The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1910-09-19
Charge Of Criminal Libel, Preferred
Against Iowa's Chief Executive
by John cownie. Elk
Board Member.
LEGAL TALENT ARRAY
First Big Struggle in the Case Will
Be the Picking Out of the Jury
to Hear the
Evidence.
Especial to The Gate City.1

--A&S AA OAA$AIhSS 0OpL. uOl
B. F. Carroll, chief executive of Iowa
was placed on trial before Judge
James A. Howe In Polk county Grim
lnal court today on the charge oil
criminal libel, preferred against him
by John Cownie, former member q,
the state board of control. The pen
atty upon conviction is a fine of $1,000
or one year in Jail.
When the case was called there
was notable array of legal talent
about the counsel's table The state
is represented by County Attorney
Thomas Guthrie; G. C. Dowell, insurg.
ent republican leader in the last state
senate; Jerry B. Sullivan, former dem.
ocratic candidate for governor; Will
Read, prominent democratic attorney
The governor is represented by At.
torney A. G. Parker, Nose Cohen and
James Parsons.
Indications are that it will require
a long time to select the jury to hear
the case and 1t is possible special
venire will have to be summoned
That great care will be exercised to
prevent political feeling manifesting
itself in the jury room was demon.
strated this morning when the selec-
ton of jurors was commenced. One
of the first questions fred at the
jurors called was What is your po-
litical affiliation?" When the COVER
nor,c cn,1pcol baoop IN, croe+fo, ~
jurors were asked if they had identi-
fed their republicanism with either
the "standpat" or "insurgent" factions
OF the party, 1t is apparent jury
cannot be secured of men who are
not familiar with the claims of both
parties. All examined stated they
have read of the case in the papers
Many had formed an opinion and were
excused on this score. The defense
is exceptionally alert to get a jury
that will reach decision A disagree
ment would leave the governor in the
same embarrassing position which he
now occupies and would probably
mean his defeat at the November polls
tliISoo q oSSOllu IL 1d1 COulu UC SGCuIG gu
before that time, which is improbable.
John Cownie, former chairman of
the board, whose resignation the gov.
ernor forced, is in the court room.
The Indictment is based on an article
appearing in the Daily Capital pur-
porting to come from Governor Car
roll. Under the Iowa law the state
must prove only that the governor
authorized the article and leave it for
the jury to decide whether or not it
is criminally libel The defense of
the governor to this will be truth of
the statements contained This will
be the governors case and the testi-
mony promises to be highly sensation
al as the article complained of in the
indictment says the governor held af-
fidayits to the effect Cownies conduct
toward the inmates at the Girls In
dustrial school was unbecoming. The
state of course will offer testimony in
rebuttal to that offered by the gov
ernor and the case will probably ex-
tend over two or three weeks That
it is to be threshed out on merits was
shown at the jump There were no
legal sl6irmishes. There was no mo-
ton to quash the indictment, no re-
quest for continuance, no plea for a
change of venue. The lawyers open
ed the case with determination and
plunged into the examining of the
jury. Even the question of religion is
being gone into in testing the jurors
as both Mr.. Carroll and Mr. Cownie
have been prominently identified in
religious circles.
The court room was crowded with
spectators, hundreds being unable to
get within the doors. All the Des
Moines dailies were represented pre-
pared to report the case in fullest de-
tails.