Dewey County advocate. [volume] (Timber Lake, S.D.) 1910-1913, 1911-05-12
IMPEACHMENT COURT ADULTS
AFTER sALLoTINc TWo-ANp.
A-HALF HOURS.
n. D. JUDGE INDICATED
Respondent Given Majority or UnanI.
nous Vote in All Other Instances
-Seventy-four Counts in
=
j Charges.

ASAoAS As JuOS0 JONI r. Cow
an, on trial before the state senate
sitting as a court Of impeachment,
was acquitted at the hands Of that
body. President Burdick announced to
the respondent that he had been found
not guilty on each and every one of
the "A charges and specifications con-
tanned in the articles Of Impeachment
presented against him by the house Of
representatives.
The verdict Of the senate was made
certain after two and one-half hours
OF ballOting, In which there was a to-
tai Of 70 roll calls.
Only at one time did the prosecu-
ton secure an even break with the
defense, that being on a charge Of
purchasing liquor in a drug store,
when % voted guilty and % not guilty.
On every other specification the re-
spondent was given a majority vote,
while on some the vote was unani.
nous.
On charges Of drunkenness, first
disposed of, the highest vote for con-
viction was 81. which ran down as low
as being unanimous for acquittal.
Only three senators voted to con-
vict on the charge Of habitual drunk
enness.
On the charges Of delaying cases,
the votes on the 40 ballots that were
taken on each Of the several speciflca-
tons never went higher than 20 for
conviction, while In q major portion of
those cases the respondent received
vote of two to one.
On the charge of presenting false
certificates to the state auditor, the
vote was % not guilty and 10 guilty.
When President Burdick announced
the verdict Of the impeachment court,
Judge Cowan standing before the
court, cheer upon cheer rang through
the big chamber, from the galleries
and halls filled with crowds of inter-
ested. spectators who had watched the
final act of this dramatic case, the
most remarkable the state has seen.
It was fully five minutes before
President Burdick was able to restore
order and make his gavel heard above
the uproar. During the wild scenes
that followed the announcement OF the
verdict, chairs were overturned and
desks were torn from their places as
the crowd rushed to congratulate
Judge Cowan.
Tracy Bangs, attorney for the de-
tense, who had been opposed by his
brother, George Bangs, also was warm
ly congratulated.
It was not until late that the state
senate finally concluded it's work and
adjourned, the closing hours being
marked in strange contrast with the
proceedings that have been in pro-
gress for so long. speeches by mem
bers serving to restore that feeling of
good fellowship that seemingly was
enabled to slip away during strenuous
days of trial.
One of the interesting features of
the days work came when Dan Bren-
man attempted to challenge the right
of Senator Simpson of Stark to act as
a member of the court or vote upon
the specifications in the articles of i'm
parchment.
A petition was presented to the
court by him proclaiming that the
Stark member had never intended to
act in good faith, but the petition was
not even made a part of the record by
the state senate, being laughed out of
court.
The voting came on much more
swiftly than anticipated, and the close
of action was greatly different from
the proceedings that have been carried
on since March %. The Cowan case
had stirred up one Of the most bitter
political controversies in the history
of the state.