Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1903-01-24

thought there was dnarfette In con
4 spiracy to commit peril for no other
8 reason than TO vent their personal spleen.
4 go It. has been with the major portion
of the evidence. Link by link the chain
i has been made until now, not only to
i the layman. but to many lawy ers. the
q defendant is confronted with such eri-
8 sdence as would be exceedingly difficult
4 to meet and counteracf in an ordinary
q court Of Justice.
II Judge Campbell had nothing else
but the evidence of one of his own wit
nesses, Judge Wood, to wipe OFF the slate,
i he would be in an almost Inextricab1e
position to put himself in the PROPER
light. but with the great mass OF ac-
cumulative evidence against him, it. is
small wonder that he finds It necessary
to ride over the county to find wit
negses.'
Fear a Weak Defence.
1 The fact that Judge Campbell was so
1 sore1y pressed for witnesses that he must
needs put on one Ike Judge Wood at the
! very. outset of his case u.s. his friends fear,
suggestive of the fact that heshas weak
fSdefence. 5.ss SIS 5s{9.
Assthe prorerbial straw shows the wind,
little things that Mai Conrad has let
tdrop during ibis cross-examina ton nigh,
indicate that the bases for his defence
/ is going to be a general charge of con-
! spiracy on the part OF the anti-sa1oon
/ elements and others of Amherst, to ruin
Judge Campbell
But with the powerful invective and
1 splendid ability to changes the head Of
the human mind at his command. Major
| Conrad could make such a defence very
| effective. s
Unfortunately, however. he will be
talking to a committee Of lawyers who
will listen, and admire, and eongratu-
I late him upon his evidence. and decide
| the other way. if the evidence justifies.
Judge Campbell will furnish a splendid
subject for the Majors eloauence. The
Amherst jurist has large family. he
| will be ruined man If the case goes
against him. and there are many other
| things that the Ma jor can bring to arouse
! sympathy.
Another National Link.
The brief proceedings yesterday were
again extremely interesting, the evidence
| Of attorney, John Lee, going far to add
another ma terial link in the chain of evi-
dence. The witness is a man of medium
height. of decidedly progressing APP
pearance and great favorite with his
| friends, who regretted to see him In any
| way involved in the case. Mr.. Lee him
self expressed his deep regret for the
| necessity that compelled him to be pres
ent.
Mr.. Lee halls from Lynchburg, and
was the first witness called to the stand.
He lived in Amherst for ten s-ears, and
| was twice elected Commonwealtl1's At
torney of that county. He was the coun-
sci employed on the Sweet Brier road,
representing the interests of Major Hunt,
Of this city, who owned a farm on one
Of the intended routes. The witness said
II = L, 49,
matter. He saw the road commissioners.
There were four of these. One Of them
did not act.
II saw said the witness, 'a1l the COM
missioners, and talked with them. Mr..
H. c. Coffee made report of his own.
asked them If this road were a public
necessity. They said it was not. ask
ed them why In thunder they did not
50 report. In reply to this Messrs. Har-
rison and Sinnett asked me to. draw
up report for them. This 1 did in the
interest of my CLIENT
The road, said the witness, was to cost
the county $4,000, and so far as could
be seen it was not needed at all, as 1t
ran parallel with another road. The Board
of Directors Of the Sweet Brier Institute
had promised to pay half the cost of
the road. It was suggested that this pro-
position should be put in writing.
The witness read the record of the court
in relation to the road, and said he could
not find any one who seemed to be in
any great favor Of having the road built
but Judge Campbell
"After / had made the report, at the
suggestion Of the road commissioners
said the witness, II happened to be in
Judge Campbell's court one day. and the
crowd there showed that there was some
thing very interesting going on. found
that Judge Campbell was delivering a lee
ture to the two road commissioners, Har-
rison and Stinnett. Judge Campbell rather
severely rebuked them, and told them
that the next time he appointed them on
road committee he did not want them
to present any report drawn up by
paid attorney.
Mr.. Lee added that he did not like the
way Judge Campbell referred to him.
as he had done nothing but his legiti-
mate duty as an attorney.
'And said some things" added the
witness, ito Judge Campbell at this time
that were decidedly pertinent, but what
said, it is unnecessary to repeat.
More Family SkeItons.
The witness was then turned over to
Major Conrad, and more skeletons in the
private closet Of Judge Campbell's family
were laid bare The counsel for the de-
fendant preceded many of his questions
\
by Judge Campbell to ask, etc.
What is the purpose Of this prelude to
his queries has not appeared on the SUR
face Perhaps it is to absolve himself Of
any blame that may be attached to the
consequences relating to the replies to
these que stions.
II this is the case, the Majors precau-.
ton In this particular instance was
wise one, for It does not appear that the
answer to the INSTRUCTED" question-would
in any way do other than materially. In
jure the cause Of the defendant.
The witnesses for the prosecution have
In more than one instance gone deeply
into the family matters Of the defend
ant, but in this instance they refrained
from doing so, and had It not been for
the instructed question the witness would
have been permitted to step down and out
without revealing that which could not do
otherwise than injure the defendant in
the eyes Of the committee and had a most
sensational effect upon the spectators.
IT see,' said Major Conrad, am in
-structed to ask you a question which is
disagreeable on the extreme, and which
would much prefer not asking you.
What are your personal relations with
Judge Campbell 81
IT prefer not to go into this question,
but il you insist ] will tell you what !
know
Major Conrad then said that he re-
gretted to have to do SO. but that he
was instructed to insist upon the ans
wer
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