The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1892-05-13

| Inc Marion
makes a revelation-at least to us
of the character of one of Gov. Buch-
anan's appointments which is as
founding, and all the more so because
| it seems that the Governor was fully
advised beforehand of the character
of his appointee, and not only disre-
garded, but simply resented, the we'll
meant effort to save him from a Sc
rious blunder. The appointment was
of Mr.. G. G.. Snyder, a Republican, as
a member of the Chattanooga Board
of Public Works, an office of great
importance, and one which, as the
Democrat says, intrusts the appOintee
with the keeping and disbursement
of $500,000 or 100000 as tax fund to
the city. The accusations made against
! Snyder are embodied in an official
record of an opinion delivered by
Judge John Baxter, of the United
States Circuit Court, at Chattanooga,
in proceeding to debar Snyder from
the right to practice as an attorney in
the court. The facts of the case, as
set forth in Judge BaXter's opinion,
are the history of one of the most dar-
| ing ViIIanies ever perpetrated.
1t seems that II man by the name OF
| Thomas, whose home w in Missouri,
had become mentally unbalanced and
left home, and in the course OF his
aimless wanderings, had reached
Chattanooga. He was guilty Of no
criminal offense, but he was haunted
by the fear that persons in Missouri,
with whom he had been engaged i'll
civil litigation, were seeking TO have
him arrested and eXtradited under
false charges, and under this halluci-
nation he contemplated flight to
South America While under this
fear he would write letters and then
tear them to pieces, scattering the
fragments about his room. These
pieces being picked mp and put to-
! gether aroused q suspicion that he
was fugitive from justice and that
a reward was offered for his capture.
Some of the city police being pos
sessed of this Information, took Sny-
der into their confidence and Thomas
| was arrested unC er & warrant charg-
ing him with being "a fugitive from
| Justice" Snyder soon became con-
vinced that the prisoner was de-
mented, that he bad committed no
crime and that he had rich and in
huentiaI relatives from whom he
could obtain money. He therefore
changed his attitude from that of q
prosecutor seeking to obtain reward
TO that OF friend aud legal adviser
of the prisoner. TO accomplish this
he artfully played upon the prisoners 8
fears Told him that he was wanted
both in Florida and Missouri, that
there was a description Of him in the
Detectives Gazette with the Offer OF
$3.50 for his capture, aud number of
other auuacious lies which filled the
poor wretch with terror. He
followed this with tue propo-
sition to act as Thomas attor-
ney; that he could get $500
for delivering him into custody, but
ii the prisoner would get $500 and
give him (Snyder) he would arrange
with the officers and take him out of
Jail. The terrified Thomas readily
IeIl in with all the suggestions OF his
seIf-cOnsIituted attorney. He wrote
to a number of relatives asking for
Temittances, which were to be sent
through his attorney, Snyder. An
uncle in Ohio sent 5000 and an aunt in
Connecticut 500 more. In the mean
while however, "a friend in Florida sent
$500 by special messenger, q young
lawyer by the name of Humphries,
charged with the duty of enquiring
into the nature of the accusation.
Humphries came to see the prisoner
but was not allowed to talk to him
except in Snyder's presence. To him
i Snyder made the proposition that he
should get a friend of his by the name
of Bluut,a stranger in Chattanooga, to
Le senate an officer from Missouri Wi o
mad come for Thomas, that he, -Sny der
would get a pretended requlstiOn from
the Governor of Mis-. Ouri and get a
country Justice OF the peace to order
Thomas turned over to Blunt, and in
this way ''get Thomas out of jail and
turn him loose" Humphries declin-
Ell aud employed counsel who applied
for "A writ OF habeRs corpus with q
! VII tn having in6iOiaI innnirU intO
the cause of Thomas detention. Ans
ticipAting this move, Snyder set
about to defeat iG. He told Thomas
that a Cincinnati detective was in the
city with a requisitiOn from the Gov
ernor of Missouri and anxious to get
hold of him-a pure fabIicatiOn-and
that he, Thomas, had better waive a
formal requisitiOn so as to be able to
get away on short notice as soon as
his money should arrive. Thomas
asscnIed and signed a paper prepared
by Snyder cOnsenting to go vOluntarl-
ly with G. +. Stanley, "a deputy sheriff,
or any person designated by him, to
the State of Missouri. Upon this
paper the justice of the peace who
had committed Thomas, ordered him
turned over to Stanley. Thomas " as
thereupOn dischaI ged from Jail,
was taken into a buggy and driven
bA Il ClItullOu5 1OulC llAlO IlAC y
His guard was there joined by
Snyder and another confederate by
the name Of Turner to whose house
Thomas was taken, Here he was
kept closely confined, and a part of
the time in irons. For fear of detec-
ton Snyder worked upon Thomas
fears and induced him to shave oil
his whiskers and don female attire.
This policy was persisted in until the
, ;t. rHhn1noG1 I1nnln and
aunt arrived and were divided. Tur-
Der then, with Snyder's cooperation,
, took Thomas to New York, put him
aboard a vessel and shipped him to
Liverpool, England. The job was so
cleVerly managed as to eyade the
write of habeas corpus, and leave
Thomas friends in utter ignorance OF
his whereabouts until by subsequent
inquiries they traced him to his hid
ing place in England and persuaded
him to return.
These are the facts as recited by
Judge Baxter, and upon which Sny-
der was stricken from the roll of at
torneys and debarred the right to
practice. We are Informed that a
prominent citizen of Chattanooga
laid these facts before Gov. buchanan
and protested against Snyder's APP
pointment to so important and re-
| SDOllSlDle Il DOSlllOIl' anu was dli-
swered with an insult. 1t is amaZ-
ing that such an appointment should
have been made in the face of court
record of such gravity and contain
ing so damning n story of audacious
rascaliIY; such an inhuman cOnspi-
racy to eXtOrt money by winning the
confidence and aggravating the fears
of a diseased mind. We can not be
lieve that Gov. Buchanan ever read
the record of this business; but that
he should have disregarded the warn
inc of disinterested friends and re-
. fused to examine into the character
of the intended appointee after the
, specific allegations were made, shows
a gross neglect of official duty almost
as bad as willful wrong.
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