The Seattle Republican. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1???-1915, 1901-05-24
POLITICAL P0T-PIE


to try the case Of the state Of Wash
ington against I'll. r. Cayton, the
editor and proprietor of this paper,
failed to find a verdict Of guilty as
charged, which is practically the
same as finding Mr.. Meredith guilty
of all that he has been accused Of,
not only by this paper, but by wit
nesses which was brought out in the
trial Of the case. Owing to circum-
stances the accused was morally GER
tain that some hard fighting had to
be done in order to prevent YER
dict of guilty as charged, and
through his counsel this was done
and done in the most acceptable
manner, not only to the defense, but
to the complete satisfaction Of the
entire public.
The citizens Of this community
are absolutely certain now that the
official condition Of this city are
tenfold worse than they ever even
dreamed of them being, and that is
saying a good deal They fully be-
lieve that things are not going
right; they fully believe that a
general overhauling, so far as the
police system is concerned, is neces-
sary, and they fully believe that,
if such an overhauling is properly
conducted, that it will result in a
number of the officers of this city
losing their official heads; but these
self same citizens did not realize, in
believing all of the above, that such
a state of affairs as really do exist
in this city was hundredth part as
bad as it was proven to be by the
witnesses on the stand in this mem
orable legal case, which has just
closed its first act, by the jury fail
ing to agree.
The entire trial was made up Of
sensation and expectation, and until
the last act had been played the
public stood on its tiptoe Of expec-
fancy, waiting for every sound and
syllable, to fall, that they might de-
YOUR its contents. Perhaps the
greatest sensation Of the whole trial
was when John w. Considine, the
noted variety theater man, saloon
keeper and gambler, took the stand
as a witness in behalf of the defense
The news flashed over the city that
he would be a witness, and during
the entire day Of which he was to
be on the stand, the court room was
packed to suffocation with persons
anxious to hear what he would say.
Mr. Considine made a splendid wit
ness. He not only accused Mr..
Meredith of grating, in the COM
mon acceptation of the word, but
he actually accused him at divers
times of bride taking, and being
"particeps criminis' with sure-thing
games, and with the hold-ups
and thugs that have operated in the
city Of Seattle since 1898. Much Of
Mr.. Considine's evidence was ruled
out by Judge Griffin, on account of
it having taken place subsequent to
the 22d Of March, at which time the
so-called libelous article was pub
lished, which, if it had been admit
ted, would have proven the supreme
sensation of the whole trial. Mr..
Considine's open letter, written to
the Times and the Star and signed
by himself, was not admitted into
evidence, all of which spoiled much
Of the sensation Of the day, that was
to be explained by witness Consi-
dine. While The Republican has
not space to give Mr.. Considine's
evidence~as it fell from his lips, yet
suffice it to say that it was the most
damaging testimony that was ever
given against a chief officer in this
community, and it was such as to
warrant Mr. Brown, one Of the
counsel for the defense, to pour out
vial Of vituperation and accusa-
ton upon the head Of the chief Of
the police, as he sat by the states
attorney as complaining witness,
which was the most severe arraign-
ment that any person had ever be-
fore heard administered to a COM
planning witness. No wonder Chief
Meredith withered before it, for no
human being could have done other
wise.
The evidence given against the
chief of police by Mrs. Ross was
also quite sensational and had quite
a bearing on the case at bar, al
though the transaction was subse-
quent to the publication of the
article in question. The evidence
given by Mrs. Ross was the only evil
dence Of its kind that was admitted,
but had other evidence Of similar
kind been admitted, Mrs. Ross's
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