Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1903-03-16

Attorney General George W. Muir
ply has filed charges against Governor
Davis before the probing committee
The following letter was addressed
by Mr. Murphy to the committee Sat
urday:
To the Chairman and Members of
much as you have, by the commmuni-
cation Of TIE 7th inst. requested the
attorney general that if he has here
after any charges to make against
the governor of this state for your
consideration. he shall specifically
state them sign them or cause them
to be signed by other members Of
the board, we deem it proper to pre-
cede such charges with the following
statement and suggestions:
In the daily papers of this city, the
Gazette and the Arkansas Democrat,
there recently appeared card signed
by your chairman, and another one
signed by six of your members, which
seemed to raise question of veracity
between him and them on one side
and ourselves on the other, as to the
matter of issuing subpoenas for wit.
nesses. or the refusal to issue them.
If you remember, we asked at differ
ent time before the committee in open
session, that witnesses be called, NAM
ing them and stating what was ex-
pected to be proven by them we
named O. B. Gordon, cashier of the
Bank of Prescott, to prove that at
the time the governor received the S35
out of the treasury he had pledged
his salary for that month to the Bank
of Prescott for the full amount there
Of and the collector of the German
bank to prove that the full amount,
the entire salary for the month, was
collected by him and sent to sald
Gordon as cashier of the Bank of Pres
cott. We also asked that Mr. FlaVe
Carpenter of Clarke county be sub
poenaed to prove that the telephone
message TO him, paid for out of the
contingent fund, was sent on the
goth day of March, 1902, the day after
the primaries, requesting him to nave
the vote of Clark county returned for
Davis and Clarke by any and all
means, regarless of how it had been
cast. and contained a promise of par
don in case he should be prosecuted
and convicted of doing so. Other wit
nesses were also suggested in the
same manner; but these only are mere
specifically named We understood
the chairman to say that the commit
tee had had decided to summon no
witnesses upon the items OF the gov
ernors contingent expenses other than
oucials connected in some way with
them. At any rate, the witnesses nam
ed were not subpoenaed, and we were
not given to believe that they would
be Moreover. we were told by
number of the committee, in open
meeting, to charge the governor with
some crime, and witnesses would be
subpoenaed for its investigation. we
understand from this that none OF
tho matters stated or charged against
him was regarded as amounting 10
crime. and that no investigation as TO
anv charge against him was called tor'
We thought that all the matters chars-
ed against him were criminal. we
think so yet. If a governor charSeu
with the execution of the laws may or
fer a premium. the exercise OF
pardoning power, to secure their Vlo-
lation. and yet commit no ohehse'
all the laws should be repealed. More
over. John Wiley, we think, Woulo
disclose evidence through which the
governors effort to force upon the
penitentiary beard. in the interest cl
its owner, the Hayward farm, at
price from "a 600 to 50,000 in excess
Of its value, would 10 made manifcst.