Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-04-05
LAW IN THE CASESTATED
Numerically Scored Campbell,
WhiteSide, Nolan and Stiff,
Demanding and Ex-
pecting Complete
Vindicati0n.

washington, April 5.-Attorney Birney
continued his argument in the Senator
Clark of Montana, before the senate COM
mittee on elections today. He was follow
ed by Roger Foster in Clarks behalf.
Fosters plea was quite sensational IN It's
denunciation of the prosecution against
Clark.
Congressman Campbell was denounced
in unmeasured terms, as was Whltesloe'
Attorney-General Nolan and Speaker
Stiff. There was an effort, he said, to
make it appear that Clark was proHl-
gate and more corrupt than the veritable
Count of Monte Christie. But this was all
untrue.
Montana was not modern Sodom and
Gomorrah and these people were bring
ing upon themselves the deserved oppro-
blum that falls upon the head of bird
that fouls it's nest. as they do in thus
casting aspersions upon their state. Fos-
ter then turned his attention to the law
in he case. He asserted that if all the tes-
imony taken were true it would not affect
Clark's right to his seat in the senate and
elaborate presentation of his authority.
He spoke in part as follows:
The constitution of the United States,
which you have all sworn to support, or
dains that no person, not even a senator,
shall be deprived Of life, liberty, or prop
erty without due process of law. The re-
spondent now occupies an Office of honor
and profit. which gives him the right Of
property to a salary for six years, of
which he can not be deprived without due
process of law. Due process Of law, as
defined in your decisions, means a pro-
ceeding conducted and decided in accord
ance with the principles of the common
law. A man can not rightfully be depriv-
ed of his seat in the United States SEN
ate because Of some charge against him
of which there is no proof. A senator has
no constitutional right to vote for his ex-
clusion because of dislike for the tone
of his voice or the cut of his beard. A
man does not forfeit his seat because he
obtained it under suspicious circum-
stances. The votes of the senate and Of
the members of this committee upon this
question, which they sit to decide as
judges, cannot properly be influenced by
considerations that might influence them
when asked to invite man to their
houses, or to admit him into club Hear
say evidence, rumOrs, the gossip of the
street corners and barroOms, with which
this record is full, We're, as you have held
in your wisdom, rightfully admitted, be-
cause of the possibility that they might
afford some clue which would lead to le-
gal evidence of corruption in the senator
ial election in the investigation of which
you are now engaged but the opinions of
the courts in Great Britain and Canada,
as well as throughout the United States,
the practice of other Legislative bodies in
America and the British Empire, and the
rules laid down by the reports of this
committee, make 1t imperative that in
the decision Of the question of the right
of a member to seat in this, as in any
other legislative body, no evidence can be
considered except such as is admissible
by the courts sitting under the common
law.
You would be more than human, sena-
tors, If the minds of some of you had not
been unconsciously prepossessed against
the respondent by the series of vile sland-
ers which were retailed to you and pub
lished throughout the country for SO
many days before we were allowed to an
SWer them. The pureSt man can not be
attacked by skunks without seeming for
a short time unclean. Human nature
makes us all incline to believe a charge
made against stranger. sometimes even
charge made against friend. In So
cial and business matters we throw upon
him the burden of disproving it. and If
he fails to do SO we do not usually allow
him place in our esteem.
IF STORY WE'RE TRUE.
The story Of the petitioners is one that
II true would make every lover of this
country, every friend of republican
form Of government, hang his head in
shame. 1t asserts a condition of political
corruption more degraded than any the
world has ever seen. The lowest days OF
the Roman republic. and England. during
the administration of Sir Robert Walpole
seem pure when compared with the pic.
ture that these men drew of their own
state. Not only does their narrative
shock the conscience. but to believe il
strains the capacity of the most credulouf
of mankind Fifty-four members Of the
legislature "a majority Of its number.) q
majority of the representatives of both
political parties. all but four of the re-
publicans. bought like cattle at coun-
try fair! Ten thousand dollars paid tc
nd to- aso1> N,1s