The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1873-07-17
Some of keIlOgg'S Judges.
An Attempt to Muzzle the Press in
Louisiana.
the LAW in Order, 10
Suppress Ihe Publication Of the
TrufLI---The New Orleans
Picssy une ii bel cEsSc.-Ver-
die Of "a Packed and
Esl-ibed Jury.
Correspondenee OF The sun

NEW ORLEANS. June - The chief oh
iect OF interest aud discussion here now /,
the extraordinary libel suit OF Jacob IIaw-
kinS against the Picayunc new paper. The
fsrciai trial OF tins ease commenced i'm ia,
Fourth District Court about ten DAYS ago
before the pseudo Judge j.. l.. Lynch. Til,
* certainly most remarkable suit. II /,
remarkable on account of the character OF
the Judge before whom the suit was
| brouehU. and the unheard OF and extraor-
binary rulings of that Judge; and il is re-
markable on account OF the character of
the jury and the verdict rendered bv them.
| The plaintiff. Jacob Hawkins, was a mem
Der OF the Lynch board of returning ON
GERS thraugh whose fraud, without having
any returns of the election in their posses
sion, the so-called Kellogg Legislature and
I State officers We're declared 10 have been
| duly elected. The pretended Legislature.
thus returned without returns, showed
/ their gratitude to Jacob Hawkins and his
! brother returning officers by voting them q
! large sum of money collectively, which
| they had no claim or right To under the
/ law, aud further showed their gratitude to
| Jacob Hawkins individually by creating "A
/ political court called the Superior District
/ of which he was appointed Judge. This
man Hawkins was the plaintiff in the case
! His attorneys are three eX-judges. the
| like of " HON it will be hard to tind-Dib-
BILE, Cooley and Cotton. Judge Dibbie was
Gov. Narmoth's right bower, and did dirty
work for him both on and off the bench.
! His career has been anything but reputable.
His character was admirably drawn bV
himself, in the testimony he gave before the
Congressional Committee that came to New
Orleans winter before last to inquire into
the donTs OF brothcr-in-laW Casey. it is
further portrayed in the speech, delivered
about the first of last March, by Senator
Carpenter, on the Louisiana question. lie
WAS judge OF the Eighth District Court last
fall, and then did all lie could to assist
Judge Durcil in overthrowing the Louisi-
ana State government. Judge Cotton was
a blatant dCmagOgue and Bourbon Demo-
crat until about year ago. when he made
made one OF his loud-mouthcd speeches. In
that speech he denounced man by The
name of GewdiaS, who was then one of
Warmotl's honest tax collectors. The day
after the speech was delivered, Judge Cot
ton was waited on by n friend OF Gewdias and
asked tor AN explanation. The valiant
dPmagogue retracted every word he had ut
tered, and gave. over his own signature the
best certificate of character Gewdias ever
had. That was Cotton's last Democratic
speech. He is now working in the politi-
cal slums of the custom-house. Having lost
his own self-respect, it has not taken him
long to lose the respect of others. Judge
Cooley also held the bench under Gov.
Yarmouth. He is clever, bold man, "a
INSCRIPTIONS as he is clever So much for
the plaintiff and his counsel.
