St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-03-29
Mr.. Villas NOT NEEDED,
And Will Not Testify in the Libe-
Trial.
THE OLD FEUD REHASHED
Secretary Hutchinson Goes Over the
Figures, and Judge WEIGH Begins
q His Testimony.

The usual crowd was present yester-
! day morning when the trial Of the
Welch-Vilas libel case was resumed in
the district court. Mr.. Hutchinson re-
sumed his testimony on cross-examina-
ton on taking the stand After long
and somewhat disjointed talk Victor
WEIGH took the witness and succeeded in
obtaining from him the information that
there was about 100000 surplus in the
insurance company, and that on the first
day OF May the company would have
: relnsured for S60,299 and still have
surplus of $50, 900 Oh hand.
THE VILAS-WELCH INTERVIEW.
When Victor Welch took the stand
Mr.Sessions asked him if he was present
when Mr.. Villas and Mr.. Welch had a
stormy interview. Eyes, sir, | was"
replied Mr.. Welch, "and my father
mad the insurance commission
the report and the record of the Bartlett
suit. My father called the attention of
Col. Villas to the figures of the report,
and Mr.. Villas admitted that they were
correct. He then told my father what
money and how much had been and was
subject to the guarantee fund. Mr..
Welch asked him especially in regard to
this. Personally, he said that he had
received for his share $4,000. l cannot
tell exactly the words that were used,
but in substance, he said that this
Emoney was that made by the Madison
Mutual Insurance company, and belong
ing to the policy holders and stOckhold-
ers of the old company"
Then followed an interesting CONVEX
SatiOn between Mr.. Davis and Mr.. WEIGH
in regard to what Mr.. Welch and Mr..
Villas had said at this interview, but Mr..
WEIGH did not appear to know.
THE OLD FEUD.
The afternoon session opened with
William Welch on the stand. In answer
to the question whether Or not he had
ever had any trouble with Mr.. Vilas,eX-
cept as had already been gone over. He
said that he had.
But this trouble did not influence
me" he continued, Gin publishing the
articles about Mr.. Villas that are now
complained of. When l wrote these ar
ticles | had the reports of the insurance
commissioner for the years 1879, 1880
and 1881 before me, and l had read them
all very carefully"
This closed the testimony for the de-
Tense, and an animated discussion en-
sued as to whether or not the defense
should be allowed to plead that the arti-
cles had been written for the public
good, as the truth of them had not been
proven. Law points without number
were brought up and fought over at
some length. They were argued pro
and con until adjournment. This morn
ing William Welch will be put on the
stand and subjected to a cross eXamina-
ton.
While on the stand Mr.. Welch swore
that there was stormy scene between
himself and Mr.. Villas on Aug. 2, and
that Mr.. Villas was forcibly elected from
the office. The state will introduce the
following from the Home Diary of Jan.
2, 1882, in rebuttal:
TGrowing out of this same matter was
a controversy with Col. Villas, with
whom, until that time, we had always
had friendly relations. We regret it,
and to put right certain false reports,
we now state that we are satisfied that
when he came to our office. Oh the I'd
day of August, he did not intend any
personal assault, as we supposed, and
that, although high words passed be-
tween us in excitement, there was no
other violence used, nor was his exit
voluntary and uncOmpelled. In short,
words, and ought never to- have been
publicly mentioned
- MIR. Villas WILL NOT COME.
There has been considerable Specula-
ton as to whether or not Col. Villas will
come to Minneapolis to testify. The
following dispatch was received from
him by County Attorney Davis during
the morning:
Washington, March %, 1sss.-To F. F.
Davis: Newspapers report testimony given
in the WEIGH prosecution in Minneapolis
which is false and astonishing. Mr. Welch
published a retraction in 1881 on the settle
ment of the Gill case in Madison which con-
tradicts the testimony. Do you desire any
evidence to establish the truth?
VIM. F. Villas.
Mr.. Davis Immediately sent the fol-
lowing dispatch to Col. Villas:
Minneapolis, March %, 1SSS.-To Hon.
William f. Villas, Washington. D. c.: There
appears to me no necessity that you appear
as witness for the state in the case of Min
nesota against William WEIGH. l am obliged
TO you for the volunteer offer to appear if
desired. F. +. DAVIS.