The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1904-12-02

GN "a * ~ Nb%f EttAH
tle Resabhtao received j sap, "a
the san ~trtneisto. "a hNtuiae.
~nich ,onttin, abatement OF gorge
h Leteher eoneeenles hts arrest fot
The erime Of ar>on, s,ii To- have ueyf
committed ia OHIO p years 4eo.
The situation With reference to
Let hers eturn east Is tbat tie
oNcials from OHIO arrived there witt
requtsitiou papers TO take him back
10 his native state. The case viii be
argued before Governor pardee ON
Dec. :.
The following is the statement
made by Letcher to an Examiner re
porter
The indictment alleges SAID
Letcher, THAT ON the 18th day oil
January, lssl, = stole was burned in
Williams county, ONO, that belonged
to a firm by the name OF Pratt y
Wynn, which was insured in some
insurance company, and that 1T was
burned to obtain the Insurance by
my advice. given to this man PAGE.
In the inst place, | lett ONO tW
years before chat date; was not there
at the time, and Lhe linn OF Pratt \
Wynn WAS not organized an did not
20 into business until a few months
before the tire.
II never saw either Pratt or Wynn
since lSS2. more than a year before
the firm was organized, and | have
not seen Page since 1852, SO that to
be guilty | would have to anticipate
for about two years the formation of
a firm. the stock OF merchandise,
which of course is absurd.
did not advise 10y telephone or
telegraph, or by letter, for | had no
claim against Pratt or Wynn. and no
interest in their business, and 1T
would be a matter of supreme in
difference to me whether they were
burned out or not. 1T would not
have protited me one cent one way or
the other. AS to their being Il gang
of tire burners in Ohio. know
nothing.
81 moved in 1882 to Mitchell, s.
d., where my father had teen APP
pointed by his cousin, President
James a. Garfield, as United States
Land Register. | conducted a BUSH
ness there five years, then moved to
Minneapolis, Mimi, and conducted d
business there for five years, and
then came to San Jose, CAL, and
conducted business since; publicly
at all places and in my W name.
Now, after twenty years has passed,
they frame an indictment on the
testimony Of this man Page, who, on
his own statement, has been an eX-
convict. | have made inquiry to as
certain the animus of Page, and find
that he claims that some one, whose
name | do not remember, had paid
into my tank at Fayette the sum of
$500 to be paid him, which he claims
he never received. | know nothing
of any such transaction, and it is
probable that after | moved away
some other creditor of Pages was
giving the old man, as we call it, "a
ill, or lying to him, as if money was
paid into my bank, it surely would
have been paid in due course of
business to Page.
"While | was at Fayette and inn
owned a hardware store, drug store.
bank and six business buildings, and
there was no particular reason why |
oiotih uillOlI w wait ulltll
two years after | left and have a fire
started of some property thirty miles
from where | lived, in which | had
no concern. 1t looks to me as if it
were a case of blackmail pure and
simple. 1t is singular to me that
the gentlemen who ale indicted with
me, who now reside near the county
seat, have never even been arrested.
One of them is a wealthy farmer,
and yet they come here 5000 miles or
more to attempt to take me from my
home, and it does seem singular. as
I said before, that neither my fam
lily, friends nor relatives there have
ever had the faintest suspicion that
| was guilty of wrong doing in the
premises.
Men usually have a motive for
crime cannot conceive how a ra-
tional man possessed of ordinary
sense would advise an old fellow like
Page to burn a building where he
could not gain n cents advantage
by the fire and injure an insurance
company and business men against
whom he had not the slightest mail
ice or i'll will.
"At the proper time ] will 20 to
Ohio and defend NY good name
against any charges that may be
made against me, but | do not pro-
pose to be treated as a fugitive from
justice, and be forcibly taken by
officers of the lay as a common felon,
if | cab help it.
81 am more than pleased at having
the expression OF good will of the
good people Of San Jose, and have
been in receipt Of a very large num-
Der Of letters expressing the highest
sympathy for me.
81 have maintained an honorable
living IN this state, and merely ask
the suspension of public judgment
until that vindication comes, as
come it will by and by"