The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1873-11-26
kNoxvnLE. Nov. Is. 1879

KNOXVILLE. Nov. Is, 1873
The absorbing topic, during the
past week, has been the Vaughn
case" Other cases of like character
were pending. but this one seemed
to be the one of Importance in the
mind ef the people. 1t was set for
P. NJ, Monday. Sometime was
taken up in the discussion of the
counts" in the Indictment, in which
the attorneys for and against the &C.
cused not only indicated their high
legal attainments but developed the
salient points in the case. His Hon.
or, Judge Emmons. of Detroit, Mich.
igan. presided; Judge Andrews.
Maj. Pettibonc and Hon. John Bax-
ter appeared for the Government.
Judge Houk, Hon. j, c. Thornburg,
Hon. A. c. Caldwell and Geo. Wash
ington. Esq. for the defense. The
struggle in the case promised to be
a desperate ole for the victory. The
counsel OH both sides appeared san
guine of success. Nearly one hun
dred witnesses were called.
The examination continued until
Thursday evening. when the defend
ant, Vaughn, was unable to attend
the sessions Of the court. on account
of serious illness. Drs. Ramsey,
Boyd and B"ynton appeared in open
court and testified to the serious
character Of the illness. Judge EN-
mons suggested to the counsel for
the Government that a continuance
until the following day, would be
but justice to the defendant-tllat
he would like to hear an expression
from them. Maj. Pettibone said
that he could speak for the attorneys
for the prosecution and that there
was no disposition to force the de-
fendant into trial when he could not
he present TO advise his counsel.
The case was then laid over until
this morning Judge Emmons made
many friends by this rery manifest
disposition to see that Justice was
done Gen. Vaughn. His remarks. rs
to the propriety of postponing the
trial and giving the defendant all the
advantages possible in the case. in
dicated the spirit of great Ameri-
can iurist--an administration of the
law instead of that of partisan hate.
So .f0 Judge Emmons has sought to
administer Justice This cannot be
said of all those who occupy these
high positions. For instance an I'm
deraeoOd. This morning the case
was called. when DIR. Ramset was
again present and stated that the
defendant was wholly unable TO be
in court and would not be for days.
The suit was laid over until January.
The friends aud counsel for the
defense were anxious for the trial to
go on. OF couse the Government
was. 1t is more than probable that
the preparation for the defense will
never he SO compete .FH
But Gen. VS. health is such as to
wholly uncapacitate him for defea-
sive measures.
The public differ as to the charges
against Gen. V Some regard him
rittingiY guilty; others, that he is
the victim Of Boyd and others, still
that lie has never had anything to do
with the forgeries. The facts, so
far developed. have been. in the
main, in favor of the accused. This,
however, amounts to nothing in
asmuch rs only two of them having
Witnesses have been introduced.
During Gen. VS. illness OF yester-
day. the case of man named Car
ter. Of Sullivan county, charged with
raising bills from Is to POS was
taken and this morning was scnten
ced to the penitcntiary to learn that
the way of the transgIessor is hard.
Other cases will be taken up Monday
next. There are numbers OF the
guilty" so-called counterfeitcrs-
awaiting examination. It is proba-
BILE that many who are here arq in
noeent-are the unwilling victims
of older heads W! o. as yet, have not
come 10 the surface. 1t is also evil
dent that the means reSorted to by
detectives to discover the offend
ers are, in many instances, Of re'y
questionable propriety. If.cvery man
y East Tennessee-or the United
StNtes, who has in his possession a
counterfeit bill is guilty, the jails
and penitentiarics wonld not hold
one tenth of the guilty" The fact
Is, not Que mdh in ten, not one az u
hundred, is able to determine as TO
the qenuineSs of the bill presented.
Even our banks are not infallible.
Only this morning gent eman who
was attending the court here handed
a landlord ten dollar bill, in pay
ment of his dues. The bill WAS
handed to the clerk to be changed.
He returned in few minutes with
the remark: MIR. -. says that
it is counterfeit" well" ]" says the
gentleman, 1.-The Cashier Of the bank
is responsible, he paid it to me not
a half hour since. Tile bill had
evidently seen a good deal Of ser
vice. This only illustrates how easy
il is for the most innocent Of men to
be made liable for the gravest of
charges.
There are guilty men, scores OF
fham and IL these detectives
would shoulder enough courage and
90 into the mountain fortresses they
might find something to do. adyan.
tageous TO the country and Govern.
ment. 1t is presumable. that these
producers Of the -queer" have head
quarters. some place where they can
do their work without the fear OF
being troubled. Tie mountains af-
ed ffaea facilities