Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1880-08-14
that he viii have bis lawyer present. when

that he will have bis lawyer present. When
q man is about to- make q fraudulent con-
Hveyance of his property, especially if it is
done under the advice of his attorney, he is
sure to call in witnesses to see the money
paid and the deed delivered. Was it upon
this principle that Mr.. Reeder called to-
gether six persons, on August 9th, at the
that all this parade would grant him i'm
punity to spit upon the law and set aside
the election returns of the county? What
use could Mr.. Reeder have for lawyer at
the counting of the votes? There was no
question of law for him toEdecide There
was nothing to do but to count the votes on
the face of the returns, and he could need
no legal advice about this. 1t was q mere
matter of arithmetic. But, suppose Mr..
Reeder felt in good faith, that he ought to
have lawyer present to advise. what
lawyer ought he TO have had ? 1t was not
Objectionable that Andersons attorney or
Gossetts attorney should be biased and
extreme in their views and judgments, be-
cause they were each representing side of
the case. But Mr. Reeder's lawyer
I msn and asSs man A wh aD had pafI not
prejudged the case. Mr.. Reeder selected
ii. Il. Gibson as his lawyer on this occs-
sion-a man who had announced in the
most public and authoritative manner that
Reeder would give the certificate of elec>
ton to Gossett. This announcement was
made in public speech, at the court house,
on the night of the 9th. three days before
the votes were to be. counted by Reeder,
and while the great mass of the people
conceded Anderson's election. Mr.. Reeder
violated duty he owed to the public in
permitting Mr.. Gibson to have any voice
in determining who was elected sheriff.
In the CHRONICLES editorial of August
10th the author Of the editorial seemed to
feel the necessity of explaining why the
Reeder, and does explain it by saying that
it was because he had acted in the capaci-
ty of counsel for Reeder for the last two
| gears. Then he was Reeder's counsel
when he made his speech in the court
| house, on the 9th, and announced that
| Gossett would receive the certificate, and
was in better position to know what Mr..
Reeder was going to do than any other
| living man. This announcement certainly
came from very close to the bosom of
Alex. Reeder.
Mr.. Reeder suggests that because l was
the attorney for Mr.. Anderson I am not a
competent man to sit in judgment on him,
the judge who decided the case against Mr..
Anderson. Here Mr.. Reeder admits that
he did act as judge, that he did assume and
exercise judicial powers in Withholding
from Mr.. Anderson the certificate of cleo
ton. This is one of the grounds of cons
plant against Mr.. Reeder. 1t would be
fortunate for Mr.. Reeder if | alone were
sitting in judgment upon him, but the
people of Knox county who confded to
him the high trusts of public office are
sitting in judgment upon him and his pub
lie acts, to which have alluded.
He also suggests in his closing sentence
that / am neither too old nor too smart to
learn" He is certainly right about this,
for I am now learning some things about
election methods from him that are well
calculated to startle citizens who have
thought that in a popular election the can
didate who received a majority Of the
votes was entitled to be declared elected.
Respectfully,
T S. WEBB.
August 18th, 1880.