Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1905-06-15
NOTES FROM THE CAPITAL
Des Moines. June IL. 1905

this. Doubtless the decision will hs
eminently satisfactory to Smith, who
has said that he had just as lief die ~
to live, as no one cares about him He
was convicted of the murder of hi1
landlady at Buxton. He pleaded gull
ty and his attorneys merely asked
the court to give him life sentence
instead of permitting him to be hang
ed. Communication of the sentence
does not belong to this department OF
government" says the supreme court.
In the absence of a showing by the
appellant of an abuse of discretion on
the part of the trial court in giving
Smith the death sentence instead of
| life imprisonment-Smi having
pleaded guilty, the discretion was to
be exercised by the co';r. instead of
jury-the supreG,a court says it
could not interiors. Smith was to
have been hung +! December. He is
colored, abon; 40 years of age, and
has no relatives in Iowa. He is con-
| fined at Fort Madison Governor Com
Minis will have the duty to perform
Of fixing date for his death.
The measure of the damage to a
husband in Iowa by reason of injury
to his wife is not the expense of hir-
ing domestic to do the household
work which the wife was in the habit
of doing before the injury So de
clared the SUPREME court of Iowa in
an opinion affirming $4,000 judg-
ment obtained In Linn county by
Fannie Hutchens from the Marion &
Cedar Rapids traction, line.
I'm giving damages to the husband
for injuries to his wife the law" says
the Iowa court, docs not compute his
recovery on a commercial basis but
gives him such compensation as in
the judgment of the jury is a money
equivalent for the loss of such SER
vices. assistance, companionship and
society as he has been deprived Of by
the injury"
According to dispatch from
Washington to the Register and Lea
der Washington is wondering if Sec
rotary Shaw will become president
of the Equitable Life Assurance So
ciety of New York. The question
arises, says the disratch, from New
York reports that James H. Hyde
favors Secretary Shaw for the posi-
ton. 1t is said that special efforts
have been made to get Mr.. Shaw to
consider the position. Ii is denied
here that Secretary Shaw has bsen
actually asked to take the place, 1t
is not denied that he is being con-
sidered. The secretary is now in the
south, and there is conjecture
whether he would take the proposed
position, which is worth 100000 a
year. One view is that on account
of presidential aspirations he would
not accept it under any circum-
stances. But it comes from close
friends of the secretary that he is
likely to take it, if factional differ
ences are so composed in the Equit-
able as to insure him support in both
factions. Inasmuch as his going to
the Equitable would mean an end OF
the movement for the presidency to
succeed Roosevelt, and at the same
time would leave a cabinet vacancy,
developments are being watched with
much interest here"
Chief a. o. Lund of Blackwell,
Okla, has written Governor Cum
minis to inform him that he expects
to come a third time for Frank Sher-
cliffe. And when he comes this time
he will come armed with perfect pa
pers. When the officer left the state
house recently, his requisition I'M
honored, he swore that he would
nI- Il,,f frin @
advised him to get the papers that
the governor asked for and from his
letter to the executive Office it is as
sumed that he has gone after them.
The Iowa law was not satisfied by
the recent showing That is, no
showing was made on the most i'm.
portant point connected with the
case. That is, as to whether Sher-
cliffe is a fugitive from justice in
Oklahoma. All that the authorities
of that territory need to present to
the governor is an affidavit from
some man who knows it to be fact
that Shercliffe was in that territory
at the time the crime with which he
is charged was committed. Without
evidence of this sort there he cannot
be convicted. 1t is presumed, there
fore, that it will be easy to procure
if the prosecution is in good faith.
Offers of settlement in the famous
100000 suit brought by the Modern
Woodmen of America against the
bondsmen of the late e. II. Nc
Cutchen, the Holstein banker, have
reached Des Moines and are now
causing considerable comment among
the upper administrative circles of
the order. The bondsmen have, it is
said, offered to settle the suit to re-
cover the 100000 which was de-
posted in the Holstein bank which
went into the hands of receiver for
lust half the amount. This has been
refused by the fraternal order since
the attorneys for it claim that the
bondsmen are good and perfect Sc
curity. Such condition they be-
lieve makes a settlement an unwise
step to take. According to George
N. Frink, who is one of the most
prominent men of the order in Des
Moines, the offer was received some
time ago. 1t was not taken seriously,
although the attempt at compromise
is being made regularly.
Attorney General Mullan has held
that the st. Louis commission may
draw on the additional appropria-
ton of $4,000, made by the last
general assembly. for the purpose
oi publishing its report to the COVER
nor, the legislature, and the people
of the discharge of it's duties. The de-
cisioD of the attorney general was