The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1906-09-21
SMITH NOT
EXPELLED


and whom he branded later In letter
to the Attorney Generals department
as fit for the hangman's moose.
The Bar Association held meeting
yesterday afternoon at o'clock to con-
! slider the report of the special COM
mittee OF the Association on Attorney
Smiths action, and after a long dis
cussion accepted the majority report.
with an amendment to the effect that
! in accordance with the recommended
ton of the majority committeeman that
no further action be taken.
This was intended to Offset any pos
slbility OF expelling Mr.. Smith or meet
ing out any other punishment that
might be proposed.
Attorney Kinney arraigned Carl
Smith In scathing terms, declaring that
his action in writing away the lives of
his former clients was murderous and
against every degree of professional
ethics. To adopt the report OF the COM
mittee, submitted some time ago, was
to stultfy the Bar Association.
The concluding paragraphs of the
committees report, signed by Antonio
Perry and w. l.. Stanley, We're as fol-
lows:
THE question of how far, " at all, Mr..
Smith was justified by the evidence adj
duced in court in falling to make in
his letter any distinctions in favor of
Kim Yong zee and Chan Chez Yuel,
We prefer not to touch upon because in
answer to the committees questions
numbered 10 and IL on this subject Mr..
Smith replied, In part that no tran
script of the evidence was available to
him then or had been at any time since
the trial,-a reasonable excuse. we
think, for not answering those ques-
lions fully.
I'm view of the finding of absence of
realization at the time Of writing the
letter that an infraction of the ethics
OF the profession was being thereby
committed, and of the high standing
heretofore had by Mr. Smith as member
of the bar we suggest that expulsion
from the Association would be too Sc
we're a course and recommend that no
further steps, other than the adoption
of this report. be taken in the matter.
This recommendation is subject, how
ever to the ruling of the Association
as to whether the more lenient course
so recommended Is permissible under
our Constitution. If the Association
shall be of the opinion that Section
of the Constitution Is mandatory, 1t
will, of course, follow the procedure
there prescribed"
Judge Stanley resigned the chair
temporarily to Mr.. Robertson. being a
member of the committee signing the
Smith report. f. e. Thompson moved
that the report of the committee be
adopted and the recommendations car
ried out. This brought Mr.. Kinney to
his feet with the following motion and
resolution:
Resolved, That the report of the
committee be accepted and placed on
file: and
Resolved. That the action of Carl
S. Smith, under investigation by the
committee, shows that he has been
guilty of professional misconduct, and
that his own defense shows that he has
been guilty of grave negligence Of duty
towards his clients"
Mr.. Thompson entered protest
against the resolution on the ground
that 1t was out of order, as the con-
Guiding portions dealt with matters
which the committee could not go into.
Mr.. Kinney disagreed with Mr.
Thompson. Mr.. Robertson said that in
Its double-barreled presentation, the
resolution contained matters that were
foreign to the report.
Mr.. Warren. who seconded the
Thompson motion, stated that the COM
mittee had not found Mr.. Smith guilty
within the meaning of the constitution.
The report having been returned to
the Association, 1t was up to that body
to determine whether or not charges
should be preferred. The committee
had done its work and had discharged
disagreeable duty.
In defense of his own position Mr..
Kinney stated that 1t had been said
that he was after Smiths scalp. He
was not There was no animus what
ever. He did not care to preclude Mr..
Smith from earning his bread and but
ter.
THE vital thing that this Association
Is called upon to do is to declare its
conviction upon certain issues raised |
in this report" said he. 1.-The Assocla-
tion must call spade spade. Kindly |
motives dictated the recommendations
in that report, when they said that he
must have written that letter with his
eyes shut. don't want to vote upon |
this particular part of the report. I
may be charitable enough not to want |.
to record my vote upon this point.
I'VE don't want to stultify ourselves
or occupy position that layman can
riddle to pieces, and they can riddle |
this matter as it stands until we have
MT a leg TO stand upon.
''In so far as the report discloses neg
lgence to his clients. then believe we
have a right to go into that. We have
gone to the limit OF indulgence II we
a.. nf