The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-21

uniformly less cruel than injustice, and a Judgment of custer against the sena- tor from Illinois rendered without patient and full consideration of the evidence would be opposed to a fun Anglo-Saxon liberty-the presumption of innocence.
 No Evidence
 "This proceeding, MT. President Is a criminal trial in which 1t Is conceded that there Is no evidence tending to show complicity on the part of the de- fendant with the crime charged and in which those charged with the actual corruption, and whose guilt is neces sary to judgment of custer. have been discharged after trial by their peers Even those senators upon the committee reporting in favor of un- seating Senator Lorimer failed to op- pose the finding of the majority that there was nothing in the testimony to show that Lorimer himself had en- gagged in corrupt practices or that he personally knew of any such corrupt means being employed by others Nine thousand pages of evidence failed to discover any basis for tho charges against his personal character. On the contrary. the evidence demon- strates a common injustice of the day. The Chicago press assailed Lorimer with such venom that the country was led to believe him monster unfit to live, much less to sit in the Senate. A rare record of the degree of his per sonal unpopularity was shown when Col. Theodore Roosevelt, the rough rider of gusty politics, yielding to the storm, declined to sit as a guest at the board of a republican in congress, holding his commission from the sov- ereign people, was to attend. It is un- important that the premise on which Col. Roosevelt acted--the hearsay evil dence of Funk--has been exploded by the testimony for there Is no question of following that prophet of political expediency when senators are under their paths.
 "The essential thing Is that Lorimer, the defendant in this case, is conceded by his bitterest opponents to be a man whose personal reputation repudiates, prima facie, any possibility of compile ity in the corrupt purchase of seat in this body His implacable enemy, the editor of the Chicago Tribune, swore that Iorimer was moro danger GUS because of his irreproachable qual- tiles of a personal sort MT Kohlsaat, of the Record Herald, who, il seems, whispers rumors to judges upon the bench, an inveterate foe, testifies: His home life, his family life is ideal The present governor of Illinois testfles to his favorable impression of Lorimer's character; the republican nominee whom lie defeated for the senate and his democratic opponent, join in state ments as to Lorimer which would grat- fly any man in this senate. So univer- sal was this testimony as to his integ rity. his frankness, his fidelity to his word, that the distinguished senator from Indiana, (Mr. Kern), who opened this debate against him, was led to say:
 "' My duty here is particularly pain ful because the man whose right to seat hero Is fellow senator. man of pleasing personality, whose private life, as I understand it, has been pure and whose home life Is ideal
 LOrimer's Life
 "These conclusions from the evidence, MT President, do not present the weightiest reason for resolving any doubt arising from it in favor of Sem ator Lorimer. The undisputed narra- tive of his life, his earliest struggles, and his success, eliminating in seat
 in this body, furnish page that will compare favorably with the best Amer ican traditions if 1t Is not to be tar nished by judgment of conviction on this hearing.
 Eliminating sentiment and reviewing his homely efforts with that considera- tion of the facts which bases It's con clusion as to character upon exper- fence, we find that the vital facts of Lorimers life point against sudden surrender of integrity to ambition. The eldest of six children, he assumed at the age of 10, on the death or his fath- CT. A Presbyterian minister the cour- ageous support of his mother ana the education of his brother and sisters. AS ne~sboy, cash boy, common iabor- CT, house painter, and street-car con ductor he maintained the respectapll- itv of his family and the dignity of labor. His brave struggle to over come his lack of education testifles to the universal gentility Of intellect, Time was. when the patient fulhllment of these duties counted Tor more than A grudgfng prima facie certihcate or character It is certain that the peo- nle amongst whom he lived round no just ground for discreditlhs ms mo, lives or his integrity, for they elected b,ro six times to represent his district in congress
 This, Mir President, is the defend- ant we are to try. Can any member or this body, in the light of these undis- puted facts, approach a consloeration of the evidence bearing on the charses without a determination that the pre- sumption of regularity must be anir- n1ativeIv overcome before the estab- lished character of Senator Lorimer IS repudiated and blackened py eApuisioii as the beneficiary of fraud?
 Shock to the Conscience "The charges of corruption in the election of William Lorimer were eX- amined exhaustive1y argued, and acted unon by the Senate in the sixty-frst congress. The contention that mem- ber's right to a seat in this body can be tried. iudicially determined, and subsequently, reopened on the same facts for consideration at subsequent saeoion of the Senate when 1t Is hoped