St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-02-02
QUAY HAS REVENGE.
Beaver Star Editors Given a
Very Severe Sentence for
Libel.
Six Months in Jail. Besides a
Fine Of $500 and the
Court Costs.
Judge Wiekham Takes Occa-
Judge Wiekham Takes Occa-
sion to Reflect Harshly
on Defendants.
The Sentence Surprised All,
Except Possibly the In
jured Boss.

BEAVER, Pa, Feb. 1.-The final act
in the criminal libel suit brought by
Senator Mathew s. Quay against the
Beaver Star occurred this morning. The
defendants, John II. Mellon, proprietor,
and William A. Porter, editor, who
were recently convicted, appeared in
court before Judge Wickham for sem
tence. The court imposed a penalty of
six months in Jail and 5000 fine upon
each of the prisoners, the costs of the
prosecution also being assessed against
them.
In imposing sentence, Judge Wick
ham said brief reference to the facts
Of the case would not be amiss. Among
other things he said: John Bardsley
misappropriated over $1,000, 600 of pub
lie moneys. No Pennsylvania was
ever before charged with such gigan-
tie embaZzlement. The enormity of
BardSley's crime, in degree at least,
measures the gravity of the offenSe of
maliciously connecting the name Of an
innocent man Herewith. Without any
more apparent cause than would exist
in the case of any one of the thousands
WIZ AAOAASoliJ ISCClfNl
BardSiey, during his official career, you
Boldly and Snsationally
charged the prosecutor with fieing an
accomplish of the defaulter and a
sharer in his plumber. Before the pub
LEGATION you had in your possession the
prosecutors denial. if any were needed.
In his sworn information he again
averred the falsity of the published
charges.
Had your arrest been followed by
retraction, or even by silence, it would
have been possible to infer that no
actual malice instigated the original
publication. You seemed determined,
however. to leave no possible room for
such an inference. Insinuations. inu-
endos, new libelS and indirect repeti-
tons of the old appeared in the edito-
rial columns of the Star up to and ill
one OF these libel0uS editorials, pub
lished only week before the trial be-
gan, it would seem that you were act
Ing on the amazing theory that If a
newspaper accuses man Of crime he is
concluSlVely presumed to be guilty until
he proves his innocence i'll 4 court of
justice, and that even there his own de-
mails are entitled to no weight.
AT the trial, even after the prosecutor
proved his innocence, you conceded
nothing fully, although unable 10 offer
a scintilla of evidence to establish the
truth of your charges, and not more
than scintilla
To DisprOve Malice.
cit would have been better to have
frankly admitted the falsity of the mat
ter published, as was done in manly
way by the parties tried for printing a
CHM a lihQl ~ tbn Diff ch DOcr M
case was so clear as to make it absurd
to suppose that any twelve men who
could have been selected from the jury
paneled could have acquitted you.
Nearly two weeks have elapsed since
your conviction, yet not one word of eX-
PLANTATION. retraction or apology has APP
peared in your newspaper.
''Under the circumstances, to make the
sentence unduly light would be to turn
the proceedings heretofore had in this
court into mOckery, and to judiciouSly
condemn and abrogate the law for your
own Sakes, and indeed for my own. |
am panied that you have left the court
without the shadow of a preteXt for
being largely merciful. In conclusion
may add, that if you had libeled the
humbleSt man in Beaver county to the
same extent that you have traduced the
prosecutor. the same sentence that is
here imposed would be inflicted"
The sentence Occasioned some sur
prise. 1t was supposed that Senator
Quay would be atisfed with a nominal
tlne and perhaps one day in Jail. There
was large crowd present in court to
see and hear the sentence.
After sentence had been passed
Messrs. Mellen and Porter were taken
to the county Jail to serve their term.
1t is said that after short incarcera-
ton application will be made to the
board of pardons for their release.