Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1903-07-01

In control. Often when 3 case is con.
tinued the court asks for what re asonp
Then reasons must be given. Often the
court does not ask for the re asons:
then reasons are not given. I want
the officers to understand that thew
must come to my Office before thew
promise immunity to any breaker of
the law. My main object in getting
so many indictments and holding them
over parties is to get them out of the
county; get them out of the way.
Rev. Peterson-I think we ought to
take everything quiet and calm tonight.
We are not here to do anybody harm
but to talk about this matter and we
assure our County Attorney that we
will stand by him to enforce the law.
AS he has been talking here he has
been doing all the work to enforce the
law. If this is so we will give him
credit for 1t. I should think that if
Mr.. johnson would acknowledge that
he didn't act wise in this matter we
would be satisfied. We don't think
his action was wise and we are not
satisfied with his explanation because
we think when we have criminals thew
ought to be prosecuted, not to be let
loose for when they are wanted thew
may not be here at all. We are not
here to abuse or persecute any one.
Let's act like christians. We will
stand by our County Attorney in
every act of genuinely enforcing the
law.
Rev; Larson-I, want to tell why I
am here. That isl want to hear what
the facts are; that is the simplest way
I can state it. What the facts in this
case were. 1t seems real queer to me.
It appears to me that some persons
have come here purposely to make
this meeting cot success. It appears
to me that he is not the man that per-
son may laugh If he sees fit I don't
care want to speak my mind on this.
I think it Is really q shame, we ought
to be men enough to talk and let others
talk and not be clamoring as some
have been doing.
Lawson-I wish to call attention to
one thing Mr.. Johnson has said about
bribery. don't believe any member
of the Federation made any such
statement unless he has good evidence
for the same. 1t seems to me the whole
thing was said in order to work on
your sympathies. There is no such
charge brought by any one of the
Federation. The charge is that as
these cases have been worked up so
thoroughly, they should not have been
postponed. The fact that matters are
SO tight in Willmar that q stranger
finds it difficult to get drink, is it
due to the County Attorney alone?
If he had continued some of these
cases and convicted others there would
not have been so much disappoint-
ment.
Co. Atty.-I don't try to play on
the feelings of anybody. stand here
and say done my duty the best I
knew how. I may have been mistaken
for am not infallible but did my
duty the best knew how. I give Rev.
Peterson the credit for coming to me
but he was the ONLY one. When he
saw me he came to me like q gentle
man but he is the only one who came
to me.
Lawson-How many were necessary
to invite you?
Forsberg-The main question is not
whether he was invited officially or
The question is our
opinion of the continuance of the cas-
es in such q wholesale manner. II
know that postponing criminal pro-
secution gives every advantage to the
criminal. The state must prove it's
case and if witnesses are missing the
criminal must be set free. The state
has everything to lose and nothing to
gain by this postponement. Mr.. J.
continued these cases according to his
own words in order to get these blind
piggers to leave town. My idea has
been that the object of the law is to
deter criminals and the only way to
deter them is to make them know that
their misdeeds will be dealt with. I
felt indignant and I. felt that such
meeting as this ought to be called.
Every man in Willmar knows that
great deal of work has been done to
drive out the blind piggers and tie
county attorney has not done it all
either. I was very much pleased last
winter (and don't recognize politics
in this work. with the indicting and
Furnishing of the violators of the law,
yet I never had much faith in the
strong will of the county attorney to
reach those fellows. It was his assist
ant who did the work last winter and
I gave the Office of the county attorney