Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-04-27
JUDGE KENN EDY.
His Record Open for Inspection--He
Needs no Defense--The Choice OF
His District.
swEETwATER, TEX, April %, 1891.


| SwEETwATER, TEX, April q, 1891.
| Editor Gazette:
In the Daily GAZETTE Of the 18th there
| appeared an unSig ned article from Fisher,
| Fisher county, entitled; Law in Fisher
| County" The author of the article in COM
| menting on the famous charge to the last
| grand jury of Fisher county, delivered by
| Judge Cockrell, makes bitter and unwar-
| ranted attack on Hon. William Kennedy,
| judge of the Thirty-second district, and, in
| order to serve his purpose more effectually,
| misrepreSentS and ISLANDERS some of the
| best citizens of his own county In order
| to understand the matter, 1t may be well
enough to state that in the reorganization of
| the Thirty-second district in 1889 Fisher
county was taken out Of Cockrell'S and put
in kennedy's district by the legislature,
| where it remained until the legislature
again transferred Fisher county back to
CocTell's district, by a law lately passed,
and that in 1889 a petition numerouSly
signed by the best citizens of Fisher county
requested the legislature to make the change
then, and that when the people of the
county learned that to suit the political
purposes of our representatives at Austin
Fisher county was about TO DC put back
again in Judge Cockrell'S district, they got
up a protest, circulated, we understand by
Mr.. X. {. Crane, a young lawyer Of RcRy,s
who has an unimpeachable character and is
one of the best citizens of the county, and
was signed by over 200 citizens OF the
county, the majority of whom were the best
known property owners and law-abiding
permanent settlers With this statement
OF the circumstances we now quote 4 por-
ton of the article that appeared in The
GAZETTE:
The charge to the grand jury was plain
and very much to the point. The fact is,
Judge Cockren doesn't talk through his
nose, nor read his charge from lengthy
newspaper clippings till the iurynen fall
asleep anu the hangers-on go out for recrea-
ton. : = The result is that the Grim
inal classes and their lawyers fear Cockrell,
which accounts for his opposition in this
country. a petition gotten up by lawyer
quietly circulated and signed by 4 few OF
his associates and their clients, with lot
of names of respectable men added, gen
orally without their knowledge or consent,
was sent to Austin, protesting against the
change and asking to be kept in Judge
kennedy's district. In this way our county
was taken from Judge COckrell's district
three years ago and transferred to Ken
nedy and the w-abiding element grieved
then as they rejoice now. And if Cockrell
believed rs he spoke yesterday, he has
been deceived by surface indications, for
the permanent settlers and taxpayers see
the dawning of a better day. And the
judge can be well assured that nine-tenths
OF the permanent settlers of Fisher county
rejoice over the change, and that he will
hear no responsive echo TO the grOaningS of
jack-leg lawyers or their criminal clients
when the judges 400 pounds avoirdupois
comes down heavily upon them. And that
he will find many and Staunch friends on
every hand to second every effort TO put
down all manner of crime.
Now we have no criticism to make on
Judge COckrell who as far as we know is q
Christian gentleman, an honest judge, and
a good lawyer, nor have we any comment
adverse or otherwise, to make on the
action of leading citizens of Fisher
county in first petitioning to be
taken out of CocErell's district and
later protesting against being put back
in his district, for the Office of district
Judge is an elective one and the people hay
ing had no opportunity of expressing their
preference at the polls certainly should not
be criticised for exercising the right of peti-
tion besides there are good reasons for
their action, apart from and having no
reference to choice of judges. Now as far
as the attack on the SlgnerS Of that petit
ton and protest and on Mr. Crane is con-
cerned they are able to defend themselves,
but Judge Kennedy is our judge and we voted
for MIN, and the base and false imputations
contained in this libel, not only re-
fleets on him, but also on the good people
of the Thirty-second district, Judge Ken
nedy'S character where he is known needs
no defense, but THE GAZETTE has a wide
circulation, and for the base and slanderous
charges contained in said article to go I'M
challenged might dc him great harm where
he is comparatively unknown. Judge
Kennedy is an able and upright Judge and
is the peer of any district judge in the state,
and while we don't want to draw any in
vidious comparisons yet we invite
the readers to an examination of his re-
cord in the court of appeals reports and
you will find that he is rarely ever reversed
at all and never on his charge to the jury,
and while he treats all who have business
before him whether they be lawyers,
parties to suits, citizens generally, or de-
PENDANTS charged with crime), courteously
and gentlemanly and defendants fairly, yet
criminals in his courts had much rather
monkey with the business end of buzz
saw than to try TO unduly influence him in |
their favor. OF course we know that The |
GAZETTE would be the very last paper in |
the state to do Judge Kennedy or any other |
gentleman an injustice Intentionally and we |
believe that if THE GAZETTE had been at all |
converSant with the facts, or the parties |
the article would never have been published. |
HoRD, Cor.