Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1880-11-16
aanraster F1lteIltGenrer.
TUESDAY EVENING, NOV. 10. 1880.
Judge Davis.

TUESDAY EVENING, NOV. 10, 1890.
Judge Davis.
The conservative newspapers of the
country which at first saw no further
into Judge Davis's committal of Philip
than their sympathy with the idea that
the Morey letter was a forgery are be-
ginning to question the propriety OF Da-
vis'S conduct and do not stop to de-
nounce his attack on Mr.. Hewitt as being
as extra-judicial as it was indecent.
As the Herald, which was quite free
to denounce Mr.. Hewitt, puts it, "Judge
Davis expressed no opinion as to whether
the letter was fabricated by Philip he
binds him over to await the action of
the grand jury on the fact that he wrote
an editorial calling Gen. Garfield a liar
for denying the authorship" That is
exactly the Offense with which Philip is
now charged and on which Davis held
him-not for forgery, nor for libel, in the
original publication, but for malicious
libel in so far doubling Garfeld's verac-
ity rs to say he lied, and stuck to it, in
denying tie authorship of the letter. 1t
is of the utmost Importance that public
attention should be fixed upon this mat
ter just rs it is.
As TO the unseemly attack of Judge
Davis on Mr.. Hewitt there is 10 room
for question. The Herald expressed the
opinion that I" the errors pointed out in
Mr.. Hcwltt's letter are so palpable that
We do not see how Judge Davis can be
silent under the exposure. He is bound
either to make Il suitable apology or to
show that Mr.. Hewitt, and not himself,
is in error respecting the testimony" In
Difference probably to this view of it
Davis has furnished for publication a
statement in which he admits:
fell into an error, which, in justice to
Mr.. Hewitt, it is my duty to correct. The
error relates to the time when Mr.. Hart
took the Morey letter to tho national
committee rooms for examination at which
time Mr.. Hewitt first examined it. The
text of the letter had been printed in the
newspaper i the iithograph or fac-simile
had not been; and it was in fact to deter
mine whether the letter should be litho
graphed and published in fac-simile that
Mr.. Hart sought the opinion of Mr..
Hewitt and others as to its genuincncss.
In every other particular believe the evi
dence, and all the differences made by me
from it are fully justified by the facts.
= The first publication Of the letter
was all through the case regarded rs a
matter of minor and very little impor
tancc. The evidence was almost wholly
aimed at the publication Of the litho.
graphcd fac-simile.
Had Judge Davis been an s,prigh
Judge he would have stopped with his ad
mission that the foundation of his attacl
on Mr.. Hewitt was swcptaway. Being /:
malignant partisan, caught in dirt!
trick from the bench, he shifts his posi-
tiOn and now frames his attack Oh wlla
he charges to he Mr.. Hewitt's connec
tion with the circulation of the letter
He even has the cheek to say that thi:
was mainly the matter before him. HI
lies. Nobody was before him on thi:
charge. Nobody was accused before hin
ofthis offense and for him to take cog
niZamce of matter not before him, tt
write anybody up or down in matter
noh juice coraH shows him to be ;
knave us we'll rs fool.
The abuse of the bench is as bad as tn,
abuse of the press. Indeed, as the Stats
Zeit,mg says:
We hold the grossest abuse Of the pres
for party ends to be a lesser evil than thu
abuse Ofthc power of the state and the
Judiciary to restrict the freedom Of tn,
press, and especially to prevent the frees
criticism of public men. We believe tina,
such an abuse exists in the proceedin.
against Philip, and VIC find especial proc
of it in the immoderate attack of Davi:
upon Hewitt, in which the former makes
himself guilty OF pretty nearly the sam,
offensc foc which Philip was arrested.
1t is bad enough for newspapers to in
dulge in undue license with good
mems names. But if judges on the
bench are to protect themselves behint
their judicial privileges, to abuse citi
Zens without redress, it is manifest tha
protection is needed from an alarmin:
source of attack-seeing that nowadays
malicious, malignant and unscrupulou
men are about-as apt to get upon til,
bench us into tie editorial chair.