Los Angeles herald., 1892-01-27
QUAY AND HIS LIBEL SUITS.


an article or Boss Quay and the recent
libel suits in which he has been victori-
GUS. That journal, with it's usual disin-
genuousness, claims that the verdicts in
these cases exonerate Quay from all the
grave charges which have been made
against him. AS our contemporary ia
not devoid of intelligence it is to be
presumed that it knows that it has
engaged in work of willful deception.
What are the facts?
Senator Matthew Stanley Quay knows
when and where to bring his libel suits.
The first was against the Beaver Star,
in Quay's own home at Beaver, Pa. This
is the place where for years Quay edited
a modest weekly paper, and where he
has hosts of friends. The jury con-
sisted OF eleven Republicans and
one Democrat, and was summoned
by his personal and political
friend, the sheriff of Beaver county.
The trial was on one charge-a charge
that was never embraced in any OF the
serious allegations made against Quay
by the New York World and by innu-
merable self-respecting journals in and
out of Pennsylvania. 1t was an allega-
ton that Mr.. Quay participated in the
frauds practiced by the Keystone bank
Bardsley's bank-upon the people OF
Philadelphia and of Pennsylvania at
large. This conclusion was reached be-
cause Mr.. Quay's name had been found
attached to a note for 10000, which
had been discounted in the Keystone
bank. The presumption of fraud was a
violent one, but it seems to have had no
basis in the case. 1t was case of
"birds of feather, who flock together"
In the second libel suit of Quay, that
against the Pittsburg Post, be was also
successful. But the fact must be borne
in mind that in Allegheny county.
where Pittsburg ia located, the Repub-
lican majority frequently reaches $4,000.
1t gave Lincoln 10000 majority in 1860,
which led the famous railsplitter to
dub it the estate of Allegheny"
OF course, here again Quay had
Republican jury, and victory
was easy. The Post, however, be-
ing, unlike the Star, a journal of
means and influence. intends to appeal
the case, and the endis notyet. In ad-
dition, the fact must be borne in mind
that in Pennsylvania the old common
law style prevails, and the governing
principle in such cases is, "The greater
the truth the greater the libel"
But it was not upon his possible il
licit connection with Bardsley and the
Keystone bank that the grave allegations
against Quay rest. He was accused by
the New York World, and by many re-
spopsible journals in and out of the
Keystone state, with having, when state
| treasurer of Pennsylvania, employed
the public money under his charge in
disastrous speculations. He was charged
with having lost large sums of this money
which it was felony to have diverted
to his private use, and with having only
escaped disgrace and Imprisonment
through the generosity of Don Cameron
who came to his aid, and made good his
defalcations. The World repeatedly re-
minded Quay that the courts were oper
to him, and clamorously demanded that
| he should sue them for libel. This the
Pennsylvania senator was very careful
not to do. The whole country reverber
ated with these charges. Leading Re
publican papers in Pennsylvania echoed
and re-echoed them. No journal was
ever sued by Quay for making them.
The fact that he Immediately pounced
upon the Beaver Star and the Pittsbure
Post for charges that were possibly with
out foundation shows how eagerly ht
would have graeped chance to vindi
cate himself from this grave allegation
if vindication were possible.
Quay's whitewashing in packed courts
on secondary charges, is mockery. He
still retains his bad eminence as &
boodler and manipulation OF CORFU p
politics. That he looted the treasury o
Pennsylvania, and was enabled to make
| his defalcations good only through The
friendship of Senator J. Donald Cam
eron, is an accusation that he has never
dared to deny in court. He will, O.
course, hold up his victory on these
minor charges as a vindication of his
general reputation. Meanwhile, he ha
not yet sued the New York World, o.
any of the Pennsylvania papers that
echoed it's charges, for libel, and HI
never will.