The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1873-07-28
The Gordon Kidnapping Case.
MIsNEApoLls, July 2G,-Tho following
special has been received BY the tribune ::

special has been received by the 1rlOine
FoRT GARRY, July 90.
The outrage is consummated Our
citizens, through the Vaccinations oI
Clarke, have been sentenced 10 lie in a
British Jail TO await the session Of the
Queel's Bench, in October next. Owing
10 the venom OF the prosecution, the re.
suit is not unexpected. The following is
the Judgment complete rendered by the
Judge on the question Of bail.
The law says it Is discretionary with
the Judge before whom the application is
made to grant ii or not. Every one, !
think, must understand that word dis
CrelOn, as here used, does not imply that
the Judge may, according 10 arbitrary
will, admit one person TO bail, and, under
similar circumstances, refuse to do so.
Legal discretion, as defined Ey Sir Ed
wand Coke, is to Discern according 10
law. With this definition before us, let
us apply In the case few points. 1t has
been abundantly established in the evI.
deneS and 1t Is admitted by at least two
OF the prisoners, Hay and Kecgan, that
they (llay and kecgan) with the active
cooperation Of Fletcher and BlAkely, for
chilly seized and confined against his will,
one Gordon, with the intention Of taking
him out Of Canada. Our statute declares
the oiTensc 10 be felony, the maximum
punishment oi which is seven years in
the penitCntIsry, The accused sought
to Justify the action. They held
the power OF an attorney from person
in New York, authorizing the capture Of
Gordon, auI that having acted only under
this power, they inlringed upon no law,
and that by the common law, bail might
follow his principal even into the British
Dominion, aud take and lOrCibly carry
him away without warrant. | do not
subscribe to this doctrine, which in my
opinion is dangerous to our national
But assuming .his Opin-
ion 10 be sound, il would not meet
!hr present case, rs the power Oi bail
to take its principal Is personal rSh!
confined to himself alone, and cannot be
delegated TO another. Now, with these
dates before lis, what remains, first, the
0lleBaq charged against the prisoner is the
most serious one; second, that the evil
dcnCc sus,alns the charge, and have lii
tie doubt as TO the guilt of the prisoners;
third, the plea Of Justification, in my opin.
ion, is untCnNblc. Let us, in conclusion,
apply our discretion to these facts, not
forgetting our definition that discretion in
this sense means 10 discover according TO
law. II is laid down in the books that
when an OiTcnse charged is Of serious
nature, and the proof of guilt is strong,
the Judge ought 10 refuse bail under the
facts in the case; and taking into Consid.
Grafton all the circumstances connected
herewith, | feel bound by law and by
precedent 10 refuse bail in the case Ol
Hay, KCGgan, Fletcher and Bentley. The
case is different, and although the
learned gentleman who committed him
'or trial was, think, justified BY law in
loing SO, still, this being an application 10
ne ~ Judge Of the Queens Bench, and
here being doubts in my mind as to his |
guilt, think he ought TO be admitted 10
bail, and | hold him bound in the sum Oi
"a 900 for his appearance at the ensuing |
~ - ~ oHnrF ul Queens bench.
qSirnedl IkMEA @. MCKEAGSHY,
Judge Court OF queens DcuCu.