The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1901-10-10
GOVERNOR DURBIN'S DUTY.

The only reason that actuated Gov
ernor Mount in his refusal to send
Taylor and Finley back to Kentucky
TO be tried for completely in the MUIR
der of Goebel was his apprehension
that fair trial was improbable under
the circumstances. There was ample
ground forsuch apprehension and Gov
ernor Mount did not have to search
for tit was thrust upon him daily.
W. E. Curtis, one of the best known
and most reliable newspaper cores
pondents in the country, went TO Ken
lucky during the trials of the three men
who were arrested. He was sent by
the Chicago Record, paper that was
criticising Governor Mount severely
and hoped that Curtis would report
facts to Justify its criticism. Here is
an extract from the report Mr.. Curtis
made:
The most learned lawyers in Ken
lucky tell me that the proceedings in
all these cases are without parallel for
partisanship by the courts and jury in
the history of American jurisprudence,
and that the DreyfuS case is the only
one within the present century that
can be quoted in the same connection.
The proceedings before Judge Cantrill
e
the Spanish InquisitiOn thananything
in modern criminal prosecutions. The
jIries that convicted these three men
were not drawn from the regular pam
ell, although sixty names were left in
the wheel, but were SummOne1 per-
sonally by the sheriff from among his
personal acquaintance. Members Of
the State Bar Association have pre-
pared and published a statement of
the cases. addressed to the members
of the American Bar Association and
lawyers throughout the United States,
setting forth the facts. 1t is a ter
rible arraignment of the Kentucky
judiciary, but they tell me here that
there is little public excitement over
lllO OOnflOliOilO. OCO0uoC CNCl
knows that the court of appeals
will overrule the judgments and set
aside the entire proceeding.
The trials that were had completely
justified Governor Mount in his de-
cIsion upon the requisition and there
is plenty of democratic evidence to
sustain him.
The three men were convicted and
the court of appeals did set aside the
proceedings, as was anticipated, and
new trials were ordered. But upon
mere technicalities of such trivial ma
ture as to be ridiculous in less serious
connection the new trials are postponed
and the men are held in prison for
months beyond the time the trials
should have occurred.
The appropriate political moment
for these trials has not yet arrived.
The men who have recently appear
ed before Governor Durbin say bland
ly that the bitter feeling which they
admit existed during the previous
trials has died out. Has it? Judge
Cantrill, who presided at those pre-
posterous proceedings, is now making
a canvass for the UnitedStates senate,
basing his claims on the part he took
in convicting Powers and the rest,
and the whole subject is before the
people of Kentucky in all its phases.
Cantrill and his bloodthirsty gang
were quick to seize upon the aSsassina-
ton of the President and present it
to the excitable citizens of their state
as in some manner parallel for the
murder of GoeOel and to make it inn
pressive they rushed to indianapolis
with the dusty and spider-webbed re-
auisition, knowing that it would again
be refused, as they know it ought to
be.
Every circumstance points to the
fact that there is less reason now
for surrendering Taylor and Finley
than there was wnen Governor Mount
mercifully refused to give them over
to torture and persecution.