The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-06-13
AN INCOMPETENT OFFICIAL


AN INCOMPETENT OFFICIAL.
Among the many choice specimens Of
lncompetents which the Republicans Of
St Paul and of Ramsey county have
bestowed upon our people by placing
them in conspicuous official stations,
even our mayor himself must contest
for the palm of supremacy with the
present county attorney. We have
never seen. in the conduct of public
affairs, more Iamentable and ridicu-
lous failure than he has made
1t is not merely that he had
to meet the difficult comparison be-
tween himself and his predecessor, who
exhibited such extraordinary skill and
determination in conducting the cause
of the people as to make his name for
many year a high tradition in the
county attorneys office Judged. not
by that severe standard, but bv the
plain record of his accomplished work
and his failures, Mr. Anderson rep
resents today what the Republican
party in this county means as a custc-
olan OF its vast and important legal in
terests. The work that he has carried
on before the last two grand iuries
and the results that have come out of
1t in the trial Of criminal cases boyo
hlled our people with evaporation and
disappointment. We are not nass;no.
the services of this gentleman in legal
review, and do not pretend to saw +o
what particular cause is to be attribut-
ed his inability to reach results. T.
Is enough that by those results he and
the party that made him are and ought
to be judged.
AFTER previous grand jury had as
sembled and found certain true hills
there was an apparent clash betvean
1t and the county attorney ua o1osoa
us session abruptly, with the announce
ment that he had no further business
10 bring before it, and took the nm
precedented step of critici ing the GRAND
jury puol1cly and severely It's sue
ceSsor was drawn, and the county, at-
torney proceeded to lay before if q
mass Of matter which required to bo
adjusted and arranged with consuno
mate skill. Pretty nearly everything
connected with the recent bank failures
In this city was to be taken I'M and
there could hardly have been a. moro
VITAL issue. Justice was to be done
WITH importantly, and it was more than
usually desirable that neither the
innocent should be assaiIed nor tb.,
guilty allowed to escape. From tho
Penetralia Of the grand jury room no
secrets escape, but it's official REPORTS
are sufhcient to show that practicable,
every incident that could be mada TN.
basis of a criminal Indictment mr. +ho+
gave rise to a criminal suspicion. was
lalo before this body and it did IFS
duty well. A large batch of
indictments were presented to the
court and some of the trials have AL
ready been held.
The first discovery was that the GRAND
jury itself was improperly constituted
by the admission of juror not possess
Ing the legal qualifications. What sort
OF Official scrutiny, what species of
guardianship of public interest doos
'hiS argue! Then We have a trial in
which, with the material facts annear-
ing about as they were represented
the issue fails because the CHARGE -
the indictment does not correspond with
lnose facts. Again we have a trial
whose sole outcome seems to have been
TO hold up the county attorney to pub
lie ridicule. The counsel on the otber
sue had their case admirably in hand
tantalized and played with the counsel
or the public as they pleased. fought
him successfully on grounds of leea1
technfcalities, and then yielded volun-
tariiy and gracefully. with tremendous
e1Iect upon the jury. And finally. hav-
Ing bullyragged and toyed with tba
prosecutor office to their hearts de-
light, they obliged him to request the
eourt to direct the jury to bring in
R%erdict of not guilty. The imnression 10
abroad, with what substantial founda-
ton will hereafter appear that either
in one way or another, by legal de-
fects or In the course of trial. most of
the criminal work that has gone for
ward will be nullified.
The G / o b has no desire except to
see the doing of justice upon whom
ever the blow may fall. 1t believes that
the interests of this community, as well