The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1907-10-17

vote Delng aye l1U and nay i. But
Mr.. Sheath was not the solitary in
dlvidual who cast the negative vote.
That distinction belongs to Mr.. John
Francies of the Second district, Allie
gheny county. On the contrary MIR.
Sheath voted aye.-Legislative Rec
ord, 100, page 1891, or Journal OF
the House Of Representatives, 1903.
page 1881. He may have intended
to vote no when he left the pre-
posterous editor of the North Am
erican who thinks he owns Sheath
and aspires to the control OF the
Republican machine. But when he
reached Harrisburg and came under
the hypnotic power of IL, he yield
ed promptly and surrendered un-
conditionally. His denial, therefore,
marks him as falsifier as we'll as
recreant.
The Kingston Iniquity.
In view of these facts 1t Is mat
ter of little consequence how Mr..
Sheath voted on any question or how
he says he voted. The Legislative
Record is badly indexed, probably,
no doubt, and it is difficult 20 follow
purpose of review. The truth is
however, that Sheath voted for the
vicious Kingston water snake. 1t
was the worst of the lot and the
measure upon which the gangsters
depended. In protesting against 1t
Mr.. Greasy declared that 1t would
give corporation authority to
carry the whole body of river
around a city to change its course"
But protests were unavailing. The
machine wanted the authority to put
the people under tribute and the
bill passed finally, ayes 105, nays
64.-Legislative Record, 1903, page
2435.
On what it known as the Filtra-
ton bill Mr.. Sheath voted no the
second time it was considered on
final passage. This was another OF
the bills upon which machine man
ayers depended. 1t came up on
final passage for the first time on
March IL when Mr. Sheath lodged
Legislative Record, 1908, page 1924.
On March IL the vote was recon-
sidered, on motion of Mr.. Plummer
of Blair county, on March II 1t was
again called up" for final passage
by Mr.. Colville of Philadelphia, and
agreed to, Mr.. Sheath voting In the
negative. On all the other water
bills he either lodged the vote or
voted in the affirmative. His state
ment that he not only voted against
but worked against the water bills
is, therefore, a Justification of the
facts.
The Grafters Have No Fear of
Conviction.
"A wink Is as good as nod to
a blind mule" and 1t requires little
perspicacity to See that the lawyers
of the capitol grafters are not in
the least worried about the promised
criminal proceedings. II each of
the accused was convicted on each
of the counts upon which he is in
dicted. they would all go to the pen
itentiary for life. That being the
case 1t Is not likely that the cele-
brated criminal lawyers who repre-
sent them would have voluntarily
relinquished any advantages Of de-
lay or other technicalities unless
they had obtained some sort OF
guarantees that their clients are In
no danger of conviction.
The other day they were arraign-
ed In court by proxy and all entered
bail for appearance for trial on the
27th of January. The Attorney
General wanted a speedy trial, the
newspapers assure us. and the de-
PENDANTS tried for delay. They ask
ed that February 2 be filed as the
day for the opening of proceedings.
Finally the 9th of January was
agreed upon and the, prosecuting
lawyers imagined that they had ach-
ieved great victory. The defend
ants might have demanded prelim-
mary hearings which would have
involved delay and they might have
done this or that to postpone the
evil day, those hopefuls said. But
they simply didn't do thing but
yield. Four or FIVE days will not
likely make much difference.
II there Is to be no actual trial or
in the event that the trial Is to be
made farce like the trial Of Salter
who surrendered in much the same
manner, It doesn't matter much
whether 1t comes early or late. At
best 1t Is dificult matter to prove
a conspiracy when most OF the con-
spirators are corporations as happens
to be the case in the matter in
point. But when the prosecution Is
more anxious to prove the accused
innocent than guilty there Is hardly
possibility of conviction. Every
body knows that from Governor
Stuart down to the tipstaff Of the
court the authorities are anxious to
vindicate the party rather than jus
tice in the graft prosecutions.
The Campaign in Full Sway.
The Democratic campaign Is now
well under way and during the
next three weeks there will be lively
times throughout the State. Mr..
Harman has ceased to expect q fav-
orable reply to his challenge to dis
cuss the issues OF the campaign with
Mr.. Sheath in joint meetings. The
Republican managers don't want the
Issues of the campaign agitated
much. There Is danger In bringing
the facts into view and Joint dis
cussion would have had that re-