The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1902-05-11

/ OF not more than $4,000. It was and still
| is on the statute book. 1t was the duty
OF any citizen especially a Judge to call
attention to so Haunting and open a
violation of the laws of the State The
advice was not acted upon. and no such
case came before the court. But If a
grand jury and petty jury had found
the facts | should not have been disuua IL
fled to set on the case any more than a
Judge who directs a grand jury to inves-
tigate any other open and notorious yio-
lation of the law.
Even right now this free pass business
is starting up, though often concealed in
the shape of donated tickets and donated
mileage books. A few IS 900 fines would
help the school fund and help educa 70
the railroads at the same time to re-
spect the law
LETTER NO. s.
destroy this. Private.)
My Dear Governor All that hullaba-
loo about Impeachment comes from
j. w. Wilson. ] saw Fred Merritt in
there yesterday, and he was taking it
down. have letters from different
points and find public sentiment else
where as well as here is with you
AS you prophesied, knowing the facts
are against them, they deny your iuris-
dlction, relying on the supplementary act
of 1891, p. 565, making them a Court of
Record. They are long time finding
cat they are judges, as Mason, Bedding
field, Ohio Wilson, all canvassed regu-
larly. But there is nothing in the point
any way. The act creating them pro-
Vided how their terms could be- ended
Besides, you are only given power to
suspend, the power Of removal is vested
in the Legislature.
They have been trying to charge I had
part in drafting the notices SO as to
affect my sitting. did not see the no.
tees till issued. and did not know thew
would be issued. There were some tvpe-
written points, however. interlined or
corrected in my hands. Please get that
paper and destroy it.
Destroy this. Send me any note you
WISH oy bearer. Yours,
w. C.
This is the last letter and the one nm -,
when the Virtuous advocates of govern
ment by railroad set the most store.
1T had been charged in the press that
Col. A. b. Andrews owning fourth in
terest in hotel at Round Knob and ].
W. Wilson, Railroad Commissioner, own
ing the other three fourths interest.
had rented it to S. Ohio Wilson. another
Railroad Commissioners, that Ohio re-
FUSED TO rent unless it was agreed by
the railroads that Round Knob should be
made the eating house and stopping place
for the trains (and he could not pay rent
unless this was done), that in open d.
nnance OF the law which these
commissioners were sworn to adj
minister the supplies. both bv
freight and express were carried
free, Otho's family were also carried free
in defiance of the law against free passes
and his furniture was carried at one ha Ii
rates and that one-half not paid. With
such scandal before him Governor Rus
sell was forced to issue a notice to the
TWO commissioners to appear before him
to show cause why they should not be
suspended till the Legislature met. They
appeared, the witnesses proved substan-
TALLY the above facts. he suspended
them. Upon the face of the Statute his
action could not be reviewed by the Su-
preme Court, but by the Legislature
alone. The Wilson's were tried by the
Legislature, and notwithstanding the
Legislature was Democratic, Governor
Rassell's action was sustained, for j. W.
Wilson, whose term expired, was not re-
elected, and Ohio resigned. The Legs-
lature generously allowed them pay FOR
the time they had been suspended, 9TH
erwise the lawyers who defended them
would have gone unpaid.
From above it will be seen that Gov
erDor Russell submitted to me type
written copy OF his notice to show cause,
or summons TO the Wilson's to appear.
| made in it as appears by the document
which l saw on yesterday some half
dozen corrections, mostly OF grammatical
or verbal errors. 1t was sent to me be-
cause the proceeding for removal OF an
official by the Governor was new in this
State, and this was the first Statute au-
thoriziIg it, whereas it is very common
in some of the other States. and / was
thought to be familiar with the practice
in such cases.
Issuing the notice to show cause or
summons. did not incapacitate Governor
Russell to sit on or try the case. 1t was
in no way prejudgment of the
facts by him, and if the case could have
been carried by appeal to the Supreme
Court it is clear that the fact that
had corrected the summons would not
have debarred me at second hand from
sitting on the case, when it did not de-
bar the officer who issued it. Indeed as
every one knows a justice of the peace
who issues a warrant or a judge who
issues a bench warrant is in nowse in
capacitated to try the case.
Here in fact l only made immaterial
corrections in the summons; that sum-
mons never used and the record shows
that Governor Russell issued an entirely
different paper probably on fuller infor-
mation) and our court never had cogni-
zance Of the Investigation which was
begun by that summons or notice to
show cause. The case which came be-
fore the court was AN ENTIRELY DIFF
FERENT MATTER. 1t was begun not
before Governor Russell, but before the
Superior Court. 1t was not an action
involving the correctness of Governor
Russel's decision (Which only the Legis-
lature had power to enquire into) but
was a QUO warranto by the new COM
missioners to which the two Wilson's
answered, denying the constitutionalty
of the act, i. e. the power of the Gen
eral Assembly to pass the act. The court