The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-04-07
SENTENCES BURTON
Senator Gets Six Months I'm.
prisonment and $4,000 Fine.

ST. LOUIS, Mo-, April 6.-United
States Senator j. r. Burton, of Kan
sas, was today sentenced to six
months imprisonment. in the Iron
county jail and fined $4,000 for having
been convicted of using his influence
before the postoftice department in be-
half of the Rialto Grain and Securi-
ties Company of st. Louis and having
received payment from the company
for his services.
Judge Adams summoned Burton to
stand UP and then overruled the mo-
lions that had been filed for a new
trial and for arrest of judgment. The
court then said to the defendant:
''Have you anything to say as to
why sentence should not be passed
upon you?"
Trembling and suppressing his emo
tions with a strong effort, Senator
Burton stood leaning with both hands
on a chair back as he said:
your honor will please allow me to
respectfully decline to say anything"
In delivering sentence the judge said:
Your conviction necessarily results in
your punishment. Its Importance, In my
opinion, is not confined to its effect upon
you. Your exalted station in life and the
character of your offending give unusual
onstrates that the law of the land is equal
to any emergency, and that 1t can be adj
miniStered regardless Of the personality
and station of the accused. 1t also dem
Onstrates to all the people that public
office cannot be proStituted to Self-Serv-
ing purposes, and that public office is not
a sure or safe passport to private life
The humiliation attending your convic-
ton and the statutory diSqualificationS
resulting therefrom, which forever in
capacitate you from holding any office
of honor, trust or profit under the gov
eminent of the United States. are in
themselves heavy punishment for your Of
lenses. and leave but little in the way Of
severity which could be added.
Attorney Krum Immediately filed a
bill of exceptions and offered a bond
for $4,000 which was accepted.
Senator Burton and Judge Krum
then departed from the court room. In
tn corridor Senator Burton stopped
long enough to light a cigar and then
walked to his hotel. He declined to
discuss the sentence. The case will
now be appealed to the United States
district court of appeals, the highest
tribunal in the matter.
One of the principal points forming
the basis. of appeal is that Judge
Adams admitted as evidence several
checks received by Senator Burton
from the Rialto company while he was
in Washington, D. c.. The defense
contended in the trial that If an of
Tense had been committed when Sem
atOr Burton accepted ana caShed the
checks it was committed in Washing
ton and that the st. Louis court con-
sequently did not have jurisdiction.
Judge Adams sustained the arguments
of the district attorney, who held that
the bank in Washington, at which Sen
ator Burton cashed the checks, acted
simply as his agent, and that in any
event the question of jurisdiction in
that matter was matter for the jury
to decide. Another point on which
Senator Burton's attorneys laid stress
in the bill Of error was the introduce
ton of testimony and documentary
evidence, which, it is alleged, tended to
prejudice the minds of the jurors
against the defendant, while it had no
direct bearing on the merits of the
charge against Senator Burton.
The Iron county Jail, to which Sen
ator Burton was sentenced, is at Iron
ton, Mo-, lightweight miles southeast
of st. Louis. According to a rule Of
the jail which shortens each years sem
tence of a prisoner by three months
for good behavior, Senator Burton's
period of incarceration may be reduced
to four and one-half months.