The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-11-12
Gov. BECKHAM, OF KENTUCKY, IN
DITEs A REPROvING LETTER
TO GOV. DURBIN
CLEAR. cAUsT1c, CUTTING
tory of the Murder and of the
acquisitions in Terms of
Bitter RecrimfnatiOn.
DEFENSE OF JUDGE cANTRILL

FRANKFORT, KY, Nov. 11.-Gov.
Beekham tonight addressed to Gov. Dur
bin, of Indiana, letter replying to the
criticism by that executive of the courts
and officials of Kentucky In his recent
letter refusing to honor the requisitsR
for Taylor and Finley, wanted for alleg-
ed completely in the assas :ination of Gov.
Goebel. He severely arraigns Durbin for
his refusal, charging that in doing so
he violated his oath of office to support
the constitution of the United States and
that he became party after the fact TO
the most infamous crime in the history
of this state, the cold-blooded and das-
tardly murder of an eminent and distin-
guished citizen of Kentucky. The Ken
tucky executive also charges that Gov.
Durbin'E action in refusing was the re-
suit of a ponIical bargain made before
his election to Office and characterizes
his charges against the courts and Off
cials of Kentucky as slanderous and in
eXcusable Misrepresentation.
He takes the stand that the governor
of a state has no discretionary powers,
but only ministerial power in the honor
ing of legally drawn acquisitions from
other states, and this is taken here as
dl tllQICdL1Ou SlSPS WAii SAAOAe ny HS
taken in the courts to compel Durbin by
mandamus to honor the acquisitions. If
such proceedings are instituted they will
be in the courts of Indiana and taken on
appeal to the supreme court.
Gov. Becl1ham's Letter.
In addressing Gov. Durbin, Gov. Beck
ham says:
Frankfort, KY. Nov. 9. 19O1-Sir: Your
pafrI to thn
time ago sent you by me. asking for the
extradition of w. S. Taylor and Charles
Finley, fugitives from Justice from this
state, charged with being accessories 70
the murder of William Goebel was not
unexpected, but the remarkable letter
with which you accompanied the return
of the papers was indeed surprise 20
me and 1 sincerely regret the necessity
of this reply. 1t is true, had been re-
]iably informed that you had incurred
campaign obligations which committed
you to the protection of these two valu
able adjunctS to your political fortunes,
and that they had been promised imnlu-
nifty from arrest under acquisitions from
Kentucky authorities in the event of
your election as governor. This informa-
ton. has been confirmed by your conduct
and by the complete sense of protection
under which these two men seem to have
rested since your incumbency of the Of
flee. You are at least entitled to the
credit of having faithfully carried out of
doing so, you have violated your oath
of office and brought discredit upon the
high position you hold.
But even with this understanding Of
Your embarrassing position, confronted
as, you were, ON the one side by law and
Justice, and on the other by a miserable
political bargain, / could not believe that
you would so far forego the dignity and
obligations of your office and the courte-
Gus relations that exist among the chief
executives of the various states, as to go
out of your way to offer gratuitouS in
suit to the people of Kentucky and to
cast a reflection upon the courts and
public officials of the state. If these
SlanderouS charges had come from you as
one Individual then they would be treated
with the silent contempt they so justly. de-
serve, but as they come from you as the
governor of a great state, 1 shall not:
hesitate to hold you up to public scorn
and show how unjust and unfounded are
the willful and ineXcusabe misrepre-
sentations in your letter.
Defense of Judge CantriII.
Passing on. from showing how you have
.disregarded the constitution and law of
your country, / viii proceed to show how
you. have perverted the record in the re-
cent trial of Caleb Powers and sought
by such action to bring discredit upon an
honorable and upright judge, whose life
of public service has been unstained by
"A single dishonorable act. and whose
character as a man and jurist stands
unimpeached among the good people of
this state. e
You criticise the recent trial of Pow.
erS and denounce Judge Cantrill for his
instructions. to the jury. You say. in
your letter he instructed it that it might
convict on the testimony of one alleged
1accomplice, if that testimony was cor
roborated bv that of another alleged ac-
s eemplice; that it might convict the de-
fendant for the act of another man to
which the defendant had never agreed,
etc
To show how untrue the statement is,
produce from the record the exact in
struction of the judge in that case on this
point: ..
defendant upon the testimony of an ac-
complice or of accomplices. unless the
testimony be; corroborated by other evil
dence tending to connect the defendant
with the commission of the offense, and
the Confederation is not sufficient if it
merely shows that the offense was COM
mitted and the circumstances thereof"
Is this a manly way to attack anyone?
Is it right and proper to manufacture
evidence to blacken, if possible, his
character? You insinuate. too, that the
Judge has been influenced in his trials of
these cases by his aspiratio as can
didate for the United States senate. If
1umor speak true you are not above
suspicion in that respect yourself and
the rancorouS spirit of your letter shows
that you are. making bid for the sup
port of the implacables and radicals in
your own party, with a view to that end.
doubt the wisdom of your policy to Sc
cure such an honor.
Alleges "a Deliberate Plot h
There is no doubt now that the assas-
sina ton of William Goebel- on tie state
capitol grounds was the result of de-
Iiberate and carefully planned conspira-
cy; that he was shot from window in
the office of the secretary of state, not
over fifty feet from the governors office,
where w. S. Taylor was when the shot
was fired. that TaVlOr innmediatolV had
all entrances to the building guarded and
forbade the admission of the peace Of
ficers who sought to enter and search for
the assassin; that he threw every obsta-
Gle in his power in the way of preventing
the arrest and conviction OF anyone sus-
pected of the crime; that he issued his
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