The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1855-04-04
For the Ashland Union.

paper that there has been = meeting
held in the town of Savannah, the OBJ
ject of which was to demonstrate against
Ell ,BAILY procuring a pardon from
the Governor, for the crime he has lately
been convicted of, and for which he is
now in the Penitentiary. Whilst L am
fully aware that in this meeting there
were persons participated, against whom
1 would not dare say ought, there are
others that had better cast out the beam
before they resolve to doom a man to
five years in the Pen~itentiary, who has
already served one in the County Jail,
and who, if guilty as charged, is more
fit to be at large than the persons, or
person, I alulde to. I wonder if a GER
tain Individual that figured in that meet
ing is entirely guiltless of crimes similar
to that with which BA1LY is charged
But even if not guilty as BAILY, in that
particular, does he in other respects
compare favorably? L appeal now to
the respectable persons referred to above.
Was there not in hat meeting one who
you would not trust, as to honor, truth
and honesty, as soon as you would Ell
BAILY? Yes, 1 challenge any respect
able man in the town of Savannah, land
there are many) to gainsay the position
I here assume. But, say the respecta-
able portion of that meeting, ELI should
be punished severely for leading the
young men astray. Now, that was not
the crime be was charged with, and he
should not now be punished longer than
the crime warrants for which he was
convicted. But does any sane mind
believe that he was capable of leading
JAMES FL. FREEBoRN astray? Is it
not the case that this FREEBoRN, long
before ELI BA1LY ever dreamed of pass
ing counterfeit money, was a very bad
boy, and that it needed no inducement
from BALY to lead him astray? He
is one of them kind that lore to be ruin
ed-in a word, he was more likely to
lead in crime than to be led; and SINH
lar remarks might with propriety be
made as to Others that BA1LY has been
charged with leading astray; but We
forbear at the present.
What were the circumstances attend
ing the trial of Baby? Was not the
prosecuting, and only witness as to BAL
LY selling the money, charged and in
dicted for passing counterfeit money
and was he not clearly guilty, and a
sure candidate for the Penitentiary, and
only saved from that fate by a bargain
and sale, the condition of which, was
that i fhe, FREEBoRN, would swear hard
enough to convict BAILY, the indictment
should be nullifed ? Now, querry@
was there not a strong inducement to
swear falsely, and should a man be con-
fined in the Penitentiary for FIVE years
such testimony But, says the OBJ
his getting that pocket book
proves he sold the money. 1t must be
adm;ttedtbat BA1LY done Arong in try
ing to serene the boy, but friendship for
him is all that this circumstance proves,
and who is there that has not a friend
they would do as much for and yet would
not be gully of selling bad money but
in this matter the witnesses did not
agree as to the manner in which BAILY
received the pocket book, o neallegiDg
that he inserted his hand into FREE
RcRN's pocket, the other that he took it
out of MS hand. Now who were the
witnesses? One of them is an individ-
ual that has served a respectable length
of time, I believe, in the New York Pen
itentiary, and the other, to say the least
of it, I would not have much confidence
in his testimony, where he was interest
ed. The truth is, that FREEBoRN hand
ed the pocket book to Baby, shielding
it from view by his coat skirt it is also
true that BAILY did not refuse to give
it up Immediately when asked for if;
and it is also true, that if guilty he
would most likely have made his escape,
which he had abundant time to do; but
he remained for several days, until ar
rested, and showed no signs of guilt
during the whole transaction.
That ELrBA1LY may have been guilty
of dealing in counterfeit money, I will
not deny, nor does it make any differ
ence whether he has or not, in reference
to the crime for which he has been con-
victed. It is with that alone that we
have to do at this time; and we here
say that apart from outside ne,
(which is frequently in error) that the
evidence was of such a character as
ought not to warrant averdict from any
jury, had they been, whichthey all were
not, fully acquainted with the circum-
stances But low in conclusion, let me
say a word to my worthy friends in Sa-
vannah, many Of whom I have the kind
est feelings for, suppose ELI BAILY has
been guilty to the extent you allege,
will admit it as christians, gentlemen
and as intelligent men, that he should
not now be punished for any other than
the crime for which he is convicted
Well, if so, has he not already paid .
severe penalty? Take the case home
to yourselves, and we are all at least Ii
q h1a 70 do urnnn