The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1897-09-27
THE INTELLIGENCER.
WHEELING, SEPTEMBER "a, 1897.


That Remarkable Trial at Charleston,
The disagreement OF the jury In the
Mcdonald case at Charleston was not
unexpected by those who had been
watching the progress of the trial, The
proceedings were remarkable for the
range OF evidence submitted, and the
desperation with which the enemies OF
Mcdonald fought TO break down his
character, Mcdonald Is president Of the
board of county commissioners, or coun-
ty court, OF Kanawha county, and the
impeachment proceedings brought
against him were the outgrowth of a
fight between the county authorities and
the Charleston city council over the
question OF granting licenses in the city.
There we're charges and couuter-charges
of deals by which certain men only were
to receive licenses. and the trouble, which
1t Is not necessary to rehearse, finally re-
suited in the impeachment trial, as above
noted.
The peculiar political situation In
Charleston and Kanawha county was In
volved In the matter, in which 1t appears
the Democratic city ring at Charleston
had tried to make catspaw Of McDon-
aid, who is Republican, and had failed.
Determined to get Mcdonald out Of the
way, charges covering his moral conduct
during the past forty years were brought
against him by those opposed to him.
and he was accused of official mscon-
duct since he has been in office.
The entire case rested on circumstan-
tial evidence, and the remarkable feature
Of the trial, which lasted several weeks,
was that the whole life Of Mcdonald was
thrown open to the jury and the public.
His career In several other cities for the
past forty years was brought forward
and spread before the court. The moat
that was shown concerning his past was
that at Wheeling. Petersburg and other
cities he had lived with a woman who
was not his wife. and this Mcdonald
went on the stand and confessed, but de-
clared that those relations ended fifteen
years ago. when both he and the woman
had reformed their manner of living.
II appears that there was nothing In
this matter that would affect his official
conduct of the past two or three years,
although the state was secured for wit
nesses TO prove the immortality based on
conduct which ceased fifteen years ago.
The connection sought to be made be-
tween the past and present found excuse
In the fact that the woman In the case, is
now holding place as matron OF the
county lnnrmary. The 1ntelligencer is
making no defense OF any lndiscretion
ever committed by Mcdonald, but Is
calling attention merely to this feature
OF the case. as showing the unusual effort
made to prosecute the commissioner 70
satisfy the desire to get him out Of office.
There is probably no precedent for 1t in
the history of impeachment trials.
The testimony brought in support Of
the charges which more directly concern
McDonald's character as an Office holder
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