The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1912-05-27
STILL sNARLINa AT THE POLICE

II was perfectly natural that th'
l Smoot organ should succumh TO an at
e tack OF editorial hysteria following tn,
exoucration of the police department
: from the charges of notorious desper
ado who robbed, killed, and lied Will
equal reeklessness, and whose threat:
TO "get even ~ with the Salt Lake po
, lice at the time of his arrest yeaI
ago. he nssiduously sought to carry out
} with the aid of his journalistic sponsor
Stress is laid on the fact that Morris
was dead, having been hanged for mur.
der at the time the investigation was
held: but he wasn't dead when Sheriff
Sharp made his investigation, He
WASH t dead when U. S, Marshal An.
derson sifted the matter to the bottom.
He WASH dead when the District
Court refused 10 consider his allega-
tions. He WASH t dead when Sharp aud
Callister and Brown and Jackson and
Anderson were wont TO hold political
conventions in his cell endeavoring to
coax out of him some statement that
bore such appearance of truth as to
warrant an investigation. Aud the
good Lord knows that, with all the
coaching Morris had, and the official
political and personal interest the gang
all had in making out a case against
| the department, if no facts were ascer
talned on which to act, there could be
no hope that more could have been
drawn from Morris by the city com
mlssioners in an open and unbiased in
ouiry.
In july of last year, Immediately fol"
lowing one of the secret clan gather
ings in the cell of Morris, the Smoot
organ promised that in the event Of
an Investigation it would produce sen
sational evidence tending TO show the
police department up in bad light,
Yet the man who wrote that and the
man he depended on for his informa-
tion. went upon the stand and told the
city commission substantially that they
knew nothing about the matter, nor
whether Morris had any other dia-
monds than those stolen by him from a
local pawnshop the day of his arrest;
that they knew absolutely nothing of
any policeman being in any way i'm
plicated as charged by Morris, in the
affidavit written bv one of those wit.
nesses. and that they were "not with
holding anything which would throw
light UPON the investigation
In column of sneers yesterday
morning the Smoot editor reiterated
his attacks by innuendo against the
men he knew nothing against when he
was under oath, and laid great stress
on tho fact that "the accuser, the man
who made the charges, was dead and
out of the way.' Is that the manly
thing to do under the circumstances
Sheriff Sharp, after months Of probing
under the direction of Morris, found
nothing In any clue that was given
him. The District Court brushed the
matter aside as the mutterings of
venGeful criminal. And even the Smoot
organ strenuously denies that it made
any charges, saying:
On one side was Murderer Morris; on
the other the policemen who handIed
and searched him. those members OF the
ponce department who We're so situated
Iiat tney might easily have robbed him
mad they been so disposed. None others
could know anything about the facts.
1t therefore becomes matter of
predilection as to which side is be-
lleved. "On the one side is Murderer
Morris: on the other the policemen. -
On the one side crime; on the other
~ h. IA
the law: on the other its enforcement
On the one side transient highway.
man: on the other reputable citizens
and officers. The Smoot organ is well
come to its choice Of sides. For our
part we concur completely with the
Commission which says:
We confess an unwillingness to take
the word of a highway robber with
for truth with no interest e fiapG5aaee iap ius,fee
save to ss defeat IT,. no respect for law
rights or lives OF his fellow men cor
rroborated only by his pupil and partner
IN crime. against the sworn sta stements
OF neighbors and citizens whose families
ana interests are all here, however much
We may have differed from them poIit-
ically or criticized some of them ofTi-
cially.
lhe Smoot organ seemingly attaches
importance to the fact that Morris is
dead. and that his were the only
charges made against the police depart
ment. Are they entitled to belief be-
cause Morris was murdorerl Or be.
cause he was highwayman? Or be-
cause he was notorious liar? Or
merely because he made them against
the police departments Had they been
made against the sheriff's Office would
the Smoot organ have backed them up
with constant reiteration and sneers
against the objects of criminal spite ?
Had the prisoner accused the deputy
sheriff who carried his vest and other
clothing from the city iail to the coun-
" iail, would there have been so much
red ink and simulated wrath wasted on
the incidenti Isn't the attitude OF