Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1881-05-07

/ LA4A4A4O 4l4N\14kxNs 00 ~ ASD~A
TnB A16ENBLY ExClrED.
what the Lses.w.ans Peeitie.srs said
About the 0Ov0rooe ono AuoeDey
General. and what teeLsg-
islatogs sold Ab00t the
Potiej0ooee.
In the House at Harrisburg yesterday
Mr.. Bierly, of Lycoming, said that by re-
quest he presented a petition from citi-
zens of Lackawanna county, asking for
the impeachment of Governor Hoyt and
Attorney General Palmer. on account Of
their action in reference to judicial Offices
in Lackawanua county. .
Tho petition was read with sarcastic
groans. It was read as follows
Your petitioners, citizens of Pennsyl-
~ania, and residents of the county Of
Lackawanna, respectfully represent that
they believe that Governor Henry NJ.
Hoyt and Attorney General II. W. Pal
mer have been guilty Of conduct in ofice
that calls for their impeachment and re-
moval at your hands. Your petitioners
believe it to be your duty to call the said
officials before you to answer for their
corrupt conduct in shielding Kemble and
his criminal companions from the pun
ishment due their grave crimes against the
laws.
"There will be little respect for law in
this commonwealth as long as the abettors
Of crime are allowed to fill the highest po-
sitions in the state The pardoning power
was not conferred on the executive depart
ment of tho commonwealth for the pur-
pose of fostering crime.
"Said Hoyt aud Palmer have confeder-
ated with politicians to impose on the citi
zens of said Lackawanna county an uncOn-
seitutional judiciary. The persons who
arc acting as judges of said Lackawanna
county are kept in said Offices by said
Hoyt and Palmer in violation of the con-
stitution and in defiance of the decision Of
the supreme court of the state. expressed
at the time of the granting of the man
damus by said court, directing tho judges
of the eleventh judicial district to organize
the courts of the said county. Said Pal.
mer, with the sanction of said Hoyt, in
pursuance of certain political arrange.
ments, though petitioned some months
since by about 2. 500 of the citizens of said
Lackawanna county to test through quo
warranto proceedings the right Of the as
sociated judges of said county to exercise
judicial functions, has not vOuchsafed to
notice the prayer of said petitioners.
Judges Handley and Hand are holding
their positions in said county by as illegal
tenure as Lewis and Mdiit, and said
Hoyt and Palmer know the fact, but thoy
are determined for personal and political
reasons, that their wishes and their crca-
lures shall be respectively the laws and
the judges for the people of said Lacka-
wanna county.
"The people of Lackawanna county
should enjoy the rights warranted by the
state constitution, and if they can be de-
prived of their rights at the caprice Of a
supercillious and intriguing attorney gen.
eral, then the government in Pennsylvania
is sham. The official conduct OF these
men has been the principal cause of the
eminently bad repute that attaches to the
name of Pennsylvania among the states Of
the Union to-day and as long as these men
are countenanced by your honorable body
in imposing on the people of any locality
an unconstitutional Judiciary fos their own
personal ends and in pardoning great
criminals for corrupt and political consid-
erations, there will not be that respect for
persons in authority that gives perman
ence and stability to government.
| "Your petitioners are ready to present
such facts to your honorable bodiesas viii
prove shat said Hoyt and Palmer have
used their said Offices to carry out infrac
tions of the constitution and laws OF the
state and to secure immunity to the viola
| tors OF said laws"
Immediately after the reading Of the pc
tition, Mr.. Ruddiman, with vigor ant
earnestness, denounced it rs an imperti
nent, improper and scandalOus cOmmuni-
| on&;D,, o,,I ,onvo6 fhof r. ho ro<,,~OoI r.
the parties by whom presented, and tina
all proceedings DO expunged from th'
records of the House and from the Legislo
tiue Record lApplause.]
| This motion was seconded by two Of thu
members from Lackawanna county, viz
Messrs. Hierlithy and LatOuche, both o
whom declared that they had no knowledg,
of tho paper and condemned it utterly.
| Mr.. Law, while he had no desire to pas.
judgment in the present charge, was o
opinion that in another matter, at leas
that of pardoning the riot bill culprits, tn,
executive officers had been deserving Q
censure.
Mr.. SOuder wanted to know who were
the signers to that blackguard paper %
The clerk thereupon proceeded to reat
the names. The signers were principally
of Celtic origin, as was apparent from TIN
names being largely composed of Patrlcks
Michaels. etc, etc. This gave rise tt
another inquiry from Mr.. Souder whether
the paper had really come from Lacka
| wanna county or from Ireland.
This brought forward Mr.. Welsh, NJ
Irishman from Schuylkill county, who de
clared that, even if the nance did sound
| little Celtic, they were entitled to respect
| The Irish had come to the front when the
| flag had been in danger and were just As
| good as Mr.. Souder anyhow. The Office
seekers courted them about election time
Mr.. Ruddiman explained that while he
was not an especial defender Of the state
officers, he considered that it was duty
which dignified body owed to itself tc
reprobate such sentiments and to stigma
tie the indirect and surreptitious manner
in which the paper had been injected into
the House with the censure which it do
served. Mr.. Bierly defended his action.
He was a representative of the entire state
as we'll as of Lycoming county. The pc.
titiouers had right to be heard, and it
was untrue that the petition had come heR
by surreptitious means. On the contrary,
| it had been published nearly month ago
| in the local papers.
Mr.. Ruddiman retorted that the right oil
respectful petition through proper chan.
nels was one thing. while the exercise by
petitioners of abuse and low and vile Sian.
der was another, and quite different
thing. The paper had not come here by
fair, candid, and open presentation, and
the gentleman could make tho most Of it.
The debate continued at length and
It'll, ANNA aoorI,;tv Eina1lv Mr. Rud6i