The Brookhaven leader., 1890-12-04
HemingMa, Goes to the Pen.

Hemingway Goes to the Pen.
The Supreme Court last Monday
banded down its decision in the aP-
peal cas-" of Cx-Trcasury Hemingway.
aud unanimously afirmS the tading
of the court below.
The opinion cf the court was rem
dcr.d chief Justice Woods. and is
ve"y IrGg and full. 1t sustains the
rulings aud instructions of JUDGE
Chri~uan "n every single point. and
is ON" cf the cleareSt, strongest and
most reasoning dcliycraEccs that has
come FROM the supreme Court in Il
long time.
vt the very outset the opinion
scouts a> uuSouud the proposition
that Hemingway should have been
granted Il continuance because of an
alleged probability chat his hired eX-
pert i3iglt discover n material error
in III. accounts. and calls attention to
the fact that the errors then claimed
10 have brrn discovered by said cxpcr,
were proved in the trial to I've merely
taurii'ul. 1t then takes up and dis
poses of each contention of the de
trrs" IL detail. The concluding part
- the opinion Is given in the Ian
gHagc of the court:
A. to Che only remaining cunten-
ton that the evidence was NIT sutii-
cient tn support the verdict. it is our
plain and imperative duty to say.
that the shortage i'll the defendants
accounting with the State, as its
Treasurer, is put beyond the reach OF
cavil 10y the evidence in the record
before rs. The official records re-
quircd 10y law to he kept 10y the
Treasurer bear silent witness against
the defendant, and this silent witness
is powerfully supported 10y IL vast
mass of other and independent and
convincing evidence pouring in the
same direction.
If this deficiency of more than
$500, 600 has arisen because sf errors
in the defendants reccipting his pre-
dcccSSor i'll office fourteen years ago,
how is it possible to conceive the fail
ure to discover sHch errors prior to
1886. lcn, on the basis OF that set
Element with Holland, the former
treasurer, the defendant was only
chargrHhle with Il balance of about
81, 00OP Does not human credulity
stagger when asked to believe that
the defendant WAS, in 1856. actually
carrying the State as his debtor for
more than $500, 200. and yet this must
be conceded. if it was true that this /.
balance of $4,000. alleged to have /.
been emhezZled was credited 10y error +
of like amount against the defend /
ant rowing out of the settlement .
with Holland. If this great balance +
is the product of error in book keep [
ing since 1886, when the accounting
disclosed only about $1,000 in the de
fendant'S hands. Is it not equally in
credible that all the official. and un-
official, public and private eXamina
tons of the records in the treasurer'S
office, have sigually failed to discover
that tremendous fact? That the de
PENDANT has not accounted for or at all I
explained his failure to produce oi .
pay over the great balance shown 70
have been in his hands. or to have .
been converted or made way by him. .
is incontrovertibly made certain, and .
all the evidence in the case leaves us
no solid ground upon which to reach .
any other conclusion than that arriv- ,
ed at by the Jury on the trial below. /
The Mississippian says beyond the
marble pallor that spread owe" Col.
IIemingway'S face there was nothing
to Indicate how or what he fclC during
the long reading of the opinion. The /
prisoner quietly walked out in charge .
of Sheriff Harding, who kindly drove .
him first TO his residence to wait until /.
the mandate and proper papers could |.
be prepared for committal to the pen
itentiary.
The reading of the opinion closed
Monday about II o'clock, and before
sunset the ponderous doors of the
State prison had closed upon the man
whose name, less than y short
months ago, was the SYNONYM for hon
or and integrity throughout MisSis-
sippi.
The lesson is a solemn one. Let us
hope it will not he lost.