The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-07-01
TWO COSBYS SENTENCED
 TO ATLANTA PENITENTlARY
fer and Judge Jones. the Cosbys of course not being present.
 Counsel Opposed It.

The Counsel for the Cosby's were di- vided on the proposition to plead guilty some of them wanting to fight the cases. The lawyers for the Cosbys begged ear nestly for a fine or that If a sentence were passed it be suspended during the good behavior of the defendants. To these propositions it is said Judge Jones | Finally when the conference was bar ren of results the two defendants settled the matter for themselves by declaring | that they would go into court and plead guilty resting their welfare with the mercifulness of Judge Jones.
 It was shortly after o'clock when Judge Jones went on the bench. The two Cosbys. uncle and nephew, their bright eyes downcast, and their fine. well-shaped heads bowed, stool at the bar and pleaded guilty to the charges preferred by the Government.
 The Governments Proof. District Attorney Warren s. Reese had filed with the court transcripts of exparte aff1davits showing what the government expected to prove in the cases against the Cosbys.
 The statement of the proof in one of these cases will serve to show the ground on which the government charges that conspiracy existed in Tallapoosa County w Sci8C anu tiOtu uCHEOCo HI pcVhdeSs This statement is as follows. the other statements being similar except as to the name of the negroes:
 Tn case No. E46, United States against G. D. Cosby, charged with peonage upon the body of Lum Johnson, the govern rnent expects to prove: That this man had a sister named Rina Scott that she had 6 husband named Dave Scott, who had been working at MT. Faces farm; that Dave Scott ran away and that Lum Johnson. Ella Johnson, Rina Scott, Ann Scott and one or two other darkies were arrested for harboring said Dave Scott; that they were carried before J. M. Ken nedy. Justice of the Peace, on Pace's s place; that t-said Kennedy was a paid em- pioye of said Pace; that these negroes were arrested because the Cosbys and Pace wanted them as hands; that there was an understanding that the Cosbys were to get some of them and that Pace l was to get the others; that the Justice was instructed not to place these cases
 on his docket: that they were not actual | ly fined; that no costs were actually | paid; that the prisoners were made to | believe. however, that fines and costs had been paid by the Cosbys and Pace | and that they were made to sign con-
 tracts with the Cosbys and Pace for their labor, after which they were carried to | the farms of the Cosbys and Pace where
 they were worked under guard. locked up | at night and beaten in most brutal and l cruel manner; that Lum Johnson was
 one of these negroes; that when his time
 was nearly up he was re-arrested, charged with stealing potatoes from Bob Patilio; | that he was tried before Jim Newall c
 Justice in Dadeville, where Mir. Cosby. | pretending to be the friend of Lum John- | son, advised him to plead guilty and take the lowest: that he pleaded guilty. was l fined. according to the statement of Cos l by. SIS; that said Lum Johnson was moi | guilty: that thereupon said Johnson en- | tered into another contract and was car | rfed to George D. Cosby's farm: that said l Cosby owned dogs that would catch such | prisoners if they attempted to run away:
 that said J. M. Kennedy tried some thir | ty or more cases where he has turned the
 affldavits over to the United States at- | torneys ofice. which cases were not | placed upon his dockets; that there werc l many more of these cases that did not go | upon his docket but the papers were stol- | en or abstracted from the pocket of said
 Kennedy while he was asleep in a room | where the Cosbys were; that the affidavits
 now in the possession of the government reveal that these transactions have been
 going on for some years in a number of | cases; that on account of the loss of the | other papers 1t cannot be estimated how | many darkies were held and tried in this way; that w. D. Cosby was a Justice of | the Peace in Beat g. Tallapoosa County; that 1t was the understanding that the negroes Pace wanted were to be tried be- | fore Cosby while those the Cosbys wanted were to be tried before Kennedy; that | the charges against the negroes were
 usually fictitious and frivolous Pace, who Is mentioned in this state-
 ment, 1t will be- remembered. pleaded
 guilty recently to eleven charges of peon- ! age. The conspiracy cases against him are yet to be tried Kennedy. who is also
 mentioned. is under indictment but 1t is | believed the cases against him will be
 mol pressed
 While none of the statements by the District Attorney were read to the de-
 fendants. they had seen the charges and were familiar with them.
 | As George D. Cosby pleaded guilty, he | entered denial of extreme cruelty to ne- | groes.
 Sentenced by Judge Jones. The two Cosbys were then sentenced l by Judge Jones. who spoke clearly, firm
 ly and with emphasis.
 | There Is no duty more trying" said Judge Jones, than sometimes comes to
 a judge when he witnesses the suffer ing resulting from the sentence he pro-
 nounced upon men who violate the law.
 I have patiently heard all your counsel
 could say as to the condition of your
 
 been nothing more than a mere techui-
 cal violation of Inc peonage law. as
 where a man has made an honest con-
 tract with another for his labor, and
 advanced him money and then used some little force to keep the laborer from
 leaving him, there being no unusual
 cruelty. the court would have imposed
 a fine.
 "The excuse that you did not know that you were violating the laws of the United States, can have no legal weight.
 since every man is conclusively pre-
 stunned to know the law. It is not en-
 titled to a particle of moral weight in
 this case, because you are bound to
 know that what you did was viola tion of the laws of Cos and of the State. regardless of any law of the United
 States. Helpless and defenseless people
 who are guilty of no crime. have been
 brought into court, ana by collusion | with justices of the peace. who prosti- tuted the authority of God and of this
 State in the administration of justice
 have been deprived of their liberty, fined
 and forced to work. and in some in-
 stances cruelty beaten.
 T have heard what you have said to your counsel as to some cases. and that you were not responsible for any seri- ous cruelty, which facts the Govern
 ment's evidence controverts. It may be
 that ex parte afidavits which have been inspected by the court to some extent
 do you some injustice as to these cruel ties. So the court will pass that con sideration.
 | Oppressed the Defenseless.