Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1914-06-23
No IMPEACHMENT
0F Judge SPEER
vEoEaAL Jualsr FOUND NOT
suFF,ENTlY GUILTY TO
SUSTAIN CHARGES.
sua.ooasMarEe or HOUSE
ulEs LENGTHY REPORT
Find Judss's csnduee 10 Open to
a.x,rs Criticism eue Can Not Find
Ex;d..o> >n Which b oaos Material
Minority Member vo'stsad
Filee Second Report

Filoo 9oo0s,o HoporS
washinxton. Juno -. - The sub
COMMITTEES rsgrets itS inability TO eth
er recommend complete acauitta1 OF
Judge sp>ar Of III oulpahility % Tar -
these charges arc concerned. on tho
one hand or an impeachment ON the
other hand. This was the conclusion
submitted to the house judiciary COM
mittss today by the special sub-oom-
mittes that for months has been In
vestigat1ng charges Of official miscon-
duct filed against Emory Speer, OF
Macon, federal judge for tho southern
district Of Georgia
The report, after an exhaustive re-
sumo Of evidence with severe COM
ments, held that some OF Judge
Speers official actions tend to ap-'
proach a condition Of tyranny and op-
preston" but recommended that no
further proceedings be had by the
house.
These conclusions now rest with the
FULL committee on judiciary. which Is
expected to report them to the house
for final disposition Of the case before
the adjournment Of tho present session
of congress. The subcommittee COM
prises Representatives Webb. No<
Carolina; Fitzhenry, Illinois. demo-
Gratis, and volstead. Ninnesota. rsDub-
lican.
Minority Report Fileu.
Mr. volstead in = minority report.
SIMILARLY declaring that there u no
evidence warrantins impeachment. viii
attack the majority Of the sub-com-
mittee for oriticixing judge they de-
clare not guilty Of any tmpeAchable
onense.
Nineteen charges were fled with
The committee They alleged. among
pther things that Judge Speet enter
tair.s 4 matters heyont. htss o6otSs 5ur-
lsdiction. allowed excessive trustee fees
TO q personal friend, used his o61ctAl
position for prefaEmsnt Of his son-in'
law, A. II. Heyward. abused his au-
thority by domestic use Of govern
ment-paid court employees, violated
laws regarding drawing Of jurors. and
dissipated bankrupt estates by ap-
pointing unnecessary officials and al
lowing excessive fees.
Another charge was that, in the case
Of Henry Jamison, q Macon negro.
Judge Speer defed the mandates Of the
supreme court Of the United States and
the circuit court of appeals.
Evidence Not Sufficient.
The sub committees conclusions fol.
lows:
Tho conclusion Of the sub commit
<4Ix
and from the construction of the
precedents Of impeachment trials, is
that at the present time satisfactory
evidence sufficient to support a convic-
tiOn upon trial by the senate is not
obtainable.
IN the conduct Of the hearings tho
committee was extremely liberal and
did not confine the witnesses to the
giving Of technically legal evidence.
Much evidence Of q hearsay nature was
received. The committee felt justified
in such q course in the light Of the
fact that It came to the attention OF
the committee that many witnesses
were apprehensive of the consequences
of giving evidence against Judge
Speer in the event Of his acquittal.
This feeling and the general DISPOSE
ton on the Iart Of individuals to pro-
tect themselves against what was
termed the wrath of Judge Speer kept
from the committee the names Of the
witnesses and knowledge Of the facts
in their possession. Many Of the wit
nesses whose testimony would be abb
solutsly necessary to sustain some of
the charges made are dead. Others
have removed from the southern dis
trict Of Georgia and their whereabouts
are unknown.
Tyranny and Oppression.
Another phase Of the record is that
It details large number Of official
acts on tho part Of Judge Speer which
are In themselves legal. yet. when TAX
en- together, develop into system tend
ing to approach condition Of tyranny
and oppression. There has been an in
equitable exercise Of judicial discre-
ton, many instances of which have
been frequently criticised where the
cases In which they were committed
have been reviewed by the courts Of
appeal, while In others htigants were
unable financially, to prosecute appeals.
That the power Of the court has been
exercised In despotic and autocrat!c
manner by the Judge can not be ques-
toned.
"The Jamison case Is one Of many
instances shown by the record where
the Judge. without taint Of individual
corruption and with the apparently
laudable PURPOSE of purifying the COM
munity and inaugurating civic re-
form. disregarded the law and appar-
emily considered that the end justified
the means"
Minority Report Faxors.
Complete exoneration Of Judge
Speer was recommended in a minority
report by Representative volstead, re-
publican. Of Minnesota. Mr.. Volstead
attacked the methods and findings of
the majority Of the sub committee.
who held that the evidence did not war
rant Impeachment.
II desire to have It distinctly UNDER
stood that do not criticise the mo-
l1veS Of my associates, but the pro-
ooodinoU Ia this Investigation have
- a9EgEed ~ acts cfuelly unjust and