The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-08-21
HOUSE REJECTS
 CHARGES AGAINST JUDGE PURIFOY
tcontinued from Page one)

that despite certain alleged untoward practice on the part of J. L. Purifoy, his son, he still retains J. L. Purifoy
 in the capacity of his right hand man. His partisans made the plea that inn peachment proceedings could not hc based on any act of an official com
 mitted prior to his induction into of lice, and that the sole remaining Con federate veteran in the service of the state, should not be branded in the final years of his life.
 In the morning, 1t was regarded as certain that impeachment charges would be preferred. MT Rogers in the afternoon delivered one of the most fiery and in some respects, the most passionately denunciatory addresses of the session. and swept the opposition from It's feet He was followed by Mir Davis, who by a masterful address in support of the majority report, shook the house, but failed to undermine the work of MT. Rogers to the extent of carrying the day
 Points of Variance
 The members of the judiciary commit tee who signed the minority report, make no denial of the allegation that prior to his election, Judge Purfoy paid to J. H. Nunnellee $1000 and thus secured his re- tirement from the field as aecandidate for the office of secretary of state, and make no denial of the allegation that this sum alleged to have been paid. was not in- cluded in the expense account as filed with the auditor. They contend that
 whatever offense Judge Purifoy prior to
 his induction into office might have com
 mitted constitutes no ground on which to base impeachment proceedings. They con-
 tend that if anything of an untoward
 nature-such as embezzlement-has oc-
 cured since Judge Purifoy took the oath
 xa <x4- A-rz
 not responsible, but that an a,racne of
 his office would more properly be held
 accountable, It is on purely legal, tech
 nical grounds that the minority members
 of the committee base their defense.
 The majority members on the other
 hand, do not content themselves with dis
 putting the claims of the minority mem
 bers that an offense committed prior to the election of Judge Purifoy does
 not constitute grounds of impeachment.
 They declare. first that inasmuch as
 Purifoy's transaction with Nunneilee
 made his eletcion absolutely certain, he
 was guilty in effect of having bought
 the office of secretary of state; secondly,
 that inasmuch as in his sworn statement
 of his expenditures during the campaign,
 the item of s1ooo Is not included. he is
 guilty of perjury; and thirdly. that both offenses are offenses in connection with
 the office that he holds and therefore
 do constitute grounds on which even technically impeachment proceedings might be based.
 The Higher Ground
 The majority members of the commit tee contend, furthermore, that there is a higher ground on which the legislature should proceed. MT. Fite of Tuscaloosa, MT. Shapiro of Jefferson, and others, de- clared this morning that the legislature, by it's action in the pending case. would fix the moral status of politics H Ala bama; that. in other words. the legisla- ture by it's action would express approval of a policy of ignoring serious offenses. or get standard for honesty and decency to which all men in the future must measure up.
 s''Can it be successfully maintained. '' exclaimed MT. Fite, that the purchase of an office is not an offense In con- Inection with the officer Why, this house | has Just seated a gentleman as repre- sentative of Coffee county when the re- turns as certified by election managers
 showed that his opponent had been suc-