Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1910-10-05

ment millions of dollars this work
will doubtless be attempted some
time in the near future.
A large number of exhibits were
filed by various railroad companies,
some of them very ingeniously got
ten up, and upon these exhibits
cross-examinations by the shippers
attorneys were conducted. The In
terstate Commerce Commission has
a large force of expert staticians
who should and doubtless will ana
lyze these exhibits carefully for the
information of the commission. In
fact, a member of the Interstate
Commerce Commission was heard to
say that it was preposterous for any
body to attempt to instruct the in
terstate board as to what 1t should
do with the information before It;
that the commissioners were fully
aware of their duties and RESPONSE
bilities in this case and expected,
whether any testimony was intro
duecd or not, to avail themselves OF
every possible avenue of informa-
. ton, in order that their finding
8 seht be justified, whatever it might
/ e. There is no question but what
II xsembers of the interstate COM
mel = Commission expect to give this
case careful attention and they
will mo- Anounce their decision un-
til they .e fully confirmed in their
minds what it should be. No one
can tell how long it may take to
complete this investigation. One
prominent man was heard to remark
that as yet we were only entering
the outer vestibule of the subject of
rates and the relations they bear to
the shipping interests, the public
and the financial condition of the
railway companies.
Governor B. F. Carroll is not
guilty of libeling John Cownie by
publishing the statement that he
held affidavits from girls at Mitchell
Vile derogatory to Mr.. Cownie's
character. Such was the verdict
reached within a few minutes by the
jury that heard the evidence in the
trial here. To those who heard the
evidence such a verdict was certain.
In a nutshell the facts as pre-
sented the court were these:
Governor Carroll made an investi-
cation of Mr.. Cownie and after Sc
curing afidavits from girls as to his
misconduct and q report from the
state board of control showing he
had disorganized institutions he
called, Mr.. Cownie to his ONCE and
demanded his resignation. This Mr..
Cownie gave.
Later after consulting with the
Garst headquarters Mr.. Cownie pub
lished a statement charging the gov
ernor with playing petty politics and
said "he was not fit to be governor"
Replying to this article the Gov
ernor gave out statement to the
effect that the reason he demanded
Mr. Cownie's resignation was that
he held these affidavits and reports.
On this last article Mr.. Cownie
secured an indictment.
These facts before the court.
Judge Howe instructed the jury that
in view of the testimony the govern
0r's communication was privileged
communication, an answer being
called for in Mr.. Cownie's article.
He then instructed the jury that II
they found that the things claimed
In the governors article were true
the governor must be acquitted. The
legal conclusion Is that the jury be-
lieved the truth of the governors
charges.
At the time he demanded the
grand jury probe Mr.. Cownie was
quoted in the Daily News as saying:
IF l am guilty of the things
which Governor Carroll charges
against me l ought to be indicted
and convicted of violating the laws
of the state; but II l am not guilty
then Carroll ought to be indicted for
criminal libel and made to suffer the
consequences"
That the Carroll Cownie episode
Is not at an end is stated in an in
published with United States
District Attorney M. L. Temple who
says the Federal Grand Jury will
investigate the charge made by the
governor. which played part in the
recent trial. that Mr.. Cownie while
Of the board sold diseased
cattle from state farms to the Oma-
ha market.
Now that the governor has been
of any wrong doing by
jury Of his peers. he will give his
attention to the campaign and win
probably speak considerably through