlemen are said to pos-
sess, about the rake offs from charitable ap-
propriations, and the whereabouts of short-
ages that certain hospitals in the State have
reason to complain of.
They locked the lips of record clerk
BuscH, who was present to tell of the open
payment of money in the corridors of the
capital for legislative work ; of the de-
baunchery that he witnessed in the commit-
tee rooms ; of the falsification of official rec-
ords nnder the orders of the Speaker and
chief clerk ; of the shamelessness with
which Legislators boasted of the price they
‘obtained for their ‘votes, and of other adts, |
that should make a Pennsylvanian blush to
think they were committed within the Com-
monwealth.
They gave the representatives of the
great newspapers of the State no opporta-
nity to tell of the crookedness they: had
witnessed, or causes that led them to write
the last Legislature of Pennsylvania down
as the most venal and corrupt body of law-
makers that ever disgraced a Common-
wealth, or to explain why they always
counted the prosecutor as one of the chiefs
in the debauching and disreputable work
of that body.
It was facts like these that ‘‘judiecial
rulings’? kept from the jury and the people.
Possibly as a whole the Republican state
ring may imagine it did well in keeping
the lid tight over the caldron of official
corruption it has made. It backed the
prosecution iu the hope of securing a con-
vietion—not for HARRIS’ vindication—but
for the purpose of frightening Democratic
papers into silence about the public pillage
it has been guilty of, and the disgraceful
wrongs it has been perpetrating. Its failure
to make a victim of this paper is only notice
that the fight for decent government, with
honest men at the front,can and will go on,
while the verdict of the jury can be read by
all as meaning there shall be no muzzling of
a newspaper in Pennsylvania because it
honestly seeks to do its duty to the people.
Democratic Convention Delegates.
The apportionment of delegates to the
next Democratic state convention has been
completed by chairman CREASY and an-
nounced. It reduces the total membership
of the body to 311 and takes from Phila-
‘delphia and Pittsburg the vast power of
control which they have hitherto exercised.
For example in the last convention Phila-
delphia bad upwards of sixty delegates and
Allegheny county about thirty, making an
aggregate in the two counties of about 100
ous of a total of a fraction more than 400,
This year Philadelphia has twenty-nine and
Allegheny county thirteen, a total of forty-
two out of 311, or a fraction over seven per
cent of the whole now, instead of a fraction
less than twenty-five per cent. ;
ete rer
——Senator J. H. COCHRAN in the past
eight years has won a reputation for hon-
esty, faithfulness to public duties and true
manly acts which is unsurpassed by . any
member who has ever had a seat in the Sen-
nate Chamber at Harrisburg. Such a record
for a member of Pennsylvania’s law-making
body ‘is indeed bard to find, and it is not
surprising the electors of the Lycoming-Col-
umbia district are practically a unit for
his return to the Senate. It is predicted
that Mr. COCHRAN will win in November
next by a phenomenally large majority.
————————————————
—There are _times in a man’s life when
be would. give a great deal to know, who's
who and what's what. | ‘Now there is next
Tuesday, for instance. a, #4
OUR EXCHANGES
¥
A Stinging Rebuke for Harris—A Vindi-
cation of Meek.
From the Pittsburg Post.
Mr. Meek, of the Bellefonte WATCHMAN,
is to be congratulated that the Clearfield
county jury found him ‘‘not gunilty’’ as to
criminal libel on State Treasurer-elect and
Legislator Harris, and to be condoled on
the money question that the jury also
found that he should pay the costs. On
the whole, however, it is a stinging rebuke
of Harris and a vindication of Mr. Meek,
that there was strong *‘probable cause’’ for
his publication, and that it was not made
maliciously or negligently. If the lid
could have been lifted, and the witnesses in
court allowed or compelled to testify as to
the bribery and corruption at Harrisburg
during the first six months of last year,
the trial would have been an epoch in the
history of the State, and impressed facts on
the people it is well they should know to
But the rul-
govern their future action.
ings of the court shut out his testimony,
confining the evidence to acts in ciose re-
lation with the prosecutor, Harris. This,
of course, is most difficult to secure.
Bribery is not committed in the open mar-
ket as beef and potatoes are sold, but is the
outcome of secret conspiracy and bargain-
ing. The facts can only be reached or
judged inferentially or by circumstances.
It must be admitted, however, that in Har-
ris’ negotiations with the Philipsburg hos-
pital, money influence directing his legis-
lative work was brought closely home to
the prosecutor, and justified the jury in
finding that Meek’s allegations that Harris
was ‘‘a king of crooks’’ and ‘‘unblushing
bribe taker’’ were in the nature of frozen
truth. If levying toll by a state Legislator
on the state’s charity to the unfortunate,
sick or maimed is not unblushing bribery
it would be difficult to define the difference
between the commonplace of knavery and
its most despicable methods.
