Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1908-05-23
Doubt Expressed That Frank
shercliffe Will Be Tried For
Colorado Murder
MAY De SLAP AT cuMMlNs
Governor Once Refused to Requisition
shercIiffe to Colorado Politicians
Wanted Him Railroaded Out Of State
to Prevent His Te.tifyins in Denni-
son Case.
Special to Times Republican.


Shercliffe ever be tried for murder III
Colorado? News Of Shercliffe's arrest in
q Michigan city has again brought in
terest to the case. Efforts were made
to get Shercliffe to Colorado just be-.
fore the time that Tom Dennison was
to be placed on trial for completely In
the robbery Of a lot of diamonds from
the travelling salesman of a jeWelry
house. Shercliffe was witness against
Dennison.
Since, the time that Shercliffe be-.
came witness against Dennison it has
been a battle between the two. That
Shercliffe was ever induced to leave the
state of Iowa is big surprise to ev..
erybody. Shercliffe was paroled from
the state penitentiary by Governor
Shaw and it was allowed to leak ou.
later that this was done as a reward to
Tom Dennison because Deunison had
run lot Of colored people over into
Council Bluffs to vote against the.
Cummins candidates for the Legislature;
in the Cummins-Gear senatorial fight.
Later when Shercliffe turned witness
against Dennison it ruptured the
friendship between the two
When the Dennison trial opened there
were all sorts of trumped UP schemes
for getting Shercliffe out of the state.
Of Iowa First he was wanted for g
f7oy,yy, in, Micco,,ri oy nl.1a hoJ,,n
some place and next out in Colorado.
There were two cases against him in
Colorado. When the application was
made to Cummins for a requisition for
removing him from the. state he let It
be known definitely that he did not
propose that Shercliffe should go out
Of the state till he had testified in the
Dennison case, and on the presentation
Of the arguments for the requisition the
Dennison people failed to show that
anyone had ever been murdered and no
evidence whatever that Shercliffe had
anything to do with 1t.
Ever since that time the Dennison
sympathizers In this city. led by Bob
King, saloon man, have been work
ing against Cummins. This was the
nucleus about which Charlie Johnston
and Ed Hunter worked two years ago
in the campaign between Cummins
and Perkins. Possibly there is method
old Colorado murder charge in the
hope of making 1t appear that Cum
Minis has protected Shercliffe.
-
It is reported here that the friends
of Senator John l.. Bleakley, OF Ida
county, In the northwestern part Of the
state. are claiming that he is the real
author Of the anti-pass law. If con-
sistent and continued opposition to the
law and voting for it only when ev-
erybody else did and it was seen that
It was to pass anyway would make
him the author, Bleakley could easily
be classed as the author of the bill.
Bleakley's first service as state SEN
ator was In the Thirtieth general as
sembly in 1904. Senator John Hughes
of Williamsburg, introduced an anti
pass law. It was Bleakley's first
chance to vote for progressive meas
ure and he voted-against 1t.
Senator Hughes anti-pass bill was
senate file 1877 and it was called up on
third reading in the senate on March
81. 1904, as recorded on page Ss5 Of
the senate Journal. There We're several
amendments offered, some by enemies
Of the bill, and Senator Bleakley voted
solidly against all amendments and
against the bill itself when it was put
up for tinal passage.
Bleakley further fixed his Affiliations
with the corporation interests that ses-
sion by voting against the primary
election law. The primary bill was sem
ate file No. 3 by Crossley. It was
strangled without much ceremony on
March 30, 1904. Bleakiey voted for
an amendment offered by Gdlliland Of
Mills providing that It should be APP
pMcable to counties OF $4,000 popula-
ton only and then voted against the
bill on final passage.
1t was in the Thirty-nrst general
assembly that Bleakley chiefly dis
tinguished himself and fought hardest
with the railroad interests Of the legis-
lature. It will be rem embered that the
sentiment for an antf-pass law was SO
great that the railroads fearing to stem
the tide further allowed weak and
harmless little anti-pass law to so
thru. The railroad legislators even
all voted for it. The bill practically
had no opposition and Bleakley voted
for It,
It was In the ThIrty-flrst general
assembly. however, that Bleakley pre-
scented a petition Of 600 voters OF his
county asking for the passage OF a
primary election law and had said PEE
tition Of his constituents buried in the
committee on federal relations In Of
fering the petition he had some sar-
castle things to say about such legis-
lation and doubtless thought the corn
nittee on federal relations could best
stif1e the cries of the dying bill
Crossley's primary election bill that
session was senate file No. 2 and 1t
was quietly killed on February 81. 1905,
when the senate by vote OF 80 to 81
1t. Blealsley voted with the
-.
bly, when the progressives had a ma
jority Of the votes and 1T was useless
further for the railroads to force their
representatives to vote against good
bills. Bleakley and others, I'm fact all
others, voted for the primary election
hill and the new anti-pass BILL which
has some strength to It.
From the time he first Became a
Of the legislature to the adj
iournment OF the last session OF the
legislature Senator Bleakley did every
thing he could to defeat the passage of
such measures as the two-cent fare.
~ III yov