The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-02-17
GEN. M0LINEUX'S STATEMENT.
UNBoUNDED CONFIDENCE IN HIS
SONS INNOCENCE.

Asks no sympathy or Aid for His Son
or Himself, But Seeks Prayers for
| His HousehOId-Calls ON Grand
| Army and Confederate Veterans.
Believes His Sons Innocence win
| BE Proven-His Criticism OF Os-
borne.
| New York, Feb 16-Gen. Edward Leslie
Molneux, the father of Roland b. Mo
hneux, convicted of the murder of Mrs.
Adams, and to-day sentenced TO death,
has issued a statement to the papers Of
the country, which, in part. follows;
Il do not desire to intrude personal af-
| fairs upon the public but in view of the
| great number of letters and other COM
munications which l have received. and
In view of the very great publicity the
district attorney has seen fit to give to
personal and Irrelevant details by public
interviews in the columns of the press
while the charges were pending against
my son, feel justified, now that the trial
is ended, In making this statement:
II may say, In advance, that have
been deferred from making such a state
| ment earlier solely by the advice of coun
! sci and my own consideration of dignity
and of propriety. II has been intima ted
in some of the newspapers that a fund
should be raised for assisting the defense
| of my son. l should not allow pride to
prevent me from accepting such assist
ance If it were needed, for the reason that
/ should not myself hesitate to offer II
to any person who needed it; and should
| never be ashamed to receive what should
| not be ashamed to offer But / owe no
man a dollar and l neither need nor de-
sire any assistance of such a character.
| l feel, and am, amply obe In health,
strength and in the courage natural 10
man, TO sustain all the burdens that God
| has placed upon me until He Wills other
wise.
Certain of His Innocence.
II am rich in the firm belief in the jus
tice of the Almighty Cod in the devoted
| love and comfort of a noble WIFE, my
| sons and their wives all united, all certain
| in the innocence of Roland Burnham Moli-
neux, and certain that it will be so found
in time. / need myself no other assist
ance, and no other comfort or support But
| for my household do need and do ap-
peal for the support of the prayers of all
those of every denomination and of every
faith who, like myself, feel that my son
is innocent and the victim of an unjust
persecution. / appeal, moreover to every
man who Is a sman, to respect the sane
tity of the grief of my afflicted wife and
my sorely afflicted daughter my daughter
in affection and my daughter-in-law by
her marriage to my son, Blanche Cheese
| brough Molineux. In their behalf, my
| friends, gallant comrades of the Grand
| Army of the Republic, gallant s&diers
| of the Confederacys-late foes but now
iriends-as well as all others who resent
| injustice and revere womanhood, / ask
you to assist them during my struggle in
| the front lines of defense of those, nv best
of earthly blessings.
Father Able to Judge.
"As for my sons, I trust that thew are
brave men, with the strength to live and
| die bravely. / have seen my son Roland
| asleep as child by his mothers side; 1
have seen him asleep In his cell, after the
| verdict condemning him to death had been
| pronounced. Who Is better able than ],
| his father to judge whether that sleep
was the natural sleep of innocence? have
| heard his first words, on awakening at
| the call OF his father, as by reveilIe from
| that sleep after the verdict, How is
| Blanche? How is mother? and before that
sad awakening during all the dreary days
| of his confinement, day by day. week by
week, month by month. there has been
| always that first loving cry from his lips
| for Blanche and mother Can he be
| guilty of cowardIy poisoning? II is i'm
| possible; can it be? MOI l know that he
| is innocent as know l am alive.
Like his father, he has not been fault
less, but he also had much OF the better ami
| the kindlier nature of his mother. He a
| degenerate and vicious poisoner? II is inn
possible and absurd
Criticism of Osborne.
Although no lawyer, have always be-
| lieved that the American bar is the purest
In the world and l still believe, honor and
| respect the bar as such. With this belief
1t had been impossible for me to under
stand how a member Of that bar and in
addition. sworn public prosecutor, a man
| educated in an American college and as
sociated with American men could as
sault, by vile insinuations, a woman, the
wife of the defendant.
Moreover, where should the mother
and the wife OF my son have been when
he was on trial for his life? Does not
every voice say that they should have
been at his side, and does not every heart
indorse that sentiment? And yet we are
told by the authority presiding over that
trial that the presence of my wife and
my daughter was "a matter of taste, con.
corning which men might differ
1.-THE prosecuting officer has stated In a
| public Interview that I was conscious OF
| the guilt of my son. The assertion is
made unequivocally, and must be answer
| ed in like manner. II is absolutely false
| and must have been known to him to be
false when he made 1t. I can conceive OF
no reason which could have actuated such
a falsehood, except the consciousness that
| his own position needed apology and de-
Tense.
MY son. Roland 3. Bolineux, is inno-
cent. I know 1t, and I ask for no SYM
pathy for him. My only request is that
may have the heartfelt support OF all
| those who believe in noble American wo-
| manhood as exemplhed in those VINO bear
| the family name OF
Edward Leslie MolIneux'