The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1916-08-01
Tobin Breaks Loose.

7 This does not mean that the prison
has escaped from our county jail, but
, seems to have established press bure'
and has secured publication of his su
posed MANY troubles while incarcerat
in the prison. The people of this neig
borhood were very much surprised to s
that the Public Ledger of Philadelph
had lent it's columns to giving publici'
to stories evidently meant to secu
sympathy for the lawbreaker, who is di
satisfied with the conditions that are I
present surrounding him. Not confer
with publishing the stories the Ledge
descended to the yellow journal style {
featuring the affair on the first page wit
illustrations which overshadowed every
thing else in that section.
The Ledger starts off with picturin
Tobin as a man of culture, identite
with numerous movements OF publ
import, when as a matter of fact he is il
the Mount Holly Jail as a lawbreakeI
under indictment found by Burling
ton county grand jury. Then the Led
ger goes on to tell of rats infesting tn
Jail and says that on information fur
nished by Tobin, it discovered the latte
had been bitten on the nose. And ever
this is in contradiction of the large head
lines which told of large rats scurryint
about, for Tobin told in the same story
that the rats only woke him once. TIL
News has no hesitancy in denouncinf
as false the report that rats infest the
jail.
The rest of the article was simply 9
rehash of the circumstances of Tobin
arrest and an account of the Jail. But
on Sunday the Ledger again painted its
front page yellow and this time had a
portrait of deputy sheriff Fleetwood and
a statement purporting to come from
Governor Fielder to the effect that the
grand jury ought to investigate the con.
ditions reported. For heiuformation oil
his excellency it is proper tosay that the
jail has been looked over by every grand
jury within the last ten or more years
and that committees from the board OF
freeholders make frequent inspection,
but it seems to have been left for the re-
porter of the Ledger and the migrate
lawys&ato make the awful discoveries
that have been disclosed. The word
migrate" is used because Tobin was ar
rested in Mount Holly on a capias in q
civil suit and through the kindness OF
his heart Mount Holly gentleman be-
came bondsman for the lawyer of 'cul-
ture'' and the latter showed his appre-
citation of this act by refusing to come to
Mount Holly when he was to have APP
peared and allowed his friend to forfeit
the bail. He was finally secured and
brought to Mount Holly and he is now
held under criminal indictment. He
was charged jointly with Frank Murphy
on this latter indictment and Murphy
has acknowledged that he is guilty.
So far as the meals which are served
to Tobin are concerned he gets what any
other man in on criminal charge gets
and he does not deserve anything better.
II he has that large amount of culture
which is ascribed to him he should have
known better than to have placed him.
self in the position he now occupies.
Ex-Congressman Logue is said to have
expressed himself in strong manner on
Tobin's position and to have remarked
that man may take advantage of in
solvent debtors laws in Pennsylvania,
intimating that such is not the case in
New Jersey. We doubt if Mr.. Logue in.
tended to create such an impression, for
New Jersey has had insolvent debtors
laws almost as long as he has been in
existence.
Great indignation seems to be express.
ed over Tobin's incarceration in such
an old Jail, but the Jail is as good as the
man. If there is such feeling of sym.
pathy for him why do not some of those
who are denouncing the Jail and sympa.
thising with the prisoner get busy and
bail him out2 There will not be any
objection to that action in this county
We are not especially anxious to keep
such great couture" in our midst. We
can get along without him. But
the fact that he was furnished bail once
by one who was almost stranger to
him and the way in which he repaid
that act Of kindness will not be likely tc
induce people to jump forwardwith good
money to set this fellow free.
That he 10 not satisfied with his sur
rounding is not surprising. He did not
have very good opinion of this county
when he was trying to free murderer
and the opinions thus formed have moi
been toned down any. And it is safe tC
say that Burlington county does mo-
have much better opinion of Francis
Tracy Tobin than he has OF us.
1t is not the fault Of prosecutor Kelsey
that Tobin is still in Jail. That officia
was ready to try the indictment las
May, but he received letter from Har
vey Carr, who is Tobin's lawyer, that h,
wanted the case to lie over. In orde
that no mistake might be made prose
cutor Kelsey had Tobin taken into cour
and there openly informed him of tn
contents of the letter and asked what hi
feeling was in the matter. to which To
bin replied that the affair was iu tn
hands of his lawyer. The prosecutor ha
also given notice that he will try tn
case in September. II Mr.. Logue, VIII
we understand is lawyer, and Mr. Johl
c. Bell, former encouragement of Penn
sylvania, are SO much interested in thi
case, and if, as has been stated, 1.-THE bs
Of Philadelphia will not stand for thi
thing" here is splendid opportunit
for the lawyers to come forward with th
cash that will release their brother men
Der of the bar, and then they might a
get together and defend him from til
criminal charge on which he is con
mitted. In the meantime Tobin shoul
be treated the same as any other prisonl
is, no better and no worse. He shoul
be kept from seeing rats and if there
any suspicion that the ''varmints" il
fest his cell he might be given II
terrier or good cat to keep him con
pany.
| MoOreStOWn.
| Members of his congregation, repr
sentatiYes Of other churches and mar