The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1895-01-19

tee, Declares That He VIII Renew the |
Charges on His Individual Responsible |
ity as a Member of the House.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 1g.-The judiciary |
committee of the house held a long session |
yesterday over the Kicks case. Representa-
tive Bailey, Of Texas, presented the major |
ity report, drawn by himself and Repre-
sentative Broderick, the minority report.
The majority report says the evidence
establishes the following facts;
A. j. Kicks became clerk of the circuit
court for the northern district of Ohio on
March 90 1878, and served in that capacity
until July 81, 1889, when he became tho
district judge for the same district. Dur
ing the time while he was clerk there
were pending in the circuit court great
many cases brought by John G. Birdsall
and the Birdsall Manufacturing company
| against various defendants, involving a
| question of patent infringement
The moneys out of which Judge Kicks
Is charged with having defrauded the gov
| ernment, says the report, are the fees
for making final records in fifty five Of
these cases, which were not finally dis
posed of until after he had become the
| judge of the district court Notwith
standing the fact that Judge Ricks had
| ceased to be clerk Of the court he claimed
| the right to make the final records and to
| collect the fees for that work.
In his own testimony Judge Kicks tes-
| titles that he reported these fees as earned
! and received, but he admitted that they
were neither received nor earned when he
so reported them. The report quotes an
answer made during the course of the in
vestigation as to how Judge Kicks ascer-
| tanned the amount for which he charged
| himself for records in the Birdsall cases,
| and says his explanation that he selected
| fees in the cases where he knew the parties
| to be solvent, if true, would discredit him,
| because an honest and faithful officer
would not select solvent litigants for his
| debtors and leave the insolvent ones for
the government
The report goes on to argue that tho
| result of wrongful taking of these fees by
Judge Kicks was to deprive Martin w.
| Sanders, his successor as clerk, of 500 and
| the government of $l93.
The report closes by saying that it finds
it impossible to reconcile this conduct
with the rules of common honesty, and,
therefore, recommends the adoption of the
impeachment resolution.
The minority report reviews the charges
from diff rent standpoint, concluding
with this recommendation: I'm view Of
MI the facts in this case it is our conclusion
-hat Judge Kicks is not guilty of any Of
tense, that there was no intention of wrong
doing and that no moral turpitude at
taches. We, therefore, recommend that
the resolution reported to the house for
impeachment be not adopted"
After hearing the reports the judiciary
L Il
Judge Kicks to come before the committee
and be heard. This is unexpected, and
looks like killing the case in view of the
shortness of time for action.
Speaking of the action taken by the
committee, and of his intentions, Mr.
Bailey said this morning; Judge Ricks
will appear next Tuesday, and the day
|, will be taken up with an examination oI
him. An adjournment will be taken un
til next Friday, and "A week will be lost
1t would be nonsense to send a resolution
for impeachment TO the senate thirty days
before adjournment. l do not intend tt
drop the case here. While 1 am chairman
J of the ubcOmmittee l must follow tn
directions of the committee, but as sooI
as l am released from that office l will
bring the resolution up in the house OF
my individual responsibility as a mem
Der "
The supporters of Judge Ricks in tn
committee made the point in their argu
ments that the charges against Judg
Kicks, if proved, amounted to no NOR
than a technicality, and were done in hi
capacity as a clerk If any action was t.
; be taken against him they said it shoult
be a civil suit against his bOndsmen, a
clerk, to recover the amounts overdrawn
They particularly called attention TO tn
. fact that there had been no cOncealmen
about his course, and all his charges wer
matters of record They declare that tw
or three who voted for impeachment las
= Tuesday have changed their views an
will change their votes.