Hattiesburg daily news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1907-1908, 1907-06-19

ity of the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley
railroad for taxes, The Herald charged
me with obtusity.' and with SANDER
ing the Supreme Court. The railroad
company at that time did not think
that the act wherein / exercised the
lawful authority was 'obtuse,' neither
did the Herald
Il said lawful authority. had this
lawful authority, the appointment of
Supreme Judge who would and did
pass upon that case. One of the
judges then on the bench, Judge
Woods, held that the railroad COM
pany was exempt from taxation; the
other judge, Judge Whitfield, held that
they were not exempt from taxation
there being a vacancy on the bench.
| was morally, satisfied of these facts.
A friend Of mine-a schoolmate--a
good lawyer, of reputable standing.
and gentleman, was an applicant for
the appointment as a judge on the
Supreme bench. and his appointment
was urged oy the railroad attorneys
and those Interested for the exemption
of the railroad from taxation. He had
been an attorney for the Illinois Cen
trail Railway Company ever since
shortly after he was licensed to prac-
tice law. This did not reflect discredit
upon him, but it made his environ
ments such that he was likely to see
things as the railroad attorneys saw
them | was informed--as | thought,
reliably-that he had made up his
mind on the railroad back taxes, that
the railroad was. exempt from taxa
ton, and, therefore, if | had appointed
him, holding that opinion, his deci-
sion, with Judge Woods, would have
exempted the railroad from taxation,
not only in that suit, but for many
years to come, If not for all time /
did not appoint him, but appointed
Judge Sam Terrell, who, l was salts
fed, had not made up his mind in the
case, and who was equally as good
lawyer, and he sided with Judge Whit
field, and that divided court, one
Judge Woods-for exempting the rail
road from taxation, and two-Judges
Whitfield and Terrell-for holding
them to the payment of their taxes,
decision was rendered in favor of
the State and the counties through
which the railroad ran for State and
county taxes. Neither the railroad
nor The Herald was so obtuse' as not
to see that the whole question of
whether the railroad should be held
liable for taxes or not depended upon
my lawful appointment of a judge
who would have the casting vote
upon court that was equally divided,
one for and one against requiring the
railroad to pay its taxes
What is here quoted is an actual
boast that when Governor, Senator
McLaurin packed the Supreme Court.
But he evidently wholly fails to COM
prehend the base significance of his
words. And its most marvellous fea-
ture is that 1t is an utter fiction, fab
ricated out of the whole cloth; and SO
proved by the record. Mark now
how plain tale shall put him down."
Judge Terrell was appointed to the
Supreme Court bench on December 1,
1896. So far from there being at that
time any disagreement between Judg-
es Whitfield and Wood as to the back
tax case, the records of the Supreme
Court show ii had not even acquired
Jurisdiction of the appeal. The trans
cript of record was not filed in the
Supreme Court until December 5, and
the case was not argued until Decem-
Der S-a week after Judge Terrells
appointment To say that Judges
Whitfield and Woods could on and
prior to December / have reached a
conclusion as to case the facts of
which were unknown to them, which,
had not been argued and which was
not even pending in their court, is
manifestly false. Moreover, there was
never time after the case was dock
eted in the Supreme Court until it
was decided, that vacancy existed
in the personnel of the court, and
Governor McLaurin could not have
packed the court as he claims to have
done. In plain English this part of
the Senator's statement proves him to
be tergivisator, a prevaricator and
an alligator of things that are not,
without a peer or parallel He can
no more track the truth than cat can
pass by cream.
In conclusion the Senator says. 81
could say much more about the Herald
article. but it would make this state
/ m m ff,n