Omaha daily bee., 1903-06-20
CHURCHMAN ROASTS JUDGE
Bishop BOnaCum Makes Oaustic Comment on
the Murphy Case.
DISTRICT COURT HOLDS WITH PRIEST
Charge is Made that Court was
Biased and that Decision Was
what Had Been ARtici-
psted.

| SEWARD, Neb.. June 1s.-(Special Tele-
gram Judge sornberger convehed district
court this morning for the purpose OF rem
dering his decision In the case of Bishop
Bonacum against Father Murphy.
The decision is in favor OF Father Muir
ply and the bishop is given forty days in
| which to appeal
This is the case tried at the last term Of
court in which Bishop Bonacum sued to
obtain possession of the church property.
(From a stan Correspondent
! LINCOLN, June l9-(Special)-To a Bee
reporter this afternoon Bishop Bonacum
discussed with considerable vigor Judge
| sornborger's decision in the Murphy case
at Seward. He said:
II think 1t is pretty well known to the
reading public Of Nebraska that l am very
much averse to being interviewed by news
paper reporters in regard to misunder-
| standings which arise within the church
among its ministers or between its minis
ters and its members. regard such mat
ters as sacredly private, in which the pub
lie has absolutely 70 interest. But in re-
gard to the Murphy case, in which you tell
me that decision has been rendered, 1
will deviate from my usual policy of
silence and say in regard 10 the decision
| that 1t is exactly as l told my friends It
would be. Neither my attorneys nor my
self. nor any intelligent person who was
present at this and also at the former par
tial hearing of the case in 1901, and noted
the attitude Of the presiding Judge and his
evident determination to ignore all prece-
dents; no one, say. who knew these facts
expected for a moment that Judge Sorn-
borger would render a decision favorable to
the church"
VIII Appeal Case.
The bishop being asked If he intended to
appeal the case to the supreme court, and
II he looked for a favorable decision by
that tribunal, replied without any hesita-
ton:
why, certainly. We WILL of course OBJ
serve the regular procedure required in
such cases, file a motion for new trial
and then take the case to the supreme
court AS to the final outcome l am as GER
tain as 1 am of my own existence that It
will be favorable TO us. 1t cannot be other
wise unless our supreme court reverses
itself and goes counter to all the decisions
rendered in similar cases by the highest
tribunals of the various states of the union
as we'll as by the supreme court of the
United States"
The bishop then pointed out that he was
Judge Sornborger and continued:
knowing, as did, the prejudicial attI-
, tude of the presiding Judge I was unwill-
ing from the very beginning to submit the
case for his adjudication. He was known
to be an intimate friend of Murphy he and
| his wife having dined with Murphy while
| our differences were pending, and also that
| he and Murphy made political speeches
| from the same platform in 1900
| MY attorneys made use of every expedi-
ent known to the law to prevent a hearing
before Sornborger, We excepted to him;
we asked for a continuance; we begged
him to call in a Judge from outside the
diocese to hear thelicase; as a last resort
we filed an affidavit for prejudice and asked
for change of venue. but all to no pur-
pose. sornborger was determined to de-
eide the case, and he did.
Cites Alleged Bias,
| But" continued the bishop, 'the most
remarkable feature of the whole case was
the injunction Judge Sornborger issued
| against me at a former partial hearing in
June, 1901. On that occasion the bias and
prejudice OF the court was so apparent that
we were soon convinced that we could not
obtain justice. That conviction grew into
an absolute certainty when we offered in
| evidence the decision in the Murphy case
| OF the appellant tribunal of the church
the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda
Eide. at Rome. The document was re-
jccted and declared to be a forgery With
! out that document our only alternative was
to dismiss the case at our costs, without
pre-. .udice to a future action. This we did
But the court was determined to prevent
the introduction of any more suits against
Murphy. and he accordingly issued his
noted, II not famous, injunction. 1 say
note d, because II err not It stands alone
In the history of civil Jurisprudence. In
the injunction the court sought to restrain
me from interfering in any manner-ofi.
| cidliy or otherwise-with Murphy, and from
| discharging my duties and exercising my
| pTerogatives as bishop In. the mission OF
/ Seward AS you see II established-as far
| as the court could establish--a schismatic
church in that mission.
| "I submit whether or not my attorney
| was correct when he said Your honor.
II the position your honor has taken is
! maintained, then your honor will certainly
have the distinction of being the first to
| begin the dismemberment of that great
| time-tested and time-honored organization
known as the Roman Catholic church, and
not only that organization, but every other
! religious organization in a country where
the wisdom of separating the church and
state has been recognized from its birth,
by it's fundamental laws and supreme judi
cial authority
The bishop then concluded by saying:
''I must decline to discuss the matter any
further The supreme court. which, like
Caesars wife, is above suspicion, will pass
upon the case about six months hence.
Then we will get Justice"
SMALL BOYS FORGE A CHECK