The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1894-04-21

tn61r nV0 generations OF PROMINENT men
has been charged with a gross ofense
like this
Another question which interests the
lawyers greatly is, Where did the money
come from to support the plaintiffs
case? The first impression was that fees
We're arranged for contingent upon the
success of the suit, but this was indig-
nantly denied, as such an arrangement
is not only considered very unlawyer-
like but is condemned at common law
and by the statutes of several states as
champerty. The next theory was that
the political rivals of the defendant in
Kentucky had put up the money, and
some went so far as to name the man
who had started the fund with expecta-
ton of being Colonel Breckinridge's sue
cessor, but in disproof of this it was
stated that the entire amount had been
given by a wealthy lady in the interest
of justice alone. The Social Purity
league of New York and other like or
CARNATIONS were in turn accused, but
the friends of Colonel Breckenridge have
settled down to the belief that "a lot
of Yankees put up the money to break
down and disgrace a sOutherner," and
this conclusion is in such harmony with
southern thought that it will probably
be accepted as final unless the actual
Sketch of Phil Thompson
Another interesting character is Colo
mel Phil Thompson, who made a speech
for the defendant which the journalists
speak of as 'sophomorical splurge -
It must be admitted that the colonel for
got that Oratory is subject to climatic
laws the same as any other product of
the human mind. A speech which would
thrill Indiana and set Kentucky on fire
would be laughed at in Boston, and one
of those measured New England ad-
dresses, like that which Senator Lodge
recently delivered on the tariff, for in
stance, would freeze southwestern au-
dience-that is, if any of them staid
to hear it through, which is quite I'M
likely Colonel Thompson is 40 years
old, native of Harrodsburg, Ky, the
son of very eminent man of the same
name and the scion of family eminent
for three generations, but the victim of
some terrible misfortunes and involved
in such bloody tragedies as to recall to
the thoughtful mind those Greek myths
of the fated house of Aureus and the
furies, who pursued all those inheriting
the dreadful guilt of the banquet of
Thyestes When Colonel Thompson en-
tered congress, ne was put at the tail
end of the committee to arrange for the
the leading member.
Hon. S. s. Cox, chairman of the COM
mittee, paid him as high a compliment
as ever was received by new member,
declaring that he had by far the great
est natural aptitude for arranging fig
ures of any man in either house. ''It
was only necessary, T" said Mr.. Cox, ''to
lay before him the main points of what
was needed and the difficulties in the
case, and the next day he appeared with
a plan at once SO simple and effective
that it was quickly accepted by the COM
mittee. - He was then counted a very
young member, but Mr. Cox relied on
him as the working man of the commit
tee, and the plan for taking the tenth
census was almost entirely his work. OF
Judge Andrew Coyle Bradley, who pre-
sided in the case it is only necessary to
say that he was born in this city in
1914. His father, Charles, was also born
here. and his grandfather, Abraham,
came here from Philadelphia with the
government, being assistant postmaster
general, which place he held till An
drew Jackson became president and
turned him out. Judge Bradley was one
of President Harrison's first appointees
in March, 1889.
Famous Men of the Bar.
Circulating among the resident law
yers who talk about this case, am sur
prised at the number of men once IA
NOUS in various parts of the country
who have abandoned politics and set
tied down to a very quiet life here as
Office lawyers. Here, for instance, is
William Pitt Kellogg. who did SO much
to make history in Louisiana in the 20
years following the war and has had
remarkably diversified career all
through He was born in Vermont grew
up in Illinois, went to Nebraska as chief
Justice of the territory and thence into
the army and then to New Orleans and
is now So years old, in prime physical
condition and worth a cool million.
Here too, is the sometime famous J.
Hale Sypher.
There are nearly or quite 500 nomi-
nal lawyers listed here, but the great
majority of them are patent lawyers,
claim agents or quiet lobbyists while
very many simply hold the title of law
yer as a gentlemanly addition to their
social status, but live on their property.
Ring Down the Curtain.
The curtain has been rung down upon
the legal drama, and the. Washington
public is discussing the position of the
star actors. 1t is agreed on all sides that
the lawyers have done brilliantly except
that it is thought to have been a great
mistake in the defense to allow the case
to come to trial at all. As Breckenridge
has no property on which the judgment
could have been realized, it would, many
congressman think, have been better to
let the case go by default. At any rate,
has. His friends, however, insist that
h <aSo morally and ra01ifiea11v iS NOT