The Corvallis times. (Corvallis, Or.) 1888-1909, 1905-12-01
IS IT TRUEs
Cannot Accused men get a Fair Trial
in Benton-Who Says They
Can't.

Can men acCuSeO OF violating the
local option law get a fair trial in
Benton county? Some people say
no.. Those who are signing the
change of venue afhdavits say SO. |
They not ouly say so, but they
swear to it. The statement. of
course is a pretty hard one to make.
Few men who take an oath to try
a case according to the law and the
evidence would p%erjure themselves
by not giving a defendant a fair
trial. To do so would be dishon-
esty of the worst type.
The question is. are the citizens
of Benton county so affected? Are
they really dishonest enough not to
give an accused man a fair trial?
Another question is, would they
be willing to perjure themselves in
a cas- wherein the defendant is on
trial, not for murder, not for felony
but for a simple misdemeanor?
Those who sign the afidavits to be
used in asking for a change Of ven
ue, in the accusation they bring
against their neighbors in the coun-
ty, make a serious charge. 1t is
not often that one neighbor is ready
to allege that another neighbor is
willing to perjure himself in order
to convict an accused man. 1t is
not often that one citizen of a COM
munity is ready to swear on oath
that the people likely to sit as jur-
ors in the county r not honest
enough to be trusted in the trial of
a liquor case. 1t is seldom, if ever
the case that men think the citizens
of some other county are more hon
est and more competent for the
trial of cases than are the citizens of
their own county, Thus, for in
stance, it is understood that the
Kline lawyers want to take the
Benton county liquor cases into
Lincoln county, and accordingly,
the afhdavits that local citizens are
signing must in effect contend that
fairness of mind and honesty of
purpose is abundant in Lincoln
but mighty scarce in Benton. That
is why there r people who have
a curiosity to see who it is that are
signing the af1davits for Kline's
lawyers. They are curious to know
who it is that is ready to swear that
the main body of jurors in Benton
county, would forget their oaths
when they went to the jury box,
would throw aside law and evid-
ence in the trial Of the Kline cases,
and in short. perjure themselves
outright because of,-nobody
knows what.
Aside from the simple curiosity
in the matter, there is little or no
interest in the cases. Kline and
his aunkies declare they sell no
more liquor. 1t was because that
formerly they sold liquor in appar-
ent open defiance of the law that
there was interest in the affair.
When the late trials took place and
the men who had seemingly defed
the laws were convicted, interest in
the matter largely died out. If there
were a justice court trial of one Of
the cases tomorrow it is doubtful if
there would be half a dozen people
to see it. The thing that made
former cases of unusual interest
was the astounding proposition
that saloons could not run but
Kline's club could. 1t was a decla-
ration that though the law said
liquors couldn't be sold, still they
conld be sold in Benton. They
created a condition that caused
Kline club to be a thing of new
interest, just the same as a manwith
four legs would create especial in
terest to curious people. The main
interest that now exists is that law
shall be law, and that if anybody
violates it. punishment shall follow.
That is accounted by good people
a virtuous interest, and n that
need not necessarily occasion per-
jury and dishonesty inthe jury box.
A strange feature of the propos-
ed change of venue is the propos-
ition that Benton county should not
be allowed to deal with her OWL
lawbreakers, but that the latter
should be tried in Lincoln county,
or some other place. 1t would
seem that Benton ought to have
the right to regulate her own af-
fairs, and if it comes to the pass
where she cannot deal with those
guilty of misdemeanors and petty
oHenses, that right is denied her.
It onght to be hers and her peoples
to say whether or not Mike Kline
shall run a club in Corvallis, and
not the right of Lincoln county or
some other county to decide that
matter for Benton,
For Sale.