Of course this was only a small matter of
a hundred dollars, but the importance of
the issues ready for presentation at Clear-
field, and the single fact determined by the
jury that editor Meek was in the line of his
duty as a newspaper publisher, must not. be
judged by the small grab from the hospital.
It was simply a hint of what had been go-
What was Stone’s postscript but a
‘We have seen a care-
ing on.
hint and admission.
ful estimate sct down in black and white,
with abundauce of names rightly placed
showing an expenditure of over a million of
dollars in buying ripper and franchise leg-
islation at Harrisburg last winter. We
Dap seen lists of names of those who sold
FE pT ee Gi gave as the reason for the deed that Lis
V sweetheart, Mary Klernbara, had rejected
14, his offer of marriage,
A Gain to the Cause of The Freedom
of the Press.
—The general conference of the United
Evangelical church—the law-making body
of that church—will meet in Williamsport
this year, convening during the month of
October. It will be composed of about sixty
ministers and sixty laymen, the most dis-
tinguished members of the church through-
out the United States.
—The explosion of a lantern caused the
destruction of the'barn of George Haas, four
miles southeast of Mechanicsburg, Westmore-
criminal libel for accusing of corruption land county, Saturday evening. A calf and
and crookedness’’ an individual member | WO pigs were burned, ‘and all the owner's
who habitually sbared in its conjunct | grain, hay, harness and machinery, entailing
iniquities. This was perhaps as favorable | a loss of $1,000, which is about half covered
a cage as sould have been offered the Mach- | by insurance.
ine for wreaking vengeance on its enemies |. po : 5
and for pins Hin from future tal smyvhen Mis, Thomas, Rickert, aged 45
upon its agents and adherents in the Legis- years, of South Allentown, was ready to go
lature and State Government. to bed Tuesday night, she blew down the
The prosecutor, Frank G. Harris’ is the | lamp chimney in order to extinguish the
State Treasurer-elect, and in the last Legis- | light. The lamp exploded, scattering the
Jature hie , voted withaus a vaviation for blazing oil over Mrs. Rickert. The unfortu-
iy asures upon which | nate woman lingered in ‘agony for several
the public has puta stigma of corruption. hours, dying from the effects of her injuries
early Wednesday morning. 3
From the Philadelphia Record.
A verdict of acquittal, or at worst a disa-
greement of the jury, is what was generally
looked for as the result of the Harris-Meek
libel case. Such is the character achieved
by the late Legislature’ that it would be
next to impossible to securea jury in the
Commonwealth to convict a journalist of
The defendant was a veteran Democratic
editor whom the Machine would have re-
joiced to punish with an ignominious
inprisonment and a heavy fine for defaming
the character of one of its prominent
adherents. The prosecution if successful in
landing P. Gray Meek in a county jail,
was expected to have a most wholesome
effect upon the coming campaign for Gov-
ernor and State Legislature.
A reason for anticipating success was in
the belief that no actual money bribe could
be traced to the prosecutor. Although the
defendant bad summoned a numerous array
of members of Legislature and of
beneficiaries of corrupt legislation none of
them was bound to deliver any testimony
tending to incriminate himself. Nor was it
likely that a bribe taker or a bribe giver
would balk at perjury tosave a confederate
Bat the failure to bring proof of any specific
act of corruption was not necessary, to
secure for the defendant acquittal by an
honest and intelligent jury. With the
whole history of the last Legislature and
with the record of the prosecution before it
the jury made no nice distinction between
a sordid money bribe and the corrupt mo-
tive of obtaining official preferment through
subserviency to the Machine. If Harris
were not proved guilty of taking money he
got the Machine nomination for ‘State
Treasurer as a reward for his uniform sup-
port of iniquitous Machine measures of
legislation. This in the estimation of the
jury justified Xditor Meek’s charge of
crookedness and required a verdict of
acquittal. The imposition of costs upon the
—Zane B. Gray and James B. Grazier; of
Tyrone, has secured a patent for a spike pull-
er and car mover. The merit of the machine
is rapidity and accuracy in: the performa nce
of the work for which it is intended. T hey
claim for it great superiority over all devi ces
now in use for such work. They will place
the right for its use in States on market at
once. They have applied for patents in Can-
ada and in Europe. :
—A Greensburg dispatch says: Wolves
from the mountain districts in this county
are playing havoc with sheep, hogs, chick-
ens and other fowl. Scores of the gray
species are sheltered under the rocks, and as
a result very few people venture out after
midnight. Their howls can be heard for
miles at night. Vestry Egan, a farmer, set a
trap recently and caught a gray wolf of un-
usual size. :
—A Williamsport woman is bringing suit
against that city to the amount of $25,000 for
her husband’s life. The man was walking
on a boardwalk in the city, in company with
a friend, when the latter stepped on a loose
board, which flew up and tripped the
other man, inflicting injuries which ulti-
mately resulted fatally. The widow, has
a strong case, as the boardwalk was in a
very bad condition. /
—Forestry Commissioner Rothrock has an-
wotes for various sums £6 lobbyists | defendant for no other. offenserihins that of ‘nounced that the forest property in the South
and political bosses, at prices ranging from
$35,000 for a single vote down to $15,000
and $10,000 and even $1,000 for the ‘‘cheap
We have no more doubt these
lists told the truth than we have that Stone
is the de facto Governor of the State where
What a story
cattle.”
such crimes are practiced.
