East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1906-02-02
WILL TAKE CASE
THIS AF FTERN00N
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who got that money? Who could
have got it but c. p. Davis? Do not
all the circumstances, all the facts
surrounding the case point that way?
Didn't he tacitly admit that he did
getit? Could he give any reason why
he didn't? He couldn't tell you why
he didn't, or would not say that any
of these things were so. Why didn't
he tell you the reason? Because the
only reason that he didn't do 1t was
the one that would convict him, and
he came here and admitted 1t to you
Why did he not pay the money over
The reason that he couldn't do it was
because he had spent 1t and didn't
have the money to pay 1t back. That
is the reason he couldn't pay 1t over.
Sheriff Busy Man.
"As you know, the law requires the
sheriff shall perform great many
outside duties. He summons Jurors,
he summons witnesses, he serves pa
pers, he serves election notices and a
thousand and one other duties, and
takes prisoners to Salem, goes after
Jail and does numerous other things.
There was Mr.. Funk and Mr.. Blak-
ley and Mr.. Fowler a portion of the
time, and there was Mr.. Davis. Mr..
Davis had charge of the cash, he was
the head man in the office.
Davis Guilty Conscience.
What did Mr.. Davis do when the
shortage was reported? Did ne go
and tell Mr.. Taylor? No, he didn't
do that. On Sundays and holidays he
brings Colonel Raley to the office,
and he brings Judge Fee, and he buys
an Gil sheet down town and he comes
up here and he makes a copy of T.
ID. Taylor's tax roll out of last years
tax receipts. But he didn't do that
when the other people were in the
office. He didn't do that in business
hours. He comes in on Sundays.
attorneys in the city of Pendleton,
pays them retainer fee, tells them a
pipe story that there Is shortage in
the sheriff's office. Why did he want
all these attorneys? Nobody else
hired attorneys and nobody else has
attorneys. No, not one. Why did
this man do this? Because he was
guilty, or because he was innocent?
Why did he find II necessary when
there was nothing wrong with his
books to hire his counsel here? Had
he spoken to Till Taylor yet when he
took a copy of this invoice? Had he
spoken to Till Taylor yet when he
hired Colonel Raley, Judge Fee, Still
man & Pierce?
mo. The evidence is that he talk
ed to Till Taylor on the 9th or 10th
of July. On the 1st of July he had all
of these attorneys hired. Till Taylor
knew nothing about 1t yet, and he
guilty conscience was such that he
didn't have the manhood or the nerve
to tell him that the office was short.
Why? Because he had violated the
trust and confidence his employers
had placed in him. He hires lawyers.
They don't tell Till Taylor yet, and
Colonel Raley comes up here and
watches him put the s119.30 in the
safe Was he afraid that somebody
would disbelieve that he put the
money in there? At another time he
brings Judge Fee along to look
around. Maybe he looked at these
books ard looked at these receipts.
Then, after that he gets Ben X. Da-
Wis and makes a copy of Till Taylor's
administration. Why did the inno-
cent man have to do all these things?
What was he doing 1t for? Did he
want to convict Till Taylor for steal
ing the county's money, or did he
want to protect himself from prose-
cution which was sure to come?
"Then, five or six days after this,
his lawyers called Till up and asked
him II he knew there was anything
wrong in the sheriff's office. What
did Till say? No, he didn't Then
they broke the news that he was short
in the office, and told him that they
were C. p. Davis attorneys. Till i'm
mediately went to look for him. He
found him downtown in Anton Nolte's
place of business, and he says Why
didn't you tell me this before?' Be
cause I hadn't the heart to tell you.
Facing Davis, he said: you were
afraid to tell him. You knew that
you had taken it. After you thought
YOU had fortified yourself against go
ing to the penitentiary, even then you
didn't have the heart to tell him.
"Then when Till Taylor went and
called him he says the office is about
$4,000 short. Till asked him If any
thing was wrong with Blakley. Then
he comes to the office and says that
the Blakley administration Is about
$4,000 short. Did he deny these
things? No. When he came on the
stand he was afraid to deny it. He
couldn't deny it. Till Taylor had
placed too much confidence in him,
and he didn't have the heart to deny
it. Did he dispute Till Taylor's word?
The only mans word he had the
nerve to dispute was Mr.. Funk's, but
he wouldn't dispute any other en-
ployes in the office. That was the
condition of affairs when this short
age was found. Everybody knew 1t
but the man who should have known
1t.
But, suppose, gentlemen of the
Jury. that he could show with any de-
gree of fairness that there was 5000
short, or that Bill BlalSley paid that to
the county of Umatilla. That has got
nothing to do with this case and II
Bill Blakley has paid any sum that he
should not have paid, then Umatilla
county is honorable enough to give