The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1904-03-31
FINCH e0uND 0vEl



FiacA cAse ca The charge @. eesasparacy
with \, F. AeBe~ Ia pxS>-assax the r~-
. cc.sership ot The Atlantis 4 Scrth Car
olina Railway took 4 usH and sssyptts-
/ lns turn Saturday before a much I.rEsr
audience than tha; Of Friday Al The
| opening. The star s.tne&. a; the No
Lee hcar.Eg xas Attorney jcan ".
Hinsdale ard today The star witness
was ". H. nAs. introdaoed by The
State. 1t became very warm AZ times.
particularly towards the Governor and
quite SO towards hss associate. ex-
Judge ". s. Oh Robinson. Al the con
ciusion CT the hearing Finch xAs noaaa
over TO wake Superior Court. In . bead
u $4,000. which he gave.
The hrst gun Of the day was fred by
Attorney Hinsdale. who asked leave 10
| make statement as a witness. saying
that when asked Friday abou, ict.sr
from Greenyille. S. c, from a bank
president 10 Capt W. H. Day. be did
not say anything. but that now he
wished 10 say that IL contained $500.
of which g. $50 was To he paid to Ed
Chambers Smith on accoun: OF the Eote
which X. 5. Finch had given Smith for
the iatter's shares OF stock in the At
lantic 4 North Carolina Railway. the
other $3.50 being paid for Y. L. Nc
Bee.
The first regular witness wag Al
torney Day. WHO told abou, the e7ng-
ing of the su!t III the receivership mat
ter BY Finch and McBee Speaking OF
the check which meant TO pay Smith
he said that he would nave said yes
terday that the money came from
Finch and did not know how, but had
heard otherwise. He referred to what
he termed an agreement which had
been made by his associate counsel. w.
5. OBJ. Robinson, with Governor Ay-
cock. by which the suit In the Federal
Court for a permanent receiver Of the
Atlantic & North Carolina Railway
was 10 be dismissed upon the condi-
ton that McRee and Finch were not 10
be punished. Day said that II he had
been present at this conference with
the Governor he would have objected
to the dismissal OF the bill. as he be-
lieved that the latter would hold He
learned OF an agreement from Robin
son. w. w. Clark and Solicitor Armi.
| "a nh inc m
had said the Governor had sent for him
and then asked IL this foolishness could
not be stopped
4 number Of other witnesses were
examined. Finch preferred not TO 60
on the stand.
Attorney General Gilmer made very
able argument, saying 1t WAS not for
him to determine what vas in McBee's
and Finch's hearts when they began
this proceeding. The only question 10
whether there was probable cause TO
bind Finch over to the Superior Court.
Maxwell, in his argument. discussed
the status Of the Atlantic & North
Carolina Railway. saying 1t was bank
rupt. The Attorney General. replying
to this. said there was nothing In the
bill OF complaint to sustain this al
legation and challenged the statement.
He traced Finch's connection with the
transaction, saying the least degree o!
consent makes him equally guilty with
McBee. He declared Finch never had
any standing In the Federal Court The
State Justly complained Of the undue
precipitation with which Finch and Nc
Bee acted. In this lies the very germ
of the charge. Why the haste. no man
| could give any reason; why the ap-
| DoiEtment OF a receiver affected the
lease OF the road. or why the man who
had withdrawn his bid and by all rules
was disqualified was made receiver
There was combination to do unlaw.
full things. Finch swore he owned A:
shares Of stock. but really owned AZ,
and his counsel said this was done 10
| conceal the fact that the stock had
been bought from Ed Chambers Smith.
NcSee and Finch tried TO buy stock
from Carl Duncan. but got none though
they offered s175.DD0 for 100 shares
that is. offered to give their note for
this sum. and give the stock back az
collateral. They got stock from Smith
INT never acquired for one moment
any standing in the Federal Court, as
the stock had to be transferred on the
| conrany's books end I'd request for
this was ever made. McBee was en-
deavoring to acquire the stock for the
very purpose OF having himself ap-
pointed receiver. Duncan's testimony
so shows. The purpose was tn wTest
the control OF the road from the board
OF directors and put 1t in McBee's pos
session. 80 Duncan says. -McBee said
he was to be appointed receiver. and
proposed to Duncan to have the latter
| appointed co-receiver. The burden was
rot to rest on the State to prove this
conspiracy beyond a reasonable doubt :
it is only necessary TO show probable
cause. The law protects citizens and
State alike. This suit was not solely
for the purpose OF having the Atlantic
& North Carolina road leased. There
was notice Of stockholders meeting
when the second order was signed in
Raleigh by Judge Purnell. yet 100
shares OF stock were here. Carl Dun
can. an honorable man. said he would
not sell his stock for a thousand dol
lars share unles his associate con-
sented. and that he would be no party
to raiIroading the scheme through.
| News No e..
| King Edward was chief mourner at
the funeral OF his cousin, the Duke Of