Evening journal., 1914-11-13
New News Of Yesterday
A Solution of an Old Time
Mystery
By Holland.

"a few days after the termination Of
the trial of a man upon a charge OF |
murder in the first degree which was
held before me as justice for the SUI
preme court, ] met ThurlOw Weed, /
with whom my friendship had long !
been maintained, and ! found that he /
had been interested in reading the /
newspaper report of the trial, for the !
first thing he said to me after we met F,
had reference to some features of the !
trial He asked me if in my eXper- /
ience as a trial justice any person ac-
cused of murder had been acquitted by
the jury whose acQuittal l believed
not to be justified-in other words,
whether I, as Judge was satisfied that
the accused was guilty"
This was said to me by the late Noah
Davis, who when sitting as judge of
the supreme court Of New York had
before him some cases that are now
known as celebrated causes. One OF
them was that of William NJ. Tweed,
who was convicted and sentenced by
Judge Davis to twelve years of i'm
prisonment. Another was the case of
the late Edward s. Stokes. who, upon
the second trial for the murder OF
James Fisk, was convicted of man
slaughter and served four years in
State prison.
"I told Mr.. Weed that one of the
hardest things for a trial justice, es-
pecially in a murder case. was the
maintaining of a clear distinction be-
tween morally good belief in the guilt
of the accused and the legal proof of
it," continued Judge Davis. 81 said,
furthermore. that l thought that no
man had been convicted in any case
in which ever sat as trial judge with
out there having been abundant legal
proof of his guilt. but that there were
two or three cases where the accused
was acquitted, and properly, although
there was moral certainty that he was
guilty of the crime.
Mr. Weed then said to me that he
had no faith in the accuracy of the
saying that murder will out He
knew of two or three cases of homi-
eide which will always be, so far as
the courts or public are concerned,
mysterious murders. He then told me
something that had come within his
experience associated with the perma-
nent mystery Of the disappearance of
eX-ChancellOr Lansing.
THAT took place before my time,
but Mr.. Weed was already a consider
able power in New York politics when
Chancellor Lansing disappeared. He
was on friendly terms with Chancellor
Lansing and had special regard for
him because it was due chiefly to the
agitation begun and carried on by
Lansing when he was a young man
I that the amendments to the Federal
Constitution, ten in all, were adopted
a few years after the Constitution was
accepted by a sufficient number OF
States to make possible the organiza.
tion Of our national government.
Chancellor Lansing was last seer
by any one who was willing or able tC
make report OF having seen him, OF
his way to the Albany steamboat pie
|, in New York City. II was in 1888
When the boat arrived in Albany tn,
next morning, he was not to be found
nor was there any trace of him. A
first il was thought that he had faller
overheard and been drowned, but hat
that been the case his body would
sooner or later. have been washed
ashore. There were many hints thai
his disappearance was not to be ex.
planned by his death, but that he had
fled for some reason of which there
were only suspicious. Mr.. Weed told
me that that was the case which
proved that murder was not alway.
1 discovered, or the perpetrators of Il
y He said that in the course of a Ger.
tain political organization in which hs
was engaged he stumbled upon an ex,
PLANTATION Of the disappearance o.
! Chancellor Lansing. II was a case o.
murder, and the chancellor was no
h got out Of the way because it was vita
to an important litigation that he bl
killed.
"All the parties to this transaction
y Mr.. Weed told me, died within a fev
years after the chancellor's disappear
ance. For that reason, those VIII,
knew the secret Of the mystery be
lieved that it was the better part I,
permit the disappearance always Z
4 remain mystery.
II am certain that Mr. Weed coul,
have given the names of those VIII
3 made away with Chancellor LANSING
& or, OF not the names of the men VIII
actually killed him, still the names o
those who cOnspired to the act an,
who employed certain thugs to com
R NIT it,"
\ Copyright. 1914. by E. ]. Edwards
h All rights reservevd.)
81 Tomorrow Mr.. Edwards will tell O
"A Senator'S Fondness for Melodiou
H Speech"