Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-08-26
JUSTICE WRIGHT
DENIES CHARGES
Reads Hundred Page State
ment to the House Sub
committee.
WITNESSES ARE CHARGED
WITH FALSE TESTIMONY
Takes Up in Detail Every ACCUSE
ton Made Against Him by
Wade H. Cooper.

Justice Daniel Thew Wright of the
Supreme Court of the District Of Co
lumbia today answered all of the i'm
peachment charges brought against
him by Wade H. Cooper, and presented
in the House Of Representatives by
Representative Park Of Georgia.
Justice Wright made his answer to
the subcommittee by reading a hun
dred-page typewriter statement, in
which he took up in detail every one
Of the charges. Much of the statement
was of legal and technical character;
occa asionally he would charge witness
with having uttered false testimony,
and in general he declared that his
conduct had been blameless through
out
Denying as 1 do" he said, "any and
all charges of judicial misconduct, it is
no more than fair and just to myself
to say, because it is true, that, deriv-
ing my descent from an ancestry who
for more than 100 consecutive years
have been members and among the
leaders of the bar of Ohio, from which
state 1 come. l have been imbued with
a reverence and a sense of the respon-
sibility Of judicial statements so pro-
found that it has been to me inconcelN-
able that a judge in tn discharge OF
his duty should be one jot or little
swerved or swayed except by MS sol
emn judgment of the law, or that any
motive should influence or possess him
other than the maintenance of its JUS
tice. and supremacy.
This I have endeavored to do, and
ness have done, without fear or favor;
but have learned that the judge who
discharges his duty according to his
own highest convictions may not serve
or please his critics or escape the hos
ti1ity Of partisans when temporary in
terests displace from their minds true
and just conceptions of the principles
of right and Justice. upon adherence
to which the maintenance of the su-
premacy Of the law, and Herewith the
safety Of the people and the stability
of government, must depend.
TT has happened to ME to stand for
the maintenance and enforcement OF
the law in moments of it's unpopularity.
with powerful interests. and at the cost
to myself of misunderstanding and at
tacks; but for this action on my part,
resulting solely and inevitably from my
conviction OF my duty. whatever the
gret to feel or apology to offer
Indictment Of Cooper.
Referring to the Indictment OF Wade
II. Cooper for libel, Judge Wright said:
Il have been informed that the COM
mittee or some Of it's members, have
intimated disapproval of my part in
the indictment Of Mr.. Wade H. Cooper
for criminal libel in furnishing to
newspapers for publication the charges
against me which I have above set
forth, in view of which information 1t
is perhaps proper for me to state what
that part was, and the circumstances
accompanying 1t.
The charges were, among others, of
improper relations between myself and
female litigants In the court over
which preside; of misconduct amount
ing to larceny in obtaining surrender
to me. without payment, of a promis-
sorry note, in defraud Of the creditors
OF the corporation to which such note
had been given by me, of wrongfully
and corruptly accepting favors from the
counsel Of corporations having Ntiga-
tion before me, of appointing one Of
my friends receiver or trustee in prac-
tically all cases coming before me in
which the appointment Of receiver
or trustee was required and either
exacting or requiring favors at the
hands Of such appointee, including
received by him in the position to
which had appointed him.
No Truth to Support Charges.
"No one of these charges has the slight
est foundation in fact. or even the
shadow or color of truth to support it.
took no action in regard to them until
/ had been advised that the judiciary
committee of the House of Representa-
tives had declined to act upon them be-
cause unverified and upon their face pro-
Tossing to be based merely upon alleged
rumors. nor until Mr.. Cooper had been
reported to me as stating that he had
accomplished his purpose by the publtca-
ton OF the charges and proposed to do
| nothing further about them.
In this situation and after advising
with counsel and with disinterested
friends in whose judgment l placed re-
lance, l conceived it to be my duty, both
to myself and to the position which l
hold. to lay these charges before the
District of Columbia, together with GER
| tain evidence which had come 20 me
| tending to show that Mr.. Cooper on the
| day that he filed these charges with the
President OF the United States furnished
| typewriter copies of them to at least
| two newspapers of the city Of Washing
| ton for the purpose OF publication
| Justice Wright said that he did very
| little further to push an indictment
| against Mr. Cooper, but when he learned
OF the impeachment charges in the House
| he asked his attorney to ask the district
! attorney to take no further steps in the
| matter until the judiciary committees
views could be ascertained.
Did Not Seek Justice Gould's Aid.
TT is untrue" continues the Judge,
| "as has been testified before this COM
mittee, that sought the consent of Mr.
Justice Gould to try the indictment, or
that 1 charged him with cold feet upon
learning Of his indisposition to do so be-
cause of his personal relations with my
SELF
Many pages of the statement were con-
sumed in discussing the charges of
intimacy between Justice Wright and
William E. Ambrose. He said that he
had received no favors from Mr.. Ambrose
whatsoever. and cited three cases. which
he said were the only ones wherein he
I had selected Mr.. Ambrose for judiciary
appointments Of any character.
| THE suggestion that in these cases" !"
| said the judge, ''or in any other re-
ceived any part Of the fees of Mr.. Am
CONTINUED on Eighth Page)
| THE DAY IN CONGRESS.