The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-08-21
FITCH ON
MACON
Continued from Page p

noise that proceeded from the inside or
the house. Nine times he was asked a
question to which he made nine times
an irrelevant, evasiVe, and Impairment
answer, and when ordered by the court
to make direct reply, he answered
that he did not know where or when
it was that he met Mr. Love In
drunken condition, riding in a buggy.
In answer to the question Of Mr..
Magoon, Have you ever seen James
Love drunk within the year?' he re-
sponded. I have never seen him sober,
and on cross -eXamination he admitted
that during the last year he had not
seen him at all. He shuffled and eVad-
ed, and tried to be smart. and came
near being sent to Jail for contempt,
and when he left the witness stand
there was not a person in the court
room who had heard him who would
have convicted upon his uncorroborau-
ed testimony a dog found with bone
in his mouth
OF HIGH SHERIFF BROWN.
The other witness of Mrs. Hart
High Sheriff Browns not at all OF
the same order of men as Chester
Doyle, but High Sheriff Brown is not
free from the prejudices and practices
of his craft. He comes in contact all
the time with criminals. He is brought
in touch with the dregs of humanity,
With the lowest and vilest elements
of the slums His business inevitably
leads him to be dogmatic and dicta-
torial, and regardless of the rights Of
those whom he considers offenders
against the law. He does not really
mean to misstate facts to any mans
prejudice, but he first adopts theory
concerning man or an event, and
then unconsciously begins to shape
facts to fit his theory
His deputies proceed to stand by
their chief. He is Sir Oracle, and
when he opes his lips let no dog bark
Unlike Herodotus, the high sheriff does
not separate the things that he has
heard from the things that he has
seen. The imaginary facts necessary
to sustain his theory, become real facts
to him; he mixes them up with real
facts. He cannot after a while pick
them out. He believes them all, and
he ends by swearing to them ALL
A MOONLIGHT ROMANCE
II think that if one of the high sher-
ifs deputies came to him with a story
such as Mr.. Brown told here, that the
high sheriff would not believe him. I
imagine the deputy saying TO the chief,
I was driving in from Waikiki last
night after 10 o'clock. The distant
splash of the Pacific sounded in mourn
full monotones from over the rice and
banana fields, and across the cerulean
vault the full orbed Queen OF Night
rode down the heavens. AS I approach
the cottage of Mr.. and Mrs. Roe, I
heard voices from the rear. / did not
hear what was said or sung, and my
acquaintance with Mr.. and Mrs. Roe
was slight, but, being a policeman, 1t
was my duty to recognize the voices,
and therefore / did recognize them. 1t
was the cottage of Mr. and Mrs. Roe,
and though my hearing was defective,
my power of ratiocination was vigor-
Gus, and therefore l swear that the
voices were those of Mr.. and Mrs. Roe,
whether their blended harmony sound
ed the solemn strains of There's a
land that is fairer than day." or the
martial music of There's a hot time
in the old town tonight" I do not
know, but enraptured with the sound
| stopped the horse and sat in the
buggy gazing at and drinking In the
scene.
Suddenly, in the front window, ap-
peared the substantial form of James
Love. He was clad in the simple but
sufficient costume of a cotton under
shirt He opened his mouth, and for
three quarters of an hour he fertiliZed
the lawn with the nutriment for which
Mr.. j. A. Magoon had been paying 81
a week. For three-quarters of an hour
did James Love thus waste his estate
in shameless violation of section 1915
of the civil code
:" Do you mean to tell me- says the
High Sheriff, that you sat In your
buggy for three-quarters of an hour In
the moonlight watching James Love
puke out of the front Window
Yes, chief replies the policeman.
I think that it is my duty.
And 1 think remarks the chief,
that you have had a pipe dream-go
and soak your head
In conclusion, Mr.. Fitch said
NIBBLED TO DEATH.
wherever Mr.. Loves estate may go
after his death it is surely not neces-
sary that during his life time it should
remain unproductive, while 1t is being
nibbled into insolvency by Mr.. Magoon.
This old man is entitled In all good
conscience to be set free. He acquired
his property by twenty-five years OF
labor and thrift. He ought to be al
lowed to enjoy it in his old age and
to live where and with whom he pleas
es, and nobody ought to have any legal
right, as nobody has any moral right
to say to him nay He has robbed no
man, wronged no man, and harmed no
living creature. VIII not your honor
decree that lie SHdl COUlS OlCe
into his own?
IF there is any feature of the judi
cial office that L have ever envied, 1t
is the vast chancery powers which I'M
der our American system it's occupant
may exercise. If there is any instance
in which judge may lawfully emerge
from the impartial, Indifferent, pas
sionless gown with which the law robes
him. 1t Is in case where his reason
as a lawyer and his conscience as a
chancellor, give strength to his hui
name and freedom loving impulses, and
enable him to reach out the strong arm
of equity, and strike off unjust letters
from the body and soul OF a man, and
say to him, Go forth, you are free!' !"
MR.. THOMPSON REPLIES.
Mr.. Magoon was still absent from
the courtroom when Mr.. Fitch conclud-
ed his argument. The court remarked
during the opening argument that per-
hans Mr. Magoon wanted to hear it,
and Mr.. Thompson returned in a sar-
castle tone, that he was positive Mr..
Magoon would be delighted. He had
not appeared, however, and Judge
Gear allowed Mr.. Fitch to continue,
probably taking into consideration the
fact that Mr.. Magoon may have been
within earshot, if not within sight.