Marshall and his backers could have told
of the pnrchased speakership. But it was
to be.
investigation was
The testimony was ruled out. An
facts and will act on them in their own
good time.
index.
wherever he goes is a stronger one.
An Unwelcome Reminder to the Ma-
chine.
From the Philadelphia Times.
The acquittal of the editor of the Belle-
fonte WATCHMAN upon the charge of libel
brought by the State Treasurer-elect is an
unwelcome reminder to the machine man-
agers of one of their failures in the recent
Legislature. The repeal of an act which
secured the constitutional liberties of the
press was the very first measure under-
taken, as a preliminary to the contemplated
debauchery of the session, Even sub-
servient party organs were compelled to
protest against this scheme, and it failed.
Such changes in the existing libel laws as
were finally enacted, as a sequel to this at-
tempt, did not impair their general char-
acter. but defined rather more clearly than
before the liberty and responsibility of pub-
lic criticism of public officials.
In the case tried at Clearfield the court
interpreted the statute with severity, go-
ing apparently to the extreme in.exclud-
ing testimony in justification that did net
directly and personally connect the plain-
tiff with the accusations of legislative cor-
ruption. Thus Mr. Meek was not allowed
to prove the general and notorious prev-
alence of bribery, unless he had specific
evidence of the bribery of this particular
member. On this ground the numerous
witnesses who had been summoned to testi-
fy what they knew of the purchase of legis-
lation were ruled out, and the revelations
or confessions that had been looked for by
the spectators were not recorded, ~~
This ruling is in accordance with prec-
edent and is substantially sound. An ac-
cusation that a certain man committed cer-
tain offenses may not. be justified by prov-
ing that various ether people committed
the same or similar offenses. On the oth
er hand, the court charged, it is not nec-
essary for the defendant to prove that the
allegations in the publication were true, if
the information upon which they were
based was such as would be satisfactory to
a prudent man and justified an honest and
reasonable belief in their trath. It is as-
sumed, of course, that the publication is
proper for public infermation and is not
made negligently or with malice.
All these are questions of fact, to be de-
termined by the jury. TheClearfield jury
found Mr. Meek not guilty, which is clear-
ly right. The qualifying condition that
he pay the costs may be intended to miti-
gate the discomfiture of the plaintiff, or it
may be an intimation that while the Belle-
fonte WATCHMAN liad not heen guilty of
libel, it had used unparliamentary lan-
guage, for which it should be fined. This
oes not impair the essential significance
of the verdict. If Mr. Harris should care
to press his civil suit for damages, the range
of testimeny would be less restrioted. His
associates will probably advise him to Jet}.
the matter rest.
not permitted. The
truth wassuppressed. Still we believe the
people of Pennsylvania understand the
The Meek verdict is a strong | trayving their constituents not one of them
The contempt expressed for Stone i
inconsistencies that sometimes detract so ' turned over March 15th. Iv comprises -40;-
much from the virtue and excellence of the | 000 acres in Franklin and Fulton counties.
jucy system. . The Barre lands in Huntingdon county,
This is the first prosecution for libel that comprising 8,000 acres, have been purchased.
has arisen from the scandalous history of sgt
the legislative session of 1901, and it Negotiations for the purchase of the 28,000
acre tract, in Union, from which timber has
is likely to be the last. Harris has a
cival suit for damages against the defend- | been cut by ex-Congressman Kulp, are con-
cluded.
ant, Meek; but this verdict will not afford
him any encourgagement to persevere in it.
Though. newspapers throughout the State
have held members of the late Legislature
up to public opprobrium for corruptly he-
—James C. Begley, ex-editor of the Wind-
ber Journal, bas received through his attor-
ney, nearly $16,000, damages allowed, with
interest and costs, in his suit against the
Pennsylvania railroad company for the loss
of his child and wife and injury to himself in
an accident at the Johnstown depot July 18th,
1900. He has been in a sanitarium near
Pittsburg for some time and is reported to
be getting along well, but it is said that be-
tween the 15th and 20th of every month he
is attacked with fits of insanity and has to
‘be carefully watched at those times.
besides Mr. Harris bas sought vindication
at the hands of a jury keen as has been
their humiliation over exposure. On the
whole the result of this Clearfield county
trial has been a gain to the cause of freedom
of the press. The journals of the State
will be less afraid of becoming involved in
the technicalities of the libel law when
they dare to defend the Commonwealth
against Machine misrule.
