Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1914-06-01
AND YET THEY COMPLAIN THAT
THE PEOPLE ARE LOSING Z.
RESPECT FOR JUDGES

Read through this narrative and
see whether you do not agree that
truth is stranger than fiction.
Terre Haute's wealthiest citizen is
Crawford Fairbanks. He is the pro-
prietor of a big brewery and has run
the town, politically, for many years.
Vice is rampant, elections. have be-
come a farce, because of false regis
trations and other election frauds
Early this year a circuit judge by the
name of Charles NJ. Fortune impan.
eled a special grand jury and appoint
ed a special prosecutor. They went
diligently to work and the mayor of
Terre Haute, prosecuting attorney of
the county and others were indicted
for election frauds.
The trial of the case against the
mayor was in progress The grand
jury was still at work. 1t had found
a number of indictments which had
not yet been reported, and was still
prosecuting its investigations. 1t was
currently rumored that the grand jury
and the special prosecutor were try
ing to get not only the tools who had
committed the election frauds, but
the men higher up who had furnished
the money. Crawford Fairbanks had
absented himself from Terre Haute
during the investigation, and it was
understood that a subpoena would
be served on him if he came within
the jurisdiction of the court. Fair
banks machine officials declined to
make any appropriation for the ex-
penses of the special grand jury and
prosecutor, and they had offered to
serve without pay.
Sunday, April &c. Tom Taggart and
Crawford Fairbanks, the political
bosses of Indiana, met at the Denni-
son Hotel in indianapolis. The same
day the mayor of Terre Haute, the
defendant whose case was on trial,
and Judge Fortune, the Judge who
was trying the case, journeyed to In,
dianapolis and went into conference
with these two political bosses. What
passed between them is not disclosed,
except that the Judge said he reported
the political situation in Terre Haute
The next day Judge Fortune called
in the special grand jury and sum-
marily dismissed it, without consult
ing the special prosecutor, or even
giving the grand jury an opportunity
to report the indictments which it had
already found. The grand jurors
united in public statement, in which
they state:
I'VE wish the public to know in the
past two years there is not a law on
the statute books governing elections
which has not been repeatedly violat-
ed that there is absolutely no en-
forcement in any part of the county
of the laws regulating the sale of
| liquor; that there is no officer of
Vigo county whose duties involve the
enforcement of law who is making
any pretense at performing the duties
of his office; that the warrants on
the indictments which were returned
early last week against the runners
of blind tigers in Fayette township,
of which there were sixteen, have
never been served.
That in our efforts to arrive at
the truth and to obtain evidence of
violations of law, we have been ham,
pered, delayed and thwarted by off
GERS of the county who have taken
solemn oaths to enforce the laws; that
at no time in our Investigations have
we ever received willing cooperation
or assistance from the county off
cials who are drawing their salary
from the peoples money, for the per-
formance of the duties imposed upon
them by law"
This performance in Indiana is en-
titled to go down in history with the
one in Cincinnati, where Boss Cox
called the three judges of the circuit
court before him and told them how
to decide a case.
And yet there are those who COM
plain because the people have lost
respect for judges.