Il. J.. Lynch, the Judge before whom the
suit was brought, is an uncouth and uncul |
tured Irishman-a strange mixture of igno-
rance, arrogance and dishonesty. In 1871
and 1872 he was a representative from one
OF the river parishes in the Warmoth Leg
not respected, although in that body the av-
erage price OF votes was understood 10 be |
only $3.50. SO, you see, he is a cheap man. |
While still holding office in one of the inte- |
rior parishes, his name was placed on the |
custom -house ticket for Judge of the Fourth |
District Court, into which office he was
counted by his friend Hawkins and his |
brother returning officers. During the trial |
of Hawkins against the Picayunc, this |
pseudo Judge made some twelve or fifteen |
important rulings, every one of which was |
against the de1enda mt, and every one of
which was
AGAINST THE LAW AND THE PRACTICE
of the Louisiana courts. Some of them will
be noticed hereafter. As TO the jury, iJ was
of six ignorant negroes and six
white men. There is reason TO believe that
4 majority of the jury were selected before
hand-iH other words. packed. Judge Haw-
kins himself personally requested distin-
guished ne:2 Der of the bar to continue "a
ease that was fixed for trial, in which Judge
cooley was the opposing counsel, So that he
(Haw kinsl could have The benefit of Judge
Cooley'S services in selecting the jury. He
wrote to another lawyer of high standing
and made the same request. Mark the fact
that this request was made by the plaintiff
when he had four other lawyers besides
Judge Cooley.
With such a Judge, and such Jury. aud
such attorneys to aid him, Judge Hawkins
has Just made the boldest, most hagitious
.tlorr to dcspoiI. under the forms OF law,
helpless defendant that was ever heard of
N any country pretending to be civilized.
shortly after the United States Senate
made their report on the LouiSi-
ana question, the Picaynne published an
editorial in which the conclusions of the
were summed up and applied.
AS a Itfl hDf ~ "a
hat was returned by the Lynch board with
Iut returns. could have no legal existence,
I could not perform any valid act of legis-
alton, and the PIcaVune therefore appealed
% the memb ers of the bar not To recognize
he Superior Court, with Hawk ins as its
Judge, as a legal court. and called him
bastard judge of bastard court, created |
y bastard Legislature" The article fur
her stigmatized Hawkins as "A compound
II pertidy and perjury" because of his Vio-
alton of his duty and his oath as a return ! !
ny officer. The article contained not n ! !
word against Hawkins AS man, but only
lenouIced his conduct As a returning Off /
err and said he had been appointed Judge {
# the so-ealled Superior Court a reward I
or the services he had rendered his party &
" returning its members to office without
eturns.
Jacob Hawkins pretended tn think this |
rticle was libellcus and defamatory, and I
,rou9ht salt against the Picayune Publish q
ne Company and its twelve directors for v
100000 damages, alleging that his charac- I
er had been injured to that amount ny the a
publication of that one article. Aud he I
rought his suit before g. l.. Lynch, the [
'seudo Judge of the Fourth District Court, ;
rho was counted into the place by IIaw- {
-ins and his brother returning officers. Z
hawkins brought suit to vindicate his char b
cter as returning officer before his own | @
FEATURE, before the man he had assited in d
ounting into office, and who had reaped u
ne fruits of his '-perfidv ana PERJURY r
here were several Judges who were un- il
oubtedly elected, and who were real, legal, {
ona fide Judges, before whom Hawkins 0
onld have brought his suit, but he would Y
ot sue before legal court as he knew he O
ad no case with which to go before an Z
onest impartial tribunal. He therefore &
rent before the man he himself bad assist c
d in making judge, and the rulings and v
onduct of that Judge during the trial show
hat H9Wkins knew what he was about 2
then he selected his court. n
The defendants answered by setting up a a
eneral denial, accompanied with a special o
lea Of justification. In their plea OF justi- o
cation they averred that every statement a
in said article was supported by d
ne strongest proof and believed by respon- b
ent 10 be true as published, and q
HAT THE SAID STATEMENTS WERE TRUE.
Although a statute of the State declares Il
nat the truth may be pleaded as justi6ca-
on to an action of libel, the defendants
Tere deprived of that right by Judge Lynch. y
ONE forty-seven witnesses were summoned o
Dr. the defence, not one of whom could be D
under the Rulings of Hawkins v
adge. Gov. Warmoth was placed on the a
FITNESS stand to prove that the returns of Il
he election were made to him as required | O
v law, and that the returns were never in Fl
he possession of the Lynch Hawkins board, Il
nd he was not permitted to do 1t. General p