The Big Stone Gap post. [volume] (Big Stone Gap, Wise County, Va.) 1892-1928, 1912-01-03
1914 Indicted.
Grand Jury In Lee County
Hot After the Vote
Seller.


issue, published the following
account of the investigation in
to the violations of election
laws in that county ut the last
election, held in November,
which, as we understand, is a
correct report of the conditions
in that county:
"The first chapter of the in
vestigation began by Judge
Skeen the first Monday of court
ended today when the grand
jury handed in lG4 indictments
for violations OF the election
laws. The Judge had given all
parties fair warning that he
would prosecute all ofTenses
and had also written letters to
each Judge of election i'm the
county calling their attention
to the law and requested them
to report all violations to him.
Judge Skeen's first plan was to
give immunity to the workers
and to proceed against the ~
didates and the sellers. After
several days work it became
evident to him that it was i'm
possible to accomplish the re
suits he hoped for unless he al
so gave immunity to the can
didates, rs their friends were
refusing to talk and were
threatening to go to Jail before
they would "tell' in fear of
losing the offices. Judge Skeen,
after fully considering the mat
ter, decided, while it went
against "the grain to allow
the candidates to testify. Last
week he announced that all the
candidates might come in and
testify and be immune and that
he would permit those who
were elected to hold the Offices
From that time things have
been going rather smoothly.
"TheTe are many more who
will have to go before the grand
jury at the February term. 1t
has developed that both parties
entered into the fight Eight
ing the devil with fire" and
that much money has been
spent by both sides, and that
the Republicans had the longest
pole. Quite an amount of in
teresting testimony has also
been given that it is amusing
to folks" on the outside.
Rather early in the game w.
r.. Orr aud later G.. f.. Flanary
went before the grand jury and
told of the amount of money
they had and to whom they
gave it, In following this up
it developed to the jury that
large amounts of this money
had remained very close to the
jeans of lots of the workers"
many of whom had already
been before the grand jury and
had sworn that they knew Of
no violations Of the law, that
they knew of no money being
spent and had not received any
money and had not spent any
money themselves. \ number
of said gentlemen have since
come before the jury and &C
knowledged to the Corn" and
say they are waiting to make
settlements with proper par
ties (O Quite amusing.
All this goes TO show that
things politically are in a bad
row in Lee county. But this is
no news TO the people of the
county. 1t has been known for
years that the evil existed.
The aggravating part of it is
what is being sent on. to the
press. OF the hundreds of spec.
ials that have been printed so
far there has not been syllable
of truth except that there is an
investigation going on here and
that Mr.. Skeen is Judge. Some
guy has been sending out under
"A Bristol date line lies that
would cause old Ananias to
blush. The things are so rank
that any ten-year-old boy would
know them to be false. One
statement has it that Common
wealth's Attorney NJ. G.. Ely
hna haau with rho iurv aasist