Milford chronicle., 1912-05-17
LAID TRAP FOR
JUDGE ARCHIBALD
BOIand Determined TO Unfit Him
For the Bench
RELATES TEH-YEAR FIGHT
Commerce Commission Clerk Testifies
How cuim Deal Was Perfected to
Catch Judge.

A purpoF+ed deliberate plan of w.
Soiand. the Scranton, Pa, coal op-
orator, who originated the charges
against Judge Robert w. Archibald, of
the commerce court. to entrap the
jurist in an embarrassing transaction,
was revealed before the house judi
ciary committee in Washington which
is investigating the case to determine
whether any impeachment proceedings
shall be instituted by the senate.
! Allan b. COckrell, confidential sec
retary of the interstate commerce
commission, read to the committee the
memorandum of w. P. Boland's origi-
nal statement of the charges against
Judge Archibald. 8Oland, according TO
the memorandum, told Interstate Com
merce Commissioner Meyer that he
purpOsely sought to entrap Judge
Archibald in the Katydid culm bank
transaction after a demurrer in a suit
against his coal company had been de- |
cided against him in Judge Archbalds |
court.
Boand declared that he sent E. J.
Williams to Archibald to lure him into
the Katydid cuIm option deal with the
Erie railroad after Williams had come
to him with Judge Archbalds note for
discount
Boland refused to discount the note,
and subsequently his demurrer was
decided against him. In making the
Boland admitted, according to
Cockrell. that he used Williams in an
effort to involve the judge in dis
creditable transaction.
The memorandum set forth that
some years ago the Marion Coal com
pany, owned by the BOland brothers,
had as manager a man named Peel,
who was discharged and filed suit for
breach of contract. demurrer was
filed in this case, and W. P. BOland
declared that E. J. Williams came to !
him with a $500 note signed by Judge
asking him to discount it. {
Boland refused to discount it and the '
demurrer was not sustained. and the |
case is still pending.
The memorandum set forth the
statement that BOland was much :
aroused and determined to trap" a
Judge Archibald in some deal which
would unfit him for the bench. BOland
hereupOn. according to the memoran-
ium. set this trap with the Katyiid
,ulm bank transaction with the Erie
'ailroad as the vehicle and, Edward J.
Williams as the agent in this plan. All
his was while the ''lighterage" case
vas pending in the commerce court.
The negotiations were carried out un-
il BOland exposed them to the gov e
rnment officials.
"Mr. Boland was so full Of his ten
ears fight for his rights" said MI s
'Ockrell, that his narrative required (
eevraI hours to tell, but in the memo q
andum / merely set down the salient
oints."
Mr. Cockreil participated in the con-
erence with Attorney General Wick e
rsham later when the Bolands relat- X
d their charges TO him. e
He was asked if Edward J. viii &
ans, when Attorney General Wicker 3
ham showed him Photographic copies Z.
f the papers in the case, had repu- r
lated any Of them, as he has since y
one before the committee. "Wil- si
ans did not dispute any Of the pa g
ers," said Cockrell He identified st
lem all and admitted that he had 81
gned them" q
Mr.. Cockrell also said that Williams 5a
entiied the assignment contract in M
hich Judge Archibald was referred to
) a silent party" This Williams de.
led before the committee, though %
his signature. "a
J. H. Rijtenhouse. of Scranton, a 81
vii and mining engineer, testified I'd
lat the number of tons in the Katy "a
d culm dump aggregated more than A
1000. It was negotiated for in the 81
,tiOn from the Erie by Williams and a
ldge Archibald as something over M
700 tons. The aggregate value OF
e contents, Rittenhouse estimated.
as S4353S The options we're to
i've cost Williams and Archibald M
900. #
He figured the profit on the pile =
one, minus the expense, would have
en- $4,000, and the railroads would 81
We made up the remainder on trans
rtation E