The Washington bee., 1889-09-28
WHERE WILL 1T END.

At Hampton, Oh the l1th, inst.
the Circuit Court of that judicial
district (Judge Gunter), handed
down Its decision to the case Of
the Commonwealth VS.. Bona
parte and refused to grant the de-
fendant a new trial. This is an
appeal from a former decision, it
will be remembered when Mr..
Bonaparte was convicted and SEN
fenced to term Of years. At
the first trial the only witness
who took the stand against the
defendant was his ,accuser, and
Notwithstanding the defendant
produced witness whose testimony
showed the woman to be notorious
ly unchaste and of bad character
generally who admitted on cross
examination that she bad enjoyed
the society of black as well as
white men; that her brother kept
a bad house and was at the time
of the trial iu jail charged with
murder, that her entire family
were bad set unworthy of belief,
that she made her living in guild
ed dens of sin, in spite of these
admissions and the testimony of
respectable citizens as to the good
character of the defendant, a Vir-
ginia jury of Negro hating pre-
JUDGED white men convicted him.
Since that first trial or farce,
new and additional facts were
learned and laid before judge
Gunter, able counsel cited many
laws to show that the defendant
was entitled to his liberty. Judge
Gunter, however, be it said, be his
everlasting disgrace ignore he
argument of consel and extinuat-
ing circumstances of fwhose benefit
all defendants are entitled to de-
MED a new trial, confnlng him
self in his dlcision not to the law
and evidence that "Negroes should
know and keep their places among
their own kind. The majority
of those present who heard the d.
cision delivered say, that never in
the history of criminal jurispru-
ence was there ever such a miscar-
riage of law and in.sti0a IooaLiffL f U !,
q pIso.s -. = - - Judge
Gunter's decision Tor malice, pref
udice and race hatred is without
a parallel in this country. He,
however is not the only one who
has committed a great wrong
Faytte Collier, once a professed
friend of Bonaparte'S has much to
answer for and may be called on,
sooner than he expects to undo
the mischief done by him.
With our long acquaintance
and knowledge OF W. IL. Bona
parte we can not bring ourselves
to believe him guilty as charged.
That he may have been indescreet
it is possible, but crlminally gull
ty never. The whole life of the
man robs him of any connection
with crime Does it seem reason
able that a man with a young and
beautiful girl wife, whose Lifetime
aspirations nave been high and
honorable, would wish claudistine
affiliations with a notOriouSly bad
white woman? No assuredly not.
The whole matter as it stands is
against all reason and judgement
Bonaparte was a Republican poll
tician, he had the courage of bis
convictions, he spoke out against
wrong and advocated the shooting
down of white scoundrels who de-
bauched young colored women,
his enemies now have him in pow
er and are revenging themselves
on him with the aid of the Demo
cratic and Negro hating judicia-
ry. His case will now 90 to the
Court of Appeals where it is
hoped justice will at last be done,
in the mean time let the colored
press take up this case and agitate
until every man, woman and child
shall know what penalties intel.
igent colOred young men must
pay in the South for their learn
ing. w. H. Bonaprte's many
friends who are in sympathy with
him now is the time to show it. The
BEE will do all it can to bring
about his liberation.