The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1916-07-21
Chapter three

In chapter two we mentioned that
during the present administration a
number of men who held state Of
fees, who were related, or who were
in some way associated in business
with state officials, had been prose
cuted for alleged crimes; that 1t had
cost the state some money to prose-
cute them; that it had cost the in
dividuals much grief and treasure;
had left stains upon their names and
had done little good.
Lest some should get the idea that
such acts of improper use of the
power of the state happen only under
Democratic administrations or under
Republican administrations, we
might say that those unjustifiable
prosecutions that amount to persecu-
ton, have happened at various and
sundry times and may happen again.
We mention them to show how GRIM
inally foolish people may act when
clothed with power and especially
when suddenly raised from obscuritv
to positions of responsibility. We
mention them to show people at this
time that it is important that they
exercise some cool judgment and
horse sense in the selection of Of
f1cials leaving out when possible,
those who have committed stupen-
dous blunders for which they can
never make amends, and especially
those who show no disposition to
make such amends as they can but
rather seek to add to the injuries.
A few years ago some lumbermen
named Kettenbach, operating in the
Lewiston country, we're prosecuted
for alleged violations of law, and
their mills were tied up by the liti-
cation till they were nearly ruined
by the delays of law. So bitter was
the fight against them that various
agencies were at work trying in
many ways to ruin them absolutely,
and they appealed to higher courts
to pass upon the evidence upon which
they had been convicted and were ex-
onerated. To the casual observer the
mere act of appeal does not count
for much in the way of expense or
inconvenience, but in order to have
the higher court review the evidence
it is necessary to lay a copy of it be-
fore each member of the court, and
one of the Kettenbach brothers had
to bear an expense of $4,000 just
for s~tenographers and other expenses
incident to making these copies of
the evidence. There was SO much
or it that it required many months
of steady work to prepare them, and
if he had not had money to pay the
workers, then he would have been
obliged to go and sit in prison for
the best part of his life for some
thing that never happened, while the
enemy, the men who cOnnived to ruin
him, could plumber his estate and his
business.
Another example was the case of a
Boise lawyer, who aspired to become
United States senator. He was
charged with a crime in connection
with some timber deals and was OBJ
liged to go into court and sit like a
criminal and listen to trumped-up
testimony against him till by its very
absurdity it fell upon deaf ears and
the jury acquitted him. If the jury
could have been worked up to a
heated prejudice SO they would have
been blind to the absurdities of the
case they would likely have convicted
him Notwithstanding no crime had
been committed. The whole thing
fell fiat and it became plain that it
was simply an effort to ruin his po-
litical prospects. But he was a work.
er and stuck to his purpose and with
in a few years overcame the foul
injury and now occupies a place in
the United States senate and is one
of the most sought for of all this
country's public speakers because he
Is n of the best informed in all
the details of government as it af-
fects the masses. He is one of the
men whose voice in the senate cham
Der always draws the members in to
hear him, for they know that he will
tell them something very important
and practical about the public lands
and the rights and needs of the set
tiers or the working man in the mills