The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-03-22
DECISION IN BLOOR CASE
Penitentiary Sentence of the Sen
ate Secretary Upheld.
HE MUST SERVE ONE YEAR
h Supreme Court OF the State Directs
That the Judgment OF the Lower
Court Be Enforced He's
Now ID Arrest.
Special Dispatch 10 the standard.

Special DISPATCH to the Standard.
Helena. March 2l.-The looked for
decision i'm the Bloor case was rendered
by the supreme court to-day. Although
the case was argued before the court
three months z a decision was not
made as soon as expected from the fact
that Justice Hunt was called out of the
state by the death Of his brother. and
only recently was the full court able to
take up the case. In anticipation of a
decision in the case there were more
than the usual number of spectators in
the supreme court chamber this morn
ing. After the chief Justice had an
nounced the courts ruling in a minor
case Associate Justice Hunt began
reading the opinion I'm the Bloor case.
a statement of the case came first, and
then the courts opinion. The decision
was unanimous.
Counsel for Bloor relied for a revers-
al on alleged defects i'm the Indictment
and errors i'm the trial. None Of these
were allowed by the court. Every
contention raised by the defense was
swept away.
As soon as the supreme courts re-
mittitur was received in the district
court Judge Smith issued the following
order for Bloor's arrest:
I'm this case "a remittitur having
been duly filed In this court showing
that the judgment heretofore entered
herein has been duly affirmed. ii is
ordered that the sheriff arrest said de-
PENDANT and bring him before this
court for further action
Sheriff Davidson t~elephoned Sheriff
Iiegan of Butte to arrest Bloor, who IL
out on bail I'm that city, and hold him
pending the arrival of an officer from
this county.
Deputy Sheriff Andrews left for lutte
tonight with the order and will bring
the defendant back tomorrow, when
he will be r~esentenced. The jury which
convicted him fixed his punishment at
one year I'm the penitentiary. With good
behavior he will De out in IL months
from the time he enters. The opinion
of the court follows:
80 . The record il
very voluminous, and we shall not en-
cumber this opinion by reciting the
evidence at length. The following ma
terial facts appeared: Defendant was
the duly qualified and acting secretary
of the senate of the Fifth legislative
assembly. and one H.. :. Corbley was
his assistant. Substitute for house bill
No. 1855 passed the house of representa-
lives on March 4. 1897. and was re-
ceived by the senate on that day; in
the senate IL was read a third time and
passed. The passage of the bill through
the senate occurred on the last night
of the session. After ii was read on its
final passage the assistant secretary,
Corbley. handed Ii to the defendant
Bloor. who was sitting at the desk near
him. Corbley did not see the bill there
after. No enrolled copy thereof was
presented TO the speaker of the house
or to the president OF the senate. ON
the day following the adjournment Of
the Legislature the defendant, Bloc,
told Corbley that he had found the bill
I'm question i'm a pigeon hole in his
lBloor's) desk with bills which were
indefinitely postponed by the senate.
. . . . . . " 4"
1T appears that upon the last night
of the session one Langford was assist
ing the secretary of the senate in writ
ing up the record of the bills, and wrote
some endorsements on the back. 1t also
appeared that one Hines. then the
treasurer OF silver Bow county, was
trying to defeat the bill In questions:
that the defendant Bloor and Hines
were talking about this particular bill
I'm The senate chamber after it's passage
in the senate on March ith: that Hines
went up to defendants desk; that de-
fendant picked up some papers and
handed them to Hines. that Hines
folded one up, and shaking. II at Bloor
said something to him; that bloor
picked up a package of bills. went over
them and handed one to Hines. who
took il and held IL up so that the light
would strike II, and that the bill so
held up by Hines was the bill i'm ques-
ton. that II was recognized by w. n.
Clark. a member of the house of rep
~resentatives, who had prepared the bill
himself for the committee, and who
was sitting some distance from the
desk of the secretary at the time, that
Hines took the bill. folded II up and
commenced talking to Bloor and max
ing motions with II. M then laughed
with Bloor. who passed behind his desk
and winked at Hines. 1t further APP
peared that Hines had said "A few days
before the last day of the session that
we Imeaning evidently the officials Of
silver Bow county,. have to do some
thing to get away with that bill: we
don't want the salaries of the officials
OF Silver Bow county reduced. n if
we can't talk ID To death. we have to
get rid of II in some other way.
Then follows a detailed account OF the
loss and search for the bill in question.
all of which is familiar to newspaper
readers in this state. After reciting the
evidence given at the trial. the court
proceeds:
1t requires ~ argument To sustain
the statement that, i'm the light of this
! evidence. supplemented AS II was by
/ testimony c~orroborative of the material
facts. the jury were amply tustified In
finding defendant guilty, provided the
evidence was credible. Stress is laid
on the meaning of the word 'secreting.'
the learned counsel for defendant on
tending that mere inaction upon de
fandant's part is Insufficient To consti-
/ into the crime . . II is
! st~renuously argued that the indictment
does not charge "A public orense. This
point rests upon the contention that
the charging part of the indictment Is
an unfinished sentence But when