The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1907-04-17
THE coNsP1RAToRs sQUAWK.

at the certainty that the conspiracy
against him must necessarily fail' III
undertakes now TO state that The IT'D
une knew all about the McWhlrrer NJ
legged robbery from the first, aud con
cealcd the facts from its readers. Inc
truth is that The Tribune knew very llt'
tie about it, and that nobody appears
TO know all about it yet. There is an
immense amount of conjecture ana
mountain Of viudictive assertion, out
very little positive knowledge about
that McWhirter case. 1t has been
plausibly asserted, for instance, that
the alleged robbery was merely
church "plant," and that but little
money was actually lost. The thing
that is positively known, however, IS
that there has been no connection OF
| Chief Sheets with it at any time, nor
is any manner established now; nor
! have even the official conspirators the
least hope that they can succeed In
fastening any guilt In this matter upon
/ Chief Sheets. Their organ, the Smoot
'smouth,n says: "All that can be done
is to send him to trial with the evil
dencc that Is available against HIM. -
That is TO say, there is not sufficient
evidence to convict him; this being ad
mittcd at the start. And that has been
done, with dismissal as a result. There
is not even a reasonable presumption
OF his guilt, but the plan is to keep
bounding him and to send him to trial
anyway. There is no real evidence
against him. The McWhirter testl-
mony fixed nothing upon Chief Sheets;
the only witness whose testimony was
in the least direct against Chief Sheets
was the man Parent, the paid confed-
crate of the official conspirators. He 1t
was, and he alone, who undertook to
say that Sheets was engaged in any
conspiracy against the law; and he
alone it was who undertook to fasten
upon the Chief the selling Of tho privi-
lege of carrying on buuco games and
is the plain fact of the matter. Ills
testimony was direct and positive that
the alleged purchase of immunity and
the payment of money on that purchase
was to the Chief on certain date,
which he gave. 1t was necessary for
him to give this date, and stick TO it,
in order 10 make his testimony Of any
value whatever; otherwise his story
was a failure. He did fix that date
and stuck TO IT; and then all at once
:. u hn of r,sDS ~
here at that time at all, but was off
in Idaho on his vacation. So much
for that,
The Smoot ''mouth' continues TO
howl that some evidence was sup
pressed, There has been no evidence
suppressed, however, so far as Sheets
is concerned. If there has been any tes"
timony suppressed, therefore, that tes-
timony has been suppressed by the Off
cial conspirators who have arrayed the
county against the city and are fight
ing the Chief of Police with public
money paid into the county by the tax
payers, and wrongfully and impudcnt
ly used by these official conspirators TO
carry out their purpose to blacken the
character Of Chief Sheets and assail
the American party. The whole pur
pose is political and personal, Their
moves are not in the least in the in
terest of public policy nor to enforce
criminal statute as such; but merely 10
use this alleged case against Sheets as
political weapon, and in pursuance
of the criminal conspiracy to inJure
Chief Sheets. The resources Of the pub
lie treasury are being used to persecute
this man simply for the vindictivc pur.
pose of the political ring in their fight
against the American party, OF course
their resources, being drawn from the
public purse, are practically unlimited.
Chief Sheets has no such resource to
! fall back upon in his defense, but must
conduct it alone and from his own
money.
I The conspiracy aud procedure against
him constitute one of the blackest and
most disrcputable cases Of misuse of
I public function and public money that
has. cver come 80 the attention of the
=
/ 1T is conspiracy whose blacltness,
whose baseness, whose malignity, is un-
! equaled, and it is pursued with a vim
dictIyeness that includes terrorism, sub
ornation of perjury, collusion with
/ criminals, the entering into partnership
! by the public with confessed periurers
and thieves, and the most scmdnlous
misuse Of public functions and misap.
preparation Of public money. 1t is no
wonder thar these conspirators and their
mouihpicces are getting very sore, and
telling all sorts of lies in order to try
to escape from the altogether disreputa
bic and degraded position in which they
have put themselves and that portion
OF The public which they represent.
MANCHURIA' IS EVACUATION.