People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1895-04-25
HA Expensive Experiment.

4
all present residents of the county,
have abundant opportunity to prove
their consistency inst now by utter
ing their protest against the outrage
Gus expense heaped upon the people
by the prosecution of Jim Talbot
for a murder said to have been CON-
mltted thirteen years ago when Cald-
well was the cowboys headquarters,
and human life was as cheap as
stealing cattle. Nine out of ten OF
the people who reside in Sumner
county now came here since that
time, and those who were here then
have largely gone. The present
residents of the county know but
little, and care less, about the crimes
of that rough period in the county's
history, and are glad the rufians
have gone to other parts. 1t was,
therefore, with considerable misgiv.
ings of propriety that they noted the
trip of our sheriff across the contin-
ent to California and his return with
one of the old actors in the murder
Gus dramas of the border of long
ago. These misgivings have in
creased since they learn the evidence
against him is circumstantal and
has ended in chung jury" neces-
stating a second trial. 1t is quite
natural for the people to stop a little
bit about this time and SEQ mi the
cost"
The first item is calculated to still
further increase their misgivings.
The sherif'S bill for going after the
prisoner as filed and passed upon
by the Board Of Commissioners at
their October session was S75O.9O.
The Board allowed only that portion
of it which would be due under the
Doubleday bill, ($497,8O,) but since
that law was declared "unconstitu-
tional" by our district court, should
this decision be confirmed by the
supreme court the Board will be
compelled to allow the balance
$S2S.6O, or be liable to a judgment
at the hands ofthe county's sheriff.
We next find the county attorney
fitting about from place to place,
Kansas City, Wichita, Enid, and
elsewhere, spending the county's
money, looking up evidence against
the victim, and advancing money to
witnesses to get them to come and
testify. These items amounted to
S65. Then come the trial, the cost
of which foots no, Including l9
jurors 8 days. s94O.25. Add to this
the expenses of bailifs, board for
jury, gas, judges salary, etc, and we
will have almost $500 more. Thus
already the county has been, made
liable for more than $4,000, with
another trial still staring us in the
face. And another trial will be more
expensive than the first. By reason
of the publicity gwen the case it will
be much more difficult to get jury.
The sheriff's fees will be larger and
hundred or hundreds of men will
draw milase and per diem as a
result Of larger venire. The
county attorney has made the state
ment that he tried to be economical
in this trial but that should. another
trial be necessary he would spare no
expense, that he would go clear to
Texas for some witnesses; that he
would have the jury from start to
finish in charge Of a bailiff, and
board them at the county's expense,
etc, etc.
Should the next trial convict, it
will be carried to the supreme court
and the county attorneys law part
ner will perhaps rake In another $3.50
fee for looking after it there.
The VOICE has kept silent about
this matter thus far for fear it might
be SAID that we were trying to defeat
the ends Of justice. We believe that
the time has arrived when longer
silence is unwise. The people of
this county have right to know
what is going on, and it is our duty
tQagive the information. We submit
that it is a gross outrage on the pec-