Daily new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1897-1906, 1898-12-02
- ~.
lHE JUDGES OPINION.
Why He Holds the Quays For
Trial.
THE DEMURRERs ADMIT CHARGES.
rhe Argument That They Were Not H.
legal He Declined to Accept-No Sub
stantial Reason Given For ouashing
Fifth Indictment-TriaI on Dee. IL.

PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 2.-United States
Senator Quay his son, Richard r.
Quay, and ex-State Treasurer Benja-
min j. Haywood will have to stand
trial in the criminal court of this city
on the charges of conspiracy and illegal
use of state funds on deposit in the
wrecked Peoples bank.
The demurrers recently filed by the
defence TO the four indictments con-
tanning these charges and motion to
quash the fifth were overru ed By Judge
Finletter, who thus sustained the in
dictments The defendants were not
in court, but their counsel entered for
NAL pleas of not guilty and Monday,
Dec. 10, was fixed for the beginning of
the trial.
Judge Finletter's opinion was placed
on file without reading.
The demurrers, he said, admit all the
facts of the indictments and by these
admissions establish that the defend
ants had conspired with Cashier Hop
kins as charged.
Continuing the court SAYS:
1t must be conceded that the acts of 1850 and
1850 make it u crime for a cashier of any bank
10 OlTtCJiy VI lDQlItcbly SHbdBS III bilt puf-
chase and sale of stocks. 1t is argued that
these acts apply, under the decisions, to banks
of issue only. There is no such limitation in
the acts themselves, which forbid the cashier
of "any bank to do the acts complained of,
and it is sufficient to plead in the words of the
act. If the decision limit these statutes to
banks of issue, the question whether or not
the Peoples bank is a bank of issue, can be
raised at the trial. 1t is questinn of evidence,
not of pleading.
1t is undoubtedly true, as argued by counsel,
that Mr.. Quay had right to borrow money
from the Peoples bank. But the conspiracy
charged is ito use unlawfully money, the
property of the Peoples bank for the gain,
benefit and advantage of the said Mathew s..
Quay"
1t nowhere appears in the record or in the
demurrer or in the argument that Mr.. Hop.
kins had the legal custody of the money; nor
does it appear that Mr.. Quay knew or had rea.
son to believe that Hopkins had the legal GUS
tody of the money.
To appropriate the property of the bank
without its consent, the court says. is a
conspiracy, but this is question of evil
denee for the commonwealth to estab-
lish or the defendant to explain and
show that it was a loan from the bank
The opinion then proceeds III part as
follows
The indictments charge that the defendants
unlawfully and falsely did combine and agree
together by malicious means to use, and did
use, to make profit, large sums of the public
money of the commonwealth The demurrers
admit all of these facts to be true. but contend
that they violate no law.
These are three distinct violations Of the
law. 1t is commended by the defendants that
when the money was deposited in the Peoples
bank it ceased to be public money, and there
fore, there could be no conspiracy to use pub
lie money. II it be conceded that it ceased to
be public money, it Is not apparent how this
can make the Indictment defective, or make
the acts of the defendants lawful which were
before unlawful and q criminal conspiracy
conspiracy to steal or appropriate, or to
use for private gain the public money is fruit
less SO long as it is in the treasury; or SO long
as it Is under the control of the treasurer It's
removal from the treasury and from the con.
troll of the treasurer is necessary for the suc-
cess of the conspiracy. Depositing the money
in bank as deposit may be the browning act
of the conspiracy, which makes it successful.
1t may be the means by which the crime was
committed, the means by which the public
money was used for private gain and for pur.
poses not authorized by law.
1t is true that as between bank and denosi-
tor the property in money deposited passes
to the bank, and from depositor upon
deposit made, but as respects par
ties to criminal conspiracy who nsa
"
means of crime, their criminal intent win fol-
low the money deposited and their fraud faint
an otherwise lawful act. Besides the com
spiracy may be complete while the money 10
in the treasury and it's transfer by denosit
can then have no effect to legalize tba COW
spiracy.
Ii surely win not be seriously commended
that If the treasurer conspires with others to
convert to their own use the public money for
private gain; and they employ every means to
do so and that every element of a conspiracy
is complete up to the time of deposit in a
bank; that the deposit annihilates the con.
spiracy and makes the unlawful acts lawful
and prevents the punishment of a connletad
successful conspiracy.
Bill 331 charges a conspiracy with the var
ious treasurers since 1888. It. however alao
charges conspiracy with Treasurer HAYWOOD
and is, therefore, good as against him and the
other defendants So far as the other treas.
urers are concerned, 1t is amatter of evidence
The court has no authority to declare mon
q demurrer that a charge is impossible as
argued by the defendants's counsel. 1t might
very well be that a conspiracy was entered
into in 1883 to continuously use the public
money, which was completed in 1898 ,3s
Amotion to quash bill 3S2 has been made.
bot 1t has not been seriously argued, and no
substantial reason has been given to sustain
the motioss. The bill meets all the reouire-
ments LAID down by Judge Breezy, and it is in
accordance with the practice Of this court
from time immenoriafs
Railway Fatalities.
HARRISBURG, Dec. 2.-The annual re-
ports to the state railway bureau of the
steam railway corporations operating
in Pennsylvania for the fiscal year