The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1897-02-03
JUDGE NORWOOD ARRIVES.
HE WILL GO BEFORE THE CON-
MiTTEE THIS AFTERNOON.
Accompanied by His Wife--Judge Nor
wood ManufuIlV Faces the Music
and Asks For Mercy.

Judge and Mrs. Norwood arrived yes
terday in the city, and are stopping at
the Park.
Judge Norwood will this afternoon APP
pear before the Judiciary committee iii
connection with the bill before that com
mittee impeaching him for having been,
while in the discharge of his duty as
Judge, under the influence of intoxicating
beverage.
The case has been tossed by the press
of the State for months from paper to
paper, until the average expression has
come to be, Yes, he was drunk on the
bench-hell have to CO." etc, etc
In other words, Put him out! Put
him outp' has been upon the heels of the
man until he is on the retreat before the
advance upon him of the public who de-
mand clear heads to decide upon matters
of right and law between man and man.
| Yes, sir, | think so too; a man who is
| intoxicated has got no business being
| Judge" This is what Judge Norwood,
| sitting in the lobby of the Park Hotel,
| said last might to u News and Observer
reporter The Judge was seemingly as
cool and clear-headed as if he had never
| tasted anything to drink
| Judge Norwood sat on the sofia quietly
quietly and without concealment end
and without concealment and without
gush, said that after he had gotten
| through with the Charlotte court, he
had taken a social drink, and that led
on to too many In short, he was over
| taken and could not meet his date at
| Monroe.
| Nor was this the first time; for" CON
| tinued the Judge, when | went into the
| Tenth district, / met number of my
| friends and good-fellowship flows with a
free hand up there, and | got too much"
You ask me about any irreInediable
| consequences; the results that are
| worst in themselves are my failure some
times to hold court; the results, therefore,
have been negative instead of positive;
but | don't know that / should talk this
| way to you. My impression is that a
man, as | said little while ago, has no
business being judge, if he is intoxicat-
ed. One time stopped for FIVE years, and
| didn't drink anything for quite a while
after / went on the bench; my friends
are going to try and give me another
trial, and | am going TO do the best
can to keep control of myself and if
fail again, my resignation will in the
meanwhile be in the hands OF the Gov
ernor."
Have you seen the Governor yet
judge
''Yes, sir; | left Asheyille last night,
and as soon as | arrived here, my wife
(God bless herr and drove immediately
TO the Governors office. The Governor
received us very courteously, and seemed
kindly disposed toward me in every way,
but said that he was now powerless In
the matter as the case was wholly ia the
hands of the Judiciary committee.
Judge Norwood is n mild hammered,
pleasant talking gentleman, saying little,
and looks just like q conmon-sense Tar
Heel. He don't put on any Judge" airs,
which probably results from the fact that
he is self-made. He is now man of Sc
years of age, and was a school-ulate of
Governor Russell at the old w j. Bing-
ham school. These facts and more were
gathered from friends in the hotel. He
did not go to the University. having a
stripping of 20, been called from his stu
dies to the war; through which he serv-
ed. He was mostly in the west, and
was with Pemberton at the seige of
Eicksburg. He has noble wife and
three children, q grown daughter and two
sous, and she is now here 90 face the
music with him, whatever it is.
There are many to whons the world
CVLiit7S AlADS -iOIOEtu as IL us anu Il lew
to whom the world comes clad only in the
white robes of righteousness the
color that it ought to be. There will be
few-Yery few-to the credit of humanity,
who could talk with this Inan, without
feeling the s0ul-warming music In the
words: sbut the greatest: of these is
chrity."
| While there had been pretty icy criti-
cisms of Judge Norwood before his ar
rival, hast night there were many who
shood his hand with sympathy. There
is no defence made here Of Judge Nor
wood drunk, but only word of kind
ness for Judge Norwood sober If Judge
| Norwood is a Republican, he is also a
gentleman Of good sense and generous
impulses, and a reporter Of newspaper
would have lost his right to that high
| calling, If he took advantage of circum-
stances 20 strike a fellow when he's
| down.
1t may be that the members of the Ju-
dietary committee may give Judge Nor
wood another chance to pull himself to-
gether. Maybe he'll be able yet to find
| a way out of the woods. There are gen
| tlemen on the Judiciary; some of them
| whose gray hairs, have root as we'll in
| hearts of sorrow as in heads of sober
| thought. That they wiIl consider this
case humanely all who know them will
be certain. That they will arrive ait a
| conclusion from the stGndpoint of man.
| to-nnan is not to be doubted.
They will hear Judge Norwood cortli-
ally and with prejudice in his favor, and
| If their judgments strive against their
| feeling, they will have the satisfaction OF
| knowing that "a heart genuinely kind
| never yet lead wrong in the end, while
| logical processes standing alone cleah-cut
and cold are admired as specimens of
mental art-but they are not life.
| But the accused win this Afternoon
face his judges, and the world is Just
4 full enough of good fellows who will
feel sorry for him and wish him we'll.