The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1900-08-23
"A Partisan Kentucky Court.

what's The matter with sphonograph?
a Partisan Kentucky Court.
Nov that the Powers infamy has
been concluded, another farce has been
put on In Kentucky in the TRIAL Of
4 Horny z. Youtsey. charged with com
gpllcity3 in the murder of Goebel. 1t is
somewhat singular that men should be
tried for completely in an act. wlers the
name Of the principal has not been dis
closed. or even limited at. The prose-
cution has never given an intlmatlun
that 1t knows who fired the shot thas
killed Goebel. The truth is It does no..
care. The whole affair is a persecution
In the form OF q conspiracy to convict
someone, no matter who 1t Is 50 long US
It technically fastens the guilt on a
Republlcan-and this. for political pur-
poses only, After what occurred fol-
lowing the election Of Taylor we can
be prepared for any extremes in Ken
lucky, so long as the affairs are in the
hands of'the corrupt and yenal Goebel.
ties. Things have come TO such a pass
that even the blatant Col. Jack Chinn
has nothing to say. .Sg
That,the trial OF Powers was a farce
and that the jury was selected for the
purpose and that the presiding Judge
was appallinsy partial is only too evil
dent: This Is tcorroborated by the pro-
{eeedings in the opening OF the trial OF
Youtsey. Here was man who. from
long imprisonment. has been made III,
and atiidavits ,ofSphysicians were pre-
tsented to Judge Cantrill stating thar
Mr.. Youtsey was too sick to stand the
strain OF trial at present. His coun-
sci asked for postponmant. He didn't
get It. OF course. Not with Judge Can
ltrill on tn. bench. Here ne quote from
! the Louisville Courier Journals report
OF the proceedings. unquestionable
Democratic authority. a paper that has
been upholding with vigor all this mis-
cradle travers;y on Justice. 1t says:
( At this juncture Youtsey, asked to be
taken into the petit jury room, where
he could lie on q cot which had been
placed there for HIN. He walked slow
! " out Of the court room, accompanied
by-hls wife. The door to the jury room
was left open SO that he could hear
what. was going on In the trial room.
a: 4 O'Clock the special venire was
called and Colonel Nelson. sprlnging to
! ais feet. moved that the venire be dis
charged and that a Jury be drawn
I from the wheel"
The court overruled the motion. but
Colonel Nelson asked to be heard, and
in vigorous speech he argued that the
jury which tried his client should be
selected from names drawn from q
wheel. He pleaded for dismissal OF
the venire and read from the statutes
In support OF what he had said. AT 5
O'Clock courtwas adjourned and Colonel
Nelson Will conclude his argument. to-
morrow morning.
I, "A jury from the wheel! What an
idea 10 suggest to the aourt that Is try
ing the "conspirators." The court orcr-
ruled the motion! Why. OF course. VIVA:
else could 1t do? These men must bs
convicted, no matter how, bu, convicted
they must be--and they will be. ~
jury from the wheel! Oh. no. the names
OF one or two fair-minaed Republicans
might. come out. That would never do
where Partisanshlp presides on the
bench, and Prejudice sits In tha Jury
box.
On this painful subject the conserva-
tive New York Times Qnd. Dem.) has
:fair: reflections as follows:
The protest OF Caleb Powers against
his Gconviction as an accessory to the
murder OF Goebel will receive an as
senting response from many men of
candid minds who are accustomed to
weigh evidence and are familiar with
the forms OF procedure in properly con-
Quoted trials by jury. The evidence in
the case would. in most states and with
most juries, have led TO a disagreement.
1t was conflicting. and anybody could
see that on one side or the other there
was shameless perjury. The worst
thing proved against Powers was his
active participation In the organization
and bringing to Frankfort OF the noun
-taIpeers. They came ostensibly to sup
port Taylor, but really they We're ..iook-
ing for trouble" and their presence was
provocation TO violence. No credible
evidence was introduced that showed
or tended to prove that Powers had any
connection with the actual murder or
was pr!vy to the plot. Probably case
as good as that made out against him
might be worked up against Owe hun
dred men who were In Frankfort on the
day of the shooting.
The faults In the procedure were that
the rules rs to the admissibiity OF evil
.dence were loosely and igno-antly ap-
piled. and that the reward OF 800. COO
was dangerously large. The oninion' OF
the best police authorities is against
excessive rewards for the detection or
crime. as Offering temptation to the
formation OF conspiracies to convict.
The dreadful state OF political Innrals
IN Kentucky may also be counted as
an element not to be omitted in con-
slderinS the causes that have led to
the conviction OF Powers on unsatis-
factory and sunconvincing evidence. The
sentence. OF life imprisonment instead
of ito death is wholly out OF keeping
with the theory Of positive guilt. Any
man who was concerned In the assas-
'sinatidn Of Goebei ought TO be sent TO
the gallows II proved. guilty. The life
sentence is itself n criticism OF the YER
dict.
49, Tote Eafr Mr. Brvan IN s