Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1907-10-31
six CENTS FOR
MAJOR SCOF|ELD
EX-GOVERNOR LOSES HIS LIBEL
SUIT FOR $4,000 AGAINST
FREE PRESS.
JURY GIVES ONLY NOMINAL
JUDGMENT IN POLITICAL
CAMPAIGN CASE.
OF CHARGE THAT
HE WAS SAWYER'S DlSTRls-
UTING AGENT.

Milwaukee, Oct. 27.-"Six cents"
Such was the sum awarded by the
jury in Judge FowIers court Saturday
night to. Ex-Governor Edward SEQ
field of Oconto in his $4,000 libel
suit against the Milwaukee Free
Press.
The case went to the jury at noon,
| following arguments by the attorneys,
James G. Flanders for the defendants
and Thomas NJ Kearney for the
plaintiff.
| Charge to Jury.
| In his charge Judge Fowler instruct
ed the jury that the defendants, i'll
| order to prove the truth of the al
| legged Iibelous statements, must show
! that Major Scotield at the time re-
ferred to in the letter signed Cit
zen," was in fact a distributing agent
! for ex-senator Sawyer and that he
did leave a specified sum of money
with the Sturgeon Bay businessman
for the corrupt purpose set out In the
article.
One Man Impeached.
Mr. Flanders in his argument es-
sayed a criticism of the conduct OF
the case by the plaintiffs attorneys
1T is a peculiar thing that Mr..
Scotield, who was so anxious to have
the truth ventilated, should have
stood over the witnesses, through his
counsel, with the club of objection,
preventing all the testimony and in
formation that he could from being
given in the case
Only one man has been impeached
in this case" continued Mr.. Flanders,
and that is the plaintiff himself"
In support Of this contention Mr..
Flanders went into the testimony OF
Charles Meyer, relative to the Re
waunee meeting, declaring that the
three dispositions introduced in re,
buttal of this testimony were not di-
rect contradictions but merely state
ments that the deponents did not
hear or see the things that Meyer re-
lated He characterized as improb-
able some of Scofeld's denials of the
testimony of Meyer and Henry Over,
beck.
No Malice Shown.
Mr. Flanders insisted that no NAL
ice of any kind had been shown. He
urged that H. P. Myrick, editor of the
Free Press, believed that there was
a practice in Wisconsin of using mon
ey to influence legislation and that
relying on the information given in
the Citizen" letter. he had pub
lished the communication in good
faith and as an illustration of his
contention.
The gentlemen on the other side
would have you believe that when
these matters come to the editor of q
morning newspaper, late at nigh
when the hour for going to press is
near at hand, he should stop hi:
work, stop the presses, put on his ha
and coat and hunt up lawyer to as
certain whether or not the cOmmuni
cation can be safely published" ht
said. He also insisted that Scofiel(
had not been damaged in any way b!
the publication.
Mr. Kearney, in his opening re
marks, told the jury that the case OF
trial is not a political issue and tina
all that is demanded by the plaintiff
is justice. He discussed the test
mony of Meyer and Overlook a
length and compared it with the teA
timony of the witnesses for thu
plaintiff and pointed out the damag
done to man in the position Of tn
ex-governor by publication such a
that complained of.
Victory for Newspaper.
The verdict of the jury was re
turned and delivered to the court Sal
urday night and awards a judgment i
favor Of the plaintiff in the nomina
sum of six cents Under the provision
that unless judgment in suit for libe
is $50 or over the plaintiff must pa
the costs of the action, so Mr.. Sec
field will be required to settle witt
the court The verdict is a substar
| tial victory for the newspaper.