The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-04-19
FRIDAY APRIL, 10, 1895.
xv.Ar rpr GOODMAN VERDICT HAS
DONE

A prominent real-estatc o'di'' "
snown MS the following letter "h'o" JIG
has received from one Of his clients
.,,,izen Of New York:
Now york. April y. ls'o
- e,,.. = an, in receipt Of your letter
~ tbe ilth instant, and must piedu $50 -
~ moi having written you lot SUN 80
have not been unmindful however VI
you personally. ,.o,.oe, I'm Nir-
wish to say that my interest III ~
ginia has received colo snow 80
since the results OF the seco,u - To- -
Goodman. I do not care hall as huVH
about virginia lands as ! did Formerly
ir fact. / feel quite Indifferent ABOUT
,hen I sincerely feel as though ulu
no, care about ever setting foot on the
soil of Virginia again. We have the spec
tacle of as cold-blooded ana denoeTd'e
murderer as ever lived In tins WOrld
being discharged by jury, ana not only
that but actually made d nero o.
do not know when ] shall come TO
Virginia. and neither do / very much
care. / do not believe any northern mans
life is safe there
Very respectfully, &c.
This real-estate agent, who Is entirely
reliable, assures us that tho New YORK
citizen in question has recently invested,
through MN. 4p''NJ III NlTBiIld real
tate. and that he was preparing, before
the Goodman verdict, TO invest 100000
more. The tenor of the above letter wouli
indicate that Virginia will never see the
additional $4,000. There is no fake"
about this matter. II is bona fide one,
that has come along in the due and nat
rural course OF business. ard our people
Can 3udss.sros.. 81 arc inealculable harm
that is done them by the impression
being allowed to 20 abroad that we are
turbulent. discrderly set Of people who
srt no value upon human life and pay
no attention 10 enforcing the criminal
laws.
il is useless for Colonel whitehead to
get up hnnd-books about our climate. min
eral resources and soil. and for our real
estate agents 10 advertise the advantages
OF cur lands II men who commit such
crimes az Goodman committed are acqut-
ted by the iuries, and. as the New Yorker
says. made hero Of" People with
money TO invest will shun us as though
We were plague-stricken while such
ished.
We want to say TO this New Yorker
however. that Colonel Parsons being a
northern man had nothing to do with the
acquittal of Goodman. Goodman was
acquitted through the operation of the
change lately made In our criminal
laws that allows man charged with
crime TO testify In his own behalf. Par
sons had written the railroad company a
letter which accused Goodman of dis
graceful acts The State was unable 10
prove the truth Of these charges Good
man. unoer the changed law, was allow
cd to tell his own story. He denied the
truth Of all OF Parsons charges. and
thereby necessarily aroused the sSmpa-
thies OF his jury in his behalf They
could not help sympathizing with him for
calling man to account. who. for all
that was before them. had most iniu-
riously and unjusthably attacked him in
his tcnderest relations Then Goodman
testified that when he did call Parsons
70 account he believed that Parsons un-
dertook TO draw a weapon on lin, ana
that he fired under that belief Parsons
was dead. and could therefore, give no
contradiction TO Goodman's version OF the
case. and that version was necessarily
obliged 10 have a powerful influence upon
the minds Of the jurors This is what
brought about the acqulttal and Good
man would have been acquitted all the
Kame If II had been a Nirginan he kill
cd. The fact that Parsons was Il north
ern man had nothing to do with IT,
But the case raises a serious question
whether the change made in the law that
allows an accused person to testify in his
own behalf was wise change.