The log cabin Democrat., 1907-08-08
VIlONIA PEOPLE ARE INCE nSED
Resent Insinuations Caused by
 Abbott Case.
Say They Have Been Imposed Upon by Ac- tion of Judge Without Inves-
 tigation of Case.

tigation of Case.
 Resenting the insinuations cast upon them by an article published in the Little Rock Democrat and declaring that they have been inn posed upon by the action of Judge Lankford and others without an investigation of the case, the peo- pie of Vilonia and vicinity have issued a public statement setting forth the facts i'll the case of Mrs. Julia Abbott, who was sentenced to jail by Justice of the Peace l.. E. Grunder and released after one nights imprisonment by Judge Eugene Lankford last week.
 The facts in the case, as nearly as they could be gathered at the time, were published in last week S Log Cabin Democrat. The Little Rock Democrat published rather highly-colored story of the affair, intimating that the Abbott woman committed the theft only to save her children from starvation. This statement has especially incensed the citizens of the Vilonia neigh borhood, who, as is we'll known, are avery charitable people. They claim that the theft for which Mrs. Abbott was convicted was by no means the first offense of the kind, and they had endured 1t as long as law-abiding people could.
 The statement as issued by the Vilonio people is as follows:
 Editor Log Cabin Democrat: In defense of the people ot Cypress township we wish to call attention to the gross insinuations thrown against our people by an article published in the Arkansas Demo crat of July 31 sent by special cor respondent from Conway. It is evident from this article that the writer willfully wished to throw srain upon the good people of this neighborhood or was ignorant in reference to the true conditions of the case of one Mrs. Julia Abbott. There is scarcely a word of truth in the entire article. Our people are imposed upon by such action as was taken by Judge Lankford and others in the case. Not a single step was taken to investi- gate the case. But instead pre- mium was put on theft by these proposed helpers of humanity. No person in our community has ever suffered from hunger or been brought to sheer desperation as mentioned in this disgraceful arti- cle. We are people who look after the needy and helpless. We were extremely sorry to see Mrs. Abbott go to jail and no people would have been more anxious to have her pardoned than we, but we are a law abiding people and believe in having things done in the right way and detest the prin- ciple of assuming such kingly authority as was done i'll this case, andthen backing it up with the basest of falsehoods.
 'In the first place there was no sick child in the family when the theft was committed. On Sunday the entire family was visiting and on their way home when arrested. There are eight in family and the ages of the children as follows: sixteen, fourteen, eleven, eight, seven and five. It appears that the seven year old child had some thing like a chill at the trial Mon day. Their family physicians state that the family has had very good health for some time. The place upon which they have lived is one of the best in the town ship.
 "In open court Mrs. Abbott pleaded guilty to stealing two full sides of bacon and one ham. Ac- cording to the opinion of the best citizens the penalty imposed by the justice of the peace was light,