The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-08-15
A CRIMINAL
LIBEL SUIT
Attorney Kinney Sues
{. S. Gill.
|EDITOR or REPUBLICAN
Lawyer Alleges Injury on Account
of a Publication in That
Journal.

The climax of the controversy
the lawyers growing out Of the
Bar Association dinner of last Friday
evening, came yesterday in a criminal
libel suit begun against Edwin s. Gill.
Editor of the Honolulu Republican"
w. A. Kinney is the complainant. The
penal summons was served on Mr.. Gill
yesterday afternoon at his Office by
Deputy Sheriff Chillingworth.
The complaint alleges that Mr.. Gill
is guilty of libel in the first degree In
that the newspaper in question made q
publication which tends to injure the
complainant's reputation ana good
name and to bring him into contempt.
disgrace, odium and ridicuie, by CIR
culating the alleged libel by making
it known to others. The complaint In
full reads as follows:
William A. Kinney. being duly sworn
says, that Edwin s. Gill. residing In
Honolulu. Island Of Oahu, Territory OF
Hawaii, within the Jurisdiction Of this
court. on to wit: Sunday, August IL.
1900, at Honolulu and within the juris-
diction of this court, was and Is guilty
of the offense of publishing libel In
| the first degree, of and concerning said
| w. A. Kinney, in that said Honolulu
Republican, newspaper Of general
lctrculation in said Honolulu, writing
or print, which directly tended to In
| jure the fame, reputation or good name
OF said w. A. Kinney and to bring him
| into disgrace. odium, contempt and
| ridicule, and maliciously put said libel
into circulation, and promulgated, ex-
hibited and distributed it for the pur-
pose of making it known to others and
| thereby in fact did make 1t known to
others and aided and assisted In pro-
mitigating, exhibiting and distributing
it. Said libel being in the words fol-
| lowing. to wit:
| Then is appended the front page ar
| ticle which appeared in the Republican
of Sunday, August IL, the headlines
reading, Insult to Judges Had Been
Pre-Arranged."
| (Signed) w. A. KINNEY.
| Subscribed and sworn to before me
this 14th day of August. 1900.
| w. L. WILCOX.
| District Magistrate Of Honolulu.
! Edwin s. Gill is commanded to ap-
pear before Judge Wilcox on Thurs
day, August 10Th, at $3.50 o'clock q. m,
then and there to answer the charge
of libel in the first degree made against
him.
| The day after the article appeared
Mr. Kinney sent a letter to the Repub-
lican In which he demanded a retrac-
tion of the statement that number OF
his cases had been stricken from the
court calendar. In Tuesdays Repub-
Iican there was an editorial apologiz-
ing for the statement. In Tuesdays
Advertiser Mr.. Kinney had signed
letter in which he asked an investiga-
tion of the charges in the Republican
that there was in Honolulu ring Of
lawyers who dictated to the courts here
in the past" Judge Humphreys re-
quested the Grand Jury to pay no at
tention to signed statements in the
newspapers, and less than six hours
thereafter the criminal libel suit wae
filed
Following is the letter from Mfr. Kin
ney to the Republican demanding a re-
traction:
Il Honolulu, August 13, 1900
, Z. s. Gill, ESQ.,, Editor Honolulu Re
publican.
Dear Sir-In the issue of the Repuai-
can Of Sunday, August l.. there appears
: the statement:
Some of the old cases that Mr.. Kin
ney was interested In, and which had
I been carried on the calendar for years
1 were stricken off. No valid reason was
presented to the Court why the attor-
. ney should not be ready for trial, and
4 there was no reason for the cases mo-
l being stricken Off the calendar"
J The statement is false. Please retrac
i it at once. and with the same publicit!
e with which 1t was made.
w. A KINNEY.
Il