—The following officers were elected at
the Odd Fellows’ home, near Sunbury, for
the ensuing ‘year: President, W. H. Hol-
man, of Patterson, Juniata county; vice
president, E. C. Wagner, Girardville ; secre-
tary, S. B. Hillard, Watsontown ; treasurer,
Emanuel Malick, Shamokin. Superintend-
ent Burgess was re-elected and his salary in-
creased from $700 to $900 per year. Mrs.
Burgess was re-elected matron and her salary
increased from $200 to. $300. The delegates
were pleased with the excellent condition of
the institution, which reflected much credit
on the management of superintendent Bur-
gess. There are at present forty-six children
inmates, all of whom are making rapid prog-
ress in their studies. The report of treasurer
Malick showed the receipts for $7,435.91, ex-
penditures $7,285.11, leaving a balance of
$150.80 in the treasury with’ no ‘debt out-
Crooks and Costs.
From the Philadelphia Press (Rep.)
The illogical Clearfield jurymen who
thought Editor Meek was justified in call-
ing their immediate fellow-citizen, Treas-
urer Harris, ‘‘a crook,” and who yet made
the editor pay the cost of proving it to their
sasisfaction, saved a few dollars to’ Clear-
field taxpayers at some expense of consis-
tency. Either Harris or his constituency
should have been made to pay the costs.
Sending such representatives to the T.egis-
lature is an aggravated offense against the
public well-being which might well have
been punished by direct pecuniary reclama-
tion. Teansidy Se
As to the probable cost of witness fees
and mileage The Press, commenting ou the
case yesterday, said: = astal
The great men who: play so large a part
in the government of the Commonwealth
‘serving the Commonwealth is one of those ' Mountains required by the State would be
who were summoned to Clearfield to tell
the truth, but were not permitted to do so,
will surely waive their claim to. witness
fees and mileage in view of the fact thatall
these costs fall on the innocent editor, The
legislator who charged an attorney’s fee for
getting an appropriation for a hospital is
very little nobler than the statesman who
after traveling on a free pass, would make
Editor Meek pay him mileage for testimony
he did not give. It isa pity this testimony
was ruled out. The whole State is eager to
hear particulars from Lieutenant Governor
Gobin of the purchase of votes that be says
he saw going on in Harrisburg last winter.
They wanted to hear from ex-Recorder
Brown about the money that he says was
put in Governor Stone’s hands to pass the
“Ripper” bill. They want tobear from
Thomas S. Bigelow about the money he
expended for legislation in Harrisburg.
They would like to hear Governor Stone
explain more in detail about that charge of
bribery that some-body made against him.
Mr. Harrie was part of this outfit. ‘He
voted forall the dubious measures. but the
inexorable rule of evidence, born of a com-
ion for hnman weakness, did nos per-
mit the trath to be told. Only the smallest
part of it caine out, and it so balanced the
minds of the jurors that they tell’ Harris
that Meek bad excuse for thinking him a
crook,and is therefore innocent of libel, and
they tell Meek that for expressing his
thought so boldly lie must pay the costs of
the suit. SBR
hail
(Conebuded on page 4.) wa i
standing. During the past year $76.59" in
outstanding bills were paid. From the farm
were gathered last year 387 bushels of wheat,
92 bushels rye, 1,400, corn, 225 oats and
435 potatoes. sphresns wd
At the inspection of Company E, I'ifth
regiment, National Guard of Pennsylvania,
on Wednesday evening, at Clearfield, about
balf a dozen members of the company appear-
ed at the armory under theinfluence of liquor
and during the inspection became insubordi-
nate refusing to obey the commands of the
officers. They engaged in a fisticuff affair,and
the proceedings were altogether disgraceful.
General Gobin, commander of the ‘third
brigade, was present, and so was Maj. John
S$. Bare, commander of the first battalion of
the Fifth regiment. The inspection was
conducted by Major Samuel W. Jeffries,
inspector of the second brigade. It is’ said
the ohject of the rowdies was to put the com -
pany, in such bad repute as to secure its dis-
bandment, but instead charges will be made
against the insubordinates and they will be
court-martialed and punished. The resigna-
tion of Captain John L. Watson has been re-
ceived by Colonel Burchfield, commander of
the Fifth, whoapproved and forwarded the
paper, and ‘issued an order directing First
Lieutenant John F. Weaver Jr., to tike com-
niand of the company. ‘The extrenis penalty
that can ‘be imposed in this case, is 4" fine of
$100 for each of the offenders, ar, 89 tq Jai
for thirty days in default, of payment.
i
. I ve dishopombly discharged. from. theservige.