St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-03-30
Erwin on the Stand in the
Welch-ViIas Case--The
Evidence ALI In.
The Free Baptists Pass Reso-
lutiOns--Theip Contents
a Mystery.
Missionary Meeting Of Pres
byterian Ladies--Civil En-
gineers Meet.
Commissioner Lennon Has
the Pleasure Of Being Hur-
riedly Bounced"
READY FOR ARGUMENT.
Closing Testimony in the WEIGH
Case---OId Letters Read.

Closing Testimony in the WEIGH
Case---OId Letters Read.
When court took up the Welch libel
case yesterday morning, Judge Hicks
announced that he had made a mistake
the previous day in allowing the intro
duction of testimony serving as grounds
upon which to have reasonable excuse
or justification of the alleged libel
and that all OF such evidence would be
stricken from the records. lie
then decided that the proof of
the truth of the alleged libel
should first be produced before
any species of Justification could be adj
vanced. Col. Sessions, counsel for the
defense, the raised the question OF what
position Mr.. Erwin occupied i'll this case
He said the law very plainly says that
the county attorney may have assist
ance. but the county shall not pay
for 1t; the law also commands that
the county attorney shall not nave the
advantage of counsel paid for by per-
sons not party to the suit. Mr.. Erwin
was then asked to take the stand. Col.
Sessions asked him the following queS-
ton:
'Do you appear as an attorney in this
case?"
Mr.. Davis objected, and Col, Sessions
detailed what he expected to prove by
the witness. 1t was to the effect that he
had been employed by w. F. Villas to
work up the case and press the prosecu-
ton. He then read as to the question
of law involved in report of a similar
case in Wisconsin. The result OF this
cluded that this was vital
question and that an improper rul-
ing on this point might cause
a new trial of the case, and consequently
he would adjourn the court until
o'clock and consult some authorities on
the question. When court was recon-
vened Judge Hicks denied the motion
to exclude Mr.. Erwin from the case.
Buel E. Hutchinson was put on the
stand by the state in rebuttal. Inc
letters which passed between Hutchln-
son and Welch in regard to
the wrecking of the Insurance
company were then read, which reading
took up most of the afternoon. Mr.,
Welch read the letters written by HIM
self, which were mostly letters OF IN
curry. The replies were read by the
witness, Hutchinson. The reading OF
these letters by the authors themselves
brought out every point to its best adj
vantage. After the reading OF these
letters. one written by the defendant
to David Atwood, the president
of the company, was read and
then his reply, followed by a second
from the defendant. In the first letter
the defendant asked what had become
of the surplus and what amount had
been paid Villas: and the reply was that
he was entirely ignorant OF any pay
ments having been made to Villas or
81, 10 hn IicnnCItinn
of the surplus he could give no infor-
nation. In the second letter Welch
calls AtwoOd'S attention to the fact that
if his statements in his last letter were
true then he had been grossly libeled
by Insurance Commissioner Spooner in
his report made June, 1879.
The witness hutchinson was then
asked to state how much each director
received from the surplus fund. The
defense objected because in one of his
letters he said he could not remember,
and if he had made an estimate from
any books he might have in his posses
sion, then the books were the best evil
dence and they should be produced.
The witness stated that he, as secretary
of the company, made these payments
himself and remembered what they
were, but at the time he wrote the let
ter spoken of he had not seen the books
for some years and consequently he did
not feel safe in stating the exact
amounts. That since then he had re-
freshed his memory and could give the
exact amounts from memory
"DO you not use the book as the basis
for these calculations" asked Col. SeS-
sionS.
mo, SIR" answered the witness; II
made those payments and remember
what they were without reference to
the books" He then took a paper out
of his pocket and read off the following
statement: 1.-The surplus fund of
So, 1000 was divided as follows: Villas,
"a, 40; Brown, S11, 500; Proudfoot,
$4,000; Fox, $460; Dudley, $1,150;
Hutchinson, $1,15O. Atwood did
not receive anything" Col. Session
then stepped up to the witness and
asked to look at the paper, which was
handed him. He then said: ''AS you
say you remember what these payments
were, now tell me the amount each one
received as l read off the names" He
then read of the names of Villas, Brown,
PrOudfoot and Dudley. The witness
got the amounts right for two of them,
but failed on the other two. This
caused Col. Session to break out into
leud gutfaw, and he told the witness
which two were wrong. The witness
managed to correct one amount, but
hopeleSsly stuck Oh the other. Col. SEES
sions advised the witness to again re-
fresh his memory, and said they were
through with him.
This closes the evidence in the case,
and the prosecution will sum up the
case at 9:30 this forenoon.