The herald., 1898-01-28

stead of vindication at the hands
of the members of the board,
the charges against him were
whitewashed at last nights session, and
the boss of the "solid six" Is himself
again. BY vote Of four to three, the
charges were dismissed before any or
the attorneys had made their argu-
ment and before there had been the
slightest opportunity to sum up the evil
dence.
That such result was obtained after
nearly three months investigation,
in which there was abundant
evidence to justify the board in
taking prompt action, Will be
but one source of surprise. Another
almost equally great will be found in
the fact that DR.. Elbert N. Mathis, who
represents the Sixth ward in the board
the same DR.. Mathis, who as president of
the board allowed Webb and his push to
do about as they pleased; the same Dr.
Mathis, who as presiding officer, showed
such pitable lack of stamina as to
make him at times an object of un-
kind criticism by those who witnessed
his weakness; that same DR.. Mathis,
who wants to be coroner of Los An
geles county, and complained because
the Webb forces had deserted him. sup
piled the means by which the coat of
whitewash was applied.
This unexpected conclusion of the case
came just as the attorneys for the peo
pie were about to begin their argument
The program for argument had been ar
ranged. Judge Cheney was to have
opened for the people and Attorney
Oliver was to follow for Webb. Mr..
Meserve was to speak next, and Hon
T. II. Gibobn was to close for the prose-
cution. Out of the vast volume of the
evidence which has been adduced be-
fore the board it was impossible for
any one except a trained attorney to
bring out those facts which had been
sworn to which tended to show whether
Walter l.. Webb was guilty or not. The
board would not have any such pre-
sentation of the evidence they had
heard, or at least the remnant of the
"solid six" would not, and they so de-
cided by strict push" vote, and by
vote of four to three the charges against
Webb We're dismissed. This was not ac-
complished without the urgent protests
Of those members who have consistently
stood up for honesty in the board. The
matter had been fixed" and there was
no break in the ranks of the push" ele-
ment.
Anticipating some excellent speeches
quite a large crowd assembled to hear
the Webb case argued This was the
first meeting that had been held by the
board for investigation purposes for
nearly three weeks and the close was
expected to be much more interesting
than many of the previous tedious ses-
sions had been. All members were pres
ent except Mr. Kubach, the recently
elected member from the Seventh ward.
1t had been understood that if either
side desired it might introduce other
evidence before the argument. At the
opening of the session transcript of
the evidence of Adams before the supe-
rior court was produced by the defense
and after some parleying as to whether
all of it should be read. Attorney Oliver
read a portion of it which appeared to
be favorable to Webb. At one point he
made an uncalledfor allusion to Mr.
Gbbon, which the latter instantly re-
sented. 1t was at the point where Ad-
ans said that he had been persuaded
first by one organization and then by
another" Il do not suppose that refers
to my friend, Mr.. Gibbon," remarked the
ton to this and demanded to know why
such an allusion was meant unless Mr..
Oliver did suppose that Adams had re-
ferred to him. President Davis at once
called down Mr. oliver and demanded
that he proceed with his reading with
out such remarks. The portion of the
evidence read has already been re-
ported. At the conclusion of the read
ing President Davis asked whether the
prosecution was ready to proceed with
the argument. Judge Cheney was ready,
but no opportunity was given him to
speak.
POOR'S SURPRISE
Director Poor arose and said
since our last meeting two or three
weeks ago doubt not all of the men,
bers of the board have been carefully
considering this case and that each of
us has made up his mind as to how he
VIII vote. From conversations which l
have had with other members, I believe
the most of them are as ready to vote
now as they would be after the argu-
ment. Inc board has already been to
great expense and there is no necessity
OF making IL any greater. 1t will be
only waste OF time and money, and
Aoi OAiS e~iii III ldVOT OF Q1SmlSSinp this
case. l therefore offer the following
resolution and move its adoption.
ttttttt<%t<%%f%%% 4 4 4 49,
Whereas, There is no evidenca I
4 against the accused Walter T,
= webb, on both of the charges /
+ against him, other than the unsnn.
7 ported and uncorroborated testimp- Z
4 ny of c. Fl. Axtell and ]. f. Adams. Z
+ and
7 Whereas, Both of these witnesses \
have time and again confessed to I
= the commission of perjury in this Z
examination and before the grand I
4 jury of the county and before the 4
Z superior court of this county: and /
Whereas, Neither of said men arc Z
Z worthy of belief and their testimo- Z
+ ny is absolutely without weight. Z
4 therefore, be it
= Resolved, That all PROCEEDINGS Z
= against Mr.. Webb be and thew are Z
y hereby dismissed as not having been Z
+ in any way sustained. !
%<%t*t<<<<%%%%%%% \ \ Z