The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-10-03
COL. AMEs, CONVICTION.

COL. AMEs' CONVICTION.
intendent of the Minneapolis police
force of having accepted a bride will
be acquiesced in by those Of the public
who have read the press reports of the
evidence presented by the prosecution.
That evidence the defense did not es-
say to overcome in any other way than
through the denial of the accused, and
his avowal of his own innocence.
Ames' acquittal on his former trial
was plainly the result Of the unwilling
ness of the jury to accept the unsup-
ported testimony Of criminals and
abandoned characters: The action Of
that jury might very easily have APP
pealed for approval to any and every
citizen who believes that a man Of
good standing in the community
should not be deprived of his liberty
and good name through such testi-
mony. In this case, however, that
sort of testimony did not stand alone.
1t was sustained by the evidence at
least of one decent and apparently
disinterested witness.
While we may not be willing to &C
cept the unsupported statements of the
class of persons who alone might be
likely to be cognizant of such criminal
transactions as the one of which Mr..
Anes stands convicted, we cannot
brush aside the accumulation of
such testimony, given, appar-
emily at least, disinterestedly,
produced by the prosecution in
the last case, as having no weight.
These people could not reasonably be
expected to go on the stand and tes-
tify to such transactions, out of malice
to Ames, or for the accommodation Of
the prosecuting officials. Nor can they
purpose of indicating justice, or Of
commencing themselves to the existing
police administration. Indeed, such a
course on their part must necessarily
bring more or less discredit on them
among their own class, and render
them objects of suspicion and disfavor
on the part Of the police officers who
might be disposed to follow the cor
rupt example so generally set by the
officers of police under the former adj
ministration.
OoJ al cta
ton in life, in the civil service of his
city and the military service Of his
country. The conviction Of such a
man of crime is in itself a most
regrettable event. No doubt he
may be to some extent the VIC
tim of the shameful state of things
which is shown to have prevailed
during his control of the police, with
out having participated in the actual
corruption. His appeal to the SUI
preme court will give him ample OPP
portunity to show that to be the case,
if it is the case. He is represented by
exceptionally able counsel, as the pro-
CGGuluSS 1lctNC SiiONAAs Va
the good name Of himself and his fam
lily, and the honor Of official station,
The Globe sincerely hopes that he
will be able to do so.
AS a Democratic newspaper T
Globe is far from rejoicing in the
conviction of Col. Ames. Indeed 1t
feels much regret, and takes occasion
to denounce as cowardly, nay, infa-
nous in every respect, the character
Of the assault made upon him, in his
misfortune, by the Minneapolis Times
in it's issue Of yesterday. The editorial
and the cartoon which that paper pub
lished on the subject Of his conviction
are alike a disgrace to the newspaper
profession, even though they cannot
disgrace the paper which published
them. The publication Of such shame
less abuse must make many thought
full men doubt whether, after all, Col.
Ames is not really the victim of the
enmity Of the local press.