The morning times., 1895-08-21

fhW III the PROPER EAetullOn Oh
Sentences-He Was Not inthe Place.
Mr.. W. Kesley Schoepf, late vice presi
dent of the lexington and Soldiers Home
Railroad Company, has been construcuvcIy
at the workhouse for the past month break
ing rock, and a day or two ago was re-
leased on five days good time,' because
he had behaved himself well during the
time.
AS a matter of fact, Mr. schoepf has
been very spryly engineering the con-
struction of the new trolley road from
here TO Baltimore.
The report from the Washington Asylum,
as the workhouse is called, made on
Monday shows the supposed result OF
Mr. SchOepf's conviction for obstTuctinS
the streets secured by Assistant Commits
sioners' Attorney Pugh in the latter part
OF July.
The case is well remembered Mr..
schoepr, as the representative of the Eek
tngton and Soldiers Home Railroad, was
constructiveIy put under arrest and regis
tered at the First precinct station as locked
up charged with obstrucung the streets
Ofcourse, Mr.. Schocpf was never actually
under arrest nor in durance. He was tried
IN the police court, and, with the least
possible personal Inconvenience, was de-
clared guilty, and it was decreed that he
pay $50 fine or go down for thirty days.
He did neither one. \ poor man in the
same condition would probably have gone
down. He undoubtedly must have paid
his fine or gone TO the rock pile. He could
not afford to do what Mr.. schoepf, with
q wealthy corporation behind him. did.
Mr. schoepf had his attorney instructed
to apply for that writ, once dearest 10 the
! heart of the conimoner, but now the special
| defense ofthe wealthy and powerful writ
| OF habeas corpus.
The ordinary man rarely gets the benefit
of it, unless ne has back Of him a labor
organization, as the Railway Union was
/ behind Eugene Debs.
/ When Judge Cole decided that Mr..
1 Schoepf was not entitled 10 this defense,
/ the corporations attorney had another
/ legal barrier between Mr.. Schoepf and the
workhouse, where another man would have
Z 4AAA'4tA 4PtlE bfLOlE II tt 0lti lpt Dltl4lllt4E
/ pay his fine.
/ He asked for an appeal 10 the court Ofap-
/ peals and il was granted under $500 bonds.
/ This bond. which Mr Schoepf gave in
| jiffy, does not mean, of course, that he VIII
! pay S50Oif he should finally be beaten but
I that he viii be present when the case is
/ called next month
/ The cost Of standing Off the Commits
/ - ~ T4a
| ofappeals viii be very light forMr. Schoepr
| He pays his attorney by the year
Finally he may have to pay the $50 fine.
But his object viii have been accomplished;
/ the question whether the trolley poles must
GO VIII have been postponed and the
| rights of the people trifled with for nearly
six months more, and great many things
| can happen in that time
II may be that among the happenings
| something can be found which VIII post
pone the taking down Of the poles another
! six months.
MAY WORK IT AGAIN
| 1t may be that Mr.. Schoepf viii then pay
his fine, be arrested again. again go to the
workhOuse cunStru CtiyeIy and be cred
/ tied with five days good time" for ex-
emplary behavior while ConStructiveIy a
| prisoner working out his fine on the rock
/ pile, get u writof habeas corpus and through
it secure another delay OF six months and
the retention of the trolley poles in their pO-
sitionS OF danger to the people and profit
to the railroad company.
The iron foot OF the millionaire trolley
syndicate viii remain firmly planted in
| the city till the enormous resources back of
it have been able to wear out the peoples
champions, to overcome or elude oppOsi-
tion, and then on the heels of some session
OF Congress slip through a clause in some
bill which will give them the au-prOtect-
ing vested right,
The magDates can then snap their fin
gers at the people and build trolley roads
right and left. One trolley line once firmly
established will be an argument for an
other till the network is as complete in
Washington as in other cities.
The streets of the Capital City are too
broad and inviting TO let them escape with
out q tremendous struggle, And Mr.. Crosby
s. Noyes and Mr.. Samuel H Kaufman, ,
with their large holdings sinthe company that
owns the trolley line here apparently Will
be ready to lend them the influence of the
Washington Star, when it Will do the most
good.
Meantime Mr.. schoepf has been to the
workhouse, served his time and got five
days off That is what the records said
at any rate.
TROLLEY HANGS OVER Us.
1t may be that his attorney will take ad-
vantage of it to secure a rehearing or an
appeal or something else when he is driven
to the last resort. Great victories have
hung on smaller mistakes. The trolley
may be fastened upon the city through
this error.
The Commissioners, who declare that
they have given no orders to slacken the
prosecution of the fight for the city's
rights in the removal of the trolley poles,
nevertheless, when asked why other cases
are not made, feply that they have not had
time again to take up the subject.
The poles are all the while stiIl on duty.
They are not even conStructively removed.
1t may happen that the company Will find
a means to have them removed in a
purely constructive sense, even as Mr..
Schoepf was in the workhouse, and go ON
using them just the same.
When this is done the Commissioners may
await a more convenient moment, or may
act with the greatest vigor and aggressive
ness; it will 5e all one TO the trolley people.
The poles will be here to stay and bring
In others, u constant source of loss of lifcand
property in fires and in the many other
ways in which they menace the public.
-