The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1875-02-15
LETTER FROM CHARLESTON.
Snirited Sccnes-FuII Account of the
Contempt Case OF Mr.. Cabeil-Opin-
ions ~ TO the Result-Fhc inVesu-
CATION 10 be Thoroughly Conciud-
cd. Let it Hit Who il May.
CHARLESTON, WEDNESDAY.
February 10th, 1875.

\
February 10th, 1875. !
Spirited scenes, those which gather
lasting interest and Importance As they
progrrss are rare occurrences i'll the
legislative proceedings of the State of
West Virginia. Common every day
matters in routine legislative business,
mingled ut times with II little spirited
discussion to relieve the monotony, is
about all We get the whole ses-
SION through Grave, torcib!c
proceedings have been attempted or con-
Quoted less than thrice in the history of
: the State. those of to-day making the last
of the trio, as well as the first proceedings
Of the kind that has ever taken place
since this little Commonwealth had a
place in the galaxy of sovereign States.
Imagine the Legislature, IN lts
lower body in complete and studied ses-
sion, two-thrds of the higher body upon
the floor, grave speaker in the chair,
and the lobby crowded to sutioratlon
with promiscuous and excited crowd,
AN old man, verginG upon the ripe age OF
three score and ten years, devastated
between two eminent lawyers, al! facing
the speaker and the central figure IN
contempt before the House. ana
YOU have the picture complete. Listen
to the speaker as he reads, what bonus
or interest, if any, does Your bank pay
to F.. 4. Bennett, Auditor of the State,
or John 5. Burdett, Treasurer, for the
use of the funds of the State deposited
therein" Gather the answer from the
aged witness rs follows: ! decline to
answer the question for the
reason that it will criminate myself and
YOU will then understand that Mr.. y. i.
/ Cabrl, President of the Merchants
Bank Of Charleston, i before the HUus"
/ of Representatives of West Virginia for
the purpose of purgng himself OF con
tempt for having refused to answer the
questions Of the committee now lnvc>tl-
eating the State finances, of which j.
Hanson Good, Of Wheeling. i chairman.
When, at the very beginning OF the
session. Il resolution was introduced and
unanimously passed, to enter into an IN
vcstigation OF the Ways and Means by
which the State finances were controlled
and expended, little if any, interest was
taken in the subject, and from that time
until to-day the meetings OF
the Committee had been char
acterizeG with no perccptibc
amount of interest or important iniorma-
ton. Therefore, when It became ru'
mored this morning that the President OF
! the Merchants Bank had refused Il
answer questions pertinent to the in
ouiry. and for which he would be brought
before the bar of the House, to answer
for such contempt, there WAS considerable
interest manifested in what would he
done, although SO well had the secrets
of the committee been guarded
that very few people knew
ANYTHING about the mine of interest and
Importance. which was TO be exploded in
the aftcr-diSner session of tho House OF
/ Delegates.
/ The Rouse convened as usual at three
o'clock.
Soon after Mr.. Good, Of Wheeling
sent t. the Clerks desk Il resolution ask
ing that y. b. Cabcll hc arrested by the
Sergeant-at-Arms and brought before the
bar of this House 10 answer contempt
ot its authority.
\ little after five o'clock the Sergeant.
at-ArmS appeared AT the bar THE House,
having in custody the contumaclouS wit
ness. He occupied chair directly in the
aisle fronting the Speaker. Mr.. Hogeman
and Quarter OF his counsel, sat upon
either side Of him, giving direction us tC
his actions. The Speaker read the ques-
tions aN above stated prepared by
the committee, and the great
crowd present, with bated
grcath, waited for the answer; and when
the refusal TO answer was clearly and dis.
tinctly read by the clerk, murmur OF
surprise ran through the whole audience
As soon as they had been uttered. Mr.
Mason. of Jefferson. moved to adjourn
and then the question arose, very gray,
oucftoo, for 50 inexperienced body a'
sl!S, as to what should be- done with tn,
witness. Mr. Hutchinson, of WOOD
made strong speech, urging his transfer
to the custody of the Scrgcant-at-Armr
until tomorrow, and Mr.. Carlisle, ("
Harrison, opposed this proceeding, rather
questioning the right of the House 10
compel the witness to answer. MIR
Campbell. of Hancock, made temperate
speech. lnterleaved with some criticisms
upon Mr. Carlisles defense of the wit
ness as mcmbrr of the committee,
which brought out Il severe response
from Mr.. Carlisle, during which he was
ordered to his seat by the Spcakcr-Mr,
Jordan. Of Wheeling, in the chair. Ii
was nearly seven o'clock before the
House adjourned. without action, leaving
the witness in the custody Of the Ser
gesnt-at-Arms for the night. That Is II
he chose to stay there.
There is of course much excitement at
tending this unusual proceeding, and IL
thousand different stories are atloat rs to
the information possessed by Mr. Cabell
of his transactions with the State officers,
which would make him a criminal to
disclose. but it NAV he that we will have
these hidden truths shortly, and | refrain
from repeating these stories, although
some are verv interesting, and Indicate
that if this investigation IS pushed the
reflections will not stop al the Auditor
and Treasurer only. j. w. Uranthom,
ex-senator from Jefferson county, and
president of the Bank of Char,c>town,
in that county, has been summoned to
appear before this committee, and 1t Is
rumorcd that he Is very important
witness. There seems a determination
on the part Of every delegate to push
this investigation with the most search
in force.
This new interest has almost entirely
obscurcd the senatorial question and little
else is talked Of save this Investigation and
its probable results.
THURSDAY MORNING, Feb. II, 1873
Tba-e yvss M ahata,pan+ IN tho aynitn-