The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1903-10-14
SALIENT POINTS
OF THE TESTIMONY.
A Resume of the Evidence at the
Tillman Trial.
POLITICAL FAITH OF NO EFFECT
Some Reflections of One Who Has
Closely Followed the Case
Day by Day.
by w. w. BALL.

BY W.. W.. BALL.
With the testimony all heard in the
case of James H. Tillman and the
arguments about to begin, it may be
interesting to emphasize some Of the
points that have made themselves con-
s~picuously plain in the proceedings.
In spite of the injection OF politics
into the trial, in spite of the dragging
In of Senator b. r. Tillman's name, 1t
has been demonstrated sufficiently that
many men of the former Reform or
Tillmanite faction have had no more
sympathy with the shooting of Mr..
Gonzales than members of the faction
that he was formerly identified with.
Look at the example of Talbird-a Re-
former and % State senator. 1t was to
be expected that he would tell the truth
to the best of his ability. to the best of
his recollection, and that is what, with
out doubt, he did. Adams and Bowling,
too, were Tillman's friends-close
friends. They are among the strongest
witnesses for the State. This is no
matter for surprise. Politics does not
affect the sanctity of an honest mans
oath.
What the political views of Mr.. Will
son, chief clerk i'm the Office of Comp
troller General Jones, may be 1 do not
Know. He was a witness sworn for the
~uetense. He was the only eyewitness
sworn for the defense whose Testimony
was not attacked. His testimony was
valuable and only valuable in corrobo-
rating the theory of the State. n
strengthened the dying declaration of
MI. Gonzales-it placed Tillman from
Two TO two and a half feet only from
= thn ntCtl nc Al@ "
the direction of his aimed weapon
transverse, across the sidewalk, to-
wards the wall of the transfer station.
AT the bail hearing, one w. H. Hall
MADE an affidavit, claiming tina he
was an eyewitness to the shooting and
corroborating in every particulars" the
account given by Richard Holsonback.
Such the record shows. Hall was pres
EN- at the trial last week. He was
present when Lorick was on the stand
or Immediately after. The defense did
not swear him. Why? Was the hard
lesson of Lorick's testimony enough?
AND yet H~olsonback n Lorick are the
Only eye-witnesses, except the prisoner,
VINO IN n degree support the defense.
ttoisonback's character has been at
lacked. Lorick was not allowed to
answer questions imputing that more
IMAM once he had been charged with
larceny. ~
The witness Hyatt for the defense
swore that he saw a pistol in Mr. Con-
zales' hip pocket the day before the
shooting n the one thing about the
appearance or Mr.. Gonzales that he
was emphatically sure of was that he
dld not wear glasses. The defense adj
mits as true that Mr.. Gonzales without
glasses could not see sufficiently ito
walk the streets" Hyatt saw the pistol
Wnen MI. Gonzales was leaning over to
spit In a cuspidor-not wearing glasses.
AT some distance the prisoner saw
MI. Gonzaies approaching and ''eyeing
MN intently." How far away can you
tell that a man wearing glasses is
"eyeing" you? ~
Senators Brown, Talbird, Mrs. Mel
ton, Mr.. Lide, August Schiedman and
others testify that Mr.. Gonzales was
Almost abreast of the two senators and
Illlman when the shot was fired. The
course of the bullet proves it. Tillman
told Spann Bowling at the Jail that the
bullet would shoot straight.
clark and others swear that Holson-
pack gave to them statements about
the shooting that conflict with his bail
affidaVit and statement on the Witness
stand. Holsonback declares that when
Iillman was about at Gervais street he
was at the state house steps and over
TOOK Tillman by the time of the shoot
ing; while Tillman was crossing the
street!
Witness White did not know Mr..
Gonzales; his testimony as to the
pendent on that of H~olsonback.
Tillman swore in his testimony that
he wrote the Winnsboro News and
Herald article in 1890 and ~arknowleag'
a moment later his own letter of 1Ss
saying that he did not write 1t.
Iiliman swore that w. III. Newbold
told him that Re might expect Mr.. Com
zales, If he drew his pistol, to draw it
from his side coat pocket. NewboId
his bail affidavit Tillman swore that he
knew nothing of Mr.. Gonzales habit OF
carrying his hands in his coat pockets.
The case for the defense substan-
Tally Is that Tillman had heard of
threats by Mr.. Gonzales. That he was
expecting an attack. That he believed
from The States editorials that it's edf-
tor was i'm a frame of mind to kill him.
That he saw Mr.. Gonzales on the out
side of the sidewalk. That Mr.. Con
zales turned to the inside and thrust
his hands deeper into his pockets in q
way that he interpreted an offensive
movement. That he placed his hand on
his pistol when he first saw Mr.. Con
zales. That the turn by MIR. Gonzales
brought him towards Tillman. That
Mr.. Gonzales thumbs were out when
Tillman first saw him and that he
plunged his whole and into his pocket.
That he fired becaus he believed that
he was about to be shot.
Why should Editor Gonzales wish
to have killed Tillman? Tlllman was
not In his way. AS a candidate for
OihSS hS hau DSeI ueIGdteu ana dis
credited. He was In nobody's way.
His term of office as lieutenant COVER
nor was about to expire. To Kill a man
would have meant supreme trouble and
sacrifice on the part of the editor of
The State. 1t would have meant,
speaking from q purely selfish
point of view, at least serious IL not
permanent interruption to his career as
a newspaper editor. Five months pre-
Vious Tillman's defeat had been effec-
ted. Humans personality had been
dismissed from his paper and from his
mind. Tillman's attacks on Gonzales
had been wholly harmless. His denun4
citation from the stump had ounted
for nothing. Everybody in South Caro-
lima knows this.
III Mr.. Gonzales had shot Tillman, IL
ne were In the dock today instead of
T1llman. his defense might have been
insanity, for any jury would have said
that an act so foolish on the part of
MIR. Gonzales could not have proceeded
from a sound mind.
Mr.. Gonzales had no pistol when he
was shot. Is 1T probable that q man
OF his intelligence would have behaved
as q man wearing one? Would he have
thought to biuff Tillman?
No, an unarmed man was shot down
IN the streets of Columbia. The witness
so close to Mr.. Gonzales that almost
h could have touched him testihes
that his face was placid, perfectly