Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1900-02-28

IHE CreSSet, IN desperate effort TO
apologize for its inefficient county at
torney, makes Ed Sample say that he
was not connected in any way with the
Hogard bastardy case and further, that
"Mr. Griffin had made as good coun-
ty attorney as Barber county eyer had,
and that the records show that he has
secured larger per cent of convictions
than any prosecuting attorney the
county ever had; that the records also
show that he had as little assistance as
any county attorney" These may be
Mr.. Samples words and they may not.
but it they are it only shows that Mr.
Sample, in common with other republ-
can partlsans, is either not posted on
matters of record or else thinks it a
matter Of political policy 20 shade and
even distort things to make the county
attorney appear in as favorable light
as possible. 1t is matter of little
concern to us whether Ed was employ
ed in tho Higgins Hogard case or not.
but if he did not want 1t mention
GU TIC SllOulu DdNO My
gins not to voluntarily mention the
fact to US. The only way a news
paper has of arriving at conclusions is
to rely on what people tell the editors
and what they observe for themselves.
The next proposition that the Cresset
makes Ed father is so laughably incon-
sistent with facJs of record that it
Is almost a waste of time to allude to
it at all. But We might say that if any
one wants to satisfy himself IN the
matter all he needs to do is to walk ov-
er to the court house and look into the
records of the district clerks office and
he will find that Griffin only secured
Two convictions in cases where he was
not assisted and where the defendant
did not plead guilty, ever since he was
indicted into his present official
position. 1t can also be seen that no
county attorney ever was so unsuccess-
full in the history of the county. What
reflection is this purported statement
of Mr.. Samples on the legal ability on
the many able lawyers who in times
past were the cOunty's prosecutors!
1t does not require lawyer to decide
that Mr.. Griffin is inferior 10 all of
them. But why discuss it. 1t is com
mon street talk that the county attor.
ney is not equal to his task. a num-
Der Of republicans have come to us
and asked us why we do not bring the
Cresset to task for apologizing for Grit
fin after 1T had so Out-ageously abused
Leon Beals when he was county attor-
ney. in the face of the fact that Beals
was successful in as many as ten cases
to Griffin's one. There is no evadiDg
the fact. Sam Griffin has fallen down.
He did the best he could but that was
very little, and when you get outside of
the little coterIe of politicians in Med
lcine Lodge, men of all parties say 1T.
We are not surprised that the Cresset,
and even Ell Sample, should try to ex-
plain facts away; their purpose Is we'll
known. but just the same there are
large numbers of people in this county
who have minds of their own and need
not call on politicians to shape conciu-
sions for them. 1t might be interesting
TO know why Eds present opinion of
the county attorney is so much differ
ent from one he expressed last summer,
provided, of course, that the Cresset
quotes him correctly.