The Morning examiner. [volume] (Ogden, Utah) 1904-1910, 1909-01-17

had been made. very orderly and
subdued crowd quietly dispersed.
Mr.. Tillman was evidently in poor
form. He showed the effect of his III
ness and the recent mental strain and
Justified to an extent the rumors that
he mad his physicians advice that he
was on the verge of collapse. His
voice was broken and weak and his
efforts at oratory so abortive that he
himself seemed to recognize the fu-
tility of making them and the latter
part OF his speech was delivered in a
monotone. Everyone felt when he had
finished that he had succeeded In moth
ing. 1t was a sort of school boy effort
to protest against being convicted OF
stealing He appeared to rely on the
smallness of the offense to purge it OF
gravity. Tho principle of honesty was
ignored by emphatic assertion that the
small sum of $4,000 made such a prin-
ciple negligible, and he referred sew
eral times as an unanswerable argu-
ment in his own favor to then fact that,
while he had attempted to secure only
nine and one quarter sections of gov
ernment lands, Mr.. Hartman had In
his possession more than million
acres of it, The argument was not
convincing and the galleries were not
convinced
WHAT the senators themselves
though about 1t was best shown by
the fact that the senate seats were
vacated as fast as possible at its con-
cluslon and though the South Carolina
senator remained at mis- desk, there
were only a few of his personal friends
who came forward to congratulate
him.
Every train out of Washington in |
the early morning hours carried away |
batch Of senators and members who |
were DESTROYS of being relieved of the
necessity Of meeting iim or of being |
called upon to meet the president after
wards. The strain and embarrassment |
of the occasion to the senate generally |
was apparent
Mr.. Tillman admitted all the charges
that were brought against him, that is,
ne admitted having written the letters
and kilograms that the president has
had copied and photographed He de-
clares that he did want the lands and
that nc tried to secure them. What
man wouldn't want them who Is as
poor as l am" he asked with an ef-
fort at plaintiveness, which was not
without persuasive effort.
He seemed chiefly concerned in
showing tnat in trying TO get them he
had not acted under cover OF with an
effort at concealment Everyone might
nave known all about 1t. was his con-
slant argument but why they had not
known he made no attempt to explain,
His attack on the president was re-
strained. He was saving that for an
1ther day. he said, and his intimation
that he had whole bunch OF testi-
nony up his sleeve to snow that the
president was a rascal was far less
telling than the production OF it then
and there would have been.
Taken altogether the Impression
gathered by a correspondent of the
Examiner was tnat the presidents
case against Mr.. Tillman was not
weakened by Mr.. Tillman's defense.
That it is a triiling misdemeanor,
Judged by the sum involved, there can
De no doubt and if the majority of men
holding public Offices have nothing
arger against them than this they
must be Judged leniently. but as a
of the principle that public
'filce Is public trust" and that any
ise of an official position to further n
private fortune is an offense against
hat trust. 1t is as important In the
,ase of MI Tillman as in that of other
who have represented rail
oads and express companies and other
corporations In congress.
II all the members OF congress who
lave abused tha franLinp nrivilooa | ,