The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-11-12
BECKHAM TO DURBIN
KENTUCKY GOVERNOR SCORES
 INDIANA EXECUTIVE.
Charges That Durbin Made 6 Poli- ticals Bargain Which He is Carry T ing Out By Protecting
 Taylor and Finley.

Frankfort, Ky, Nov. ll.-Governor Beckham tonight addressed to Governor UuFoin or lndtapa, a letter replying to sre criticism by that executive of the recent letter refusing to honor the re- , quisition for Taylor and Finley, wanted
 Tor alleged compncity in the assassina- tAen or Governor GoebeL He severely ar ralgns Durbin for his refusal. charging
 that In doing so he violated his oath or sTce to support the Constitution of
 the United States.s and that he became
 famous crime in the history % of this State. the cold blooded and dastardly
 murder of an eminent and distinguished ctuzen of Kentucky"
 that Governor Durbin's action in refus- ing was the resultsof a political bargain
 made before his election to office and courts and officials of Kentucky as slam derous and inexcusable misrepresenta- tions. He takes the stand that the Gov ernor of State has no discretionary honoring of legally>A drawn acquisitions i from, other States and this is taken here as an indication that steps will shortly
 be taken in the courts to compel Durbin
 If such proceedings are instituted. they
 will be In the courts of Indiana, and
 taken on appeal to the Supreme Court. Frankfort. Ky. Nov. 9, 1901. "Sir-Your refusal to honor the requt- ssGn: asns some sop tsn time aso s:nt you Sy m Taylor and Charles Finley, fugitives
 from justice from this State. charged
 with being accessories to the murder of
 but the remarkable letter with which you accompanied the return of the pa- pers. was indeed surprise to me and sincerely regret the necessity of this onlxy tr,.n hoA l,lx informed that ysu had incurred cani-
 paign obligations which committed you
 to the protection of these two valuable
 adjuncts to your political fortunes and that they had been promised immunity | from arrest under acquisitions from Kentucky authorities In the event Of your election as Governor. You are at | least entitled to the credit of having | ment with them. Ho Vever. in doing so l you have violated your oath of office
 and brought discredit upon the high po-
 sition you hold But even with this un-
 derstandfng of your embarrassing po-
 sition, confronted as you were, on the
 one side by the law and justice and on
 gain. could not believe that you would
 so far forget the dignity and obligations | of your office and the courteous rela- | tons that exist among the chief execu-
 out of your way to offer gratuitous
 insult to the people of Kentucky. and l 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 deserve, but as they come from
 you as Governor of great State. l public scorn and show how unjust and
 unfounded are the willful and inexcusable
 misrepresentations in your letter.
 | Passing on from. showing how you
 have disregarded the Constitution and
 law of. your country. I will proceed to show how you have perverted the record
 in the recent trial of Caleb Powers and
 sought by such action to bring discredit l upon. an honorable and upright judge l whose life of public service has been un- | stained by single dishonorable act. and whose character as a man and as a Ju-
 rist stands unfrnpeached among the good people of this State.
 "You criticIse the recent trial of Powers
 and denounce JudgesCantrill for his in letter he instructed it that it might con l vict on the testimony of one alleged &C.,
 complice if that testimony was .corrobo-
 rated by. that of another alleged accom- | plice, that it might convict the defendant l for tke act of another man. to which the | defendant had never agreed. etc: To | show how untrue the statement is pro-
 duce from the records the exact instruc- | ton in that case on this point. Eighth, | the jury cannot convict the defendant up
 on the testimony of an accomplice or Of
 accomplioest unless the testimony Is cor roborated by other evidence tending to
 connect the defendant with the commits | sion of the offense and the corroboration | is not sufficient if it merely shows that | the offense was cominitted ana the cir- cumstances thereof. ...
 "Is this a manly way to attack any enc? Is 1t right and proper to manufac- | ture evidence to blacken, if possible, ms character? You insinuate, too. that the judge has been influenced on his trials of these cases by his aspirations as a can
 didate for tbe United States Senate. If
 rumor speak true. you are not above sus- | rancorous spirit of your letter shows that
 you are making a bid for the support Of | the implacables and radicals in your own | party. with a view to that end.
 l There is no such doubt that the as- | sassination of William Goebel on the State | Capitol grounds was the result or a de- liberate and carefully planned conspiracy,
 that he was shot from a window In the | forty feet from the Governors omce
 where w s. Taylor was when the shot | was fred that Taylor immediateiy nan
 all the entrances to the ouiloihg guaroeo
 and forbade the admission of the peace l officers who sought to enter and search
 for the assassins that he threw every oo- stacle in his power In the way Of pre-
 venting the arrest and conviction or any one suspected of the crime: that he is-
 sued his pardons to some of those under
 suspicion even before their arrest ana ln- | dictment; that he was presumaoly the
 beneficiary, in the death of William Goe-
 bel. who|was contesting with him the IL
 tie to the governorship of Kentucky: that
 he refused to recognize the writ of ha-
 beas corpus. filled the State Capitol with
 over a thousand armed desperadoes, and | threatened the entire State with reVolu- | tion and anarchy. and that today he Is
 a slO; crineine supplicant at vour feet. beg,
 ging that he be not given over to trial
 on an indictment charging him with be | ing a consnirator in the murder Of his
 successful rival It would be. no satisfac-
 ton to any one to punish an innocent | man of this crime'