The Glasgow courier. [volume] (Glasgow, Mont.) 1913-current, 1919-02-14

minds of the hundreds who heard the
testimony in the case but that Tveito
had been made the innocent tool of
the local disseminators of the Lenine-
Trotzky doctrines and that he really
did not understand what the case was
all about.
1t will be remembered by the vot-
ers of Valley county that on election
morning every election precinct in the
county was flooded with sample bal
lot forms issued by the local heads
of the Nonpartisan league and Mr..
Parsons testified that it was one of
these ballots that Tveito was using
in the booth at the time he inform
ed him that it was against the law
The testimony of the other members
of the election board brought out the
fact that Tveito had walked over to
the judges table and handed in his
ballot after being admonished by Mr..
Parsons.
The case of the state, which was
ably handled for the amount of evil
dence the prosecution had to offer,
was represented by Assistant Attor-
ney General R. w. Choate of Helena,
assisted by County Attorney Carl D.
Borton, and the defense by Norris,
Hurd & McKellar of this city. The
trial was presided over by Judge
George P. Jones of Forsythe.
Hurd Scathes Prosecution. .
Attorney George E. Hurd of Great
Falls, who made the closing argument
for the defense, scathed the prosecu-
tion and the parties who were behind
the action in terms that no one pres
ent could possibly have misunderstood.
In part Of his argument Mr.. Hurd
said in substance: The closing part
of the argument made to you by the
assistant attorney general is very
easily answered. He tells you that
this prosecution is instituted and con-
Quoted for the reason that he desires
to use his efforts towards making
the purity of the ballot an establish
ed fact. If Tveito's testimony in this
case is to be believed at all, it was
not Tveito who went into the cleo
tion booth to vote, except the physi-
cal Tveito; the mental direction be-
hind Tveito's vote, on his own testi-
mony, was the force and destructive
energies against government that is
sued this card and sent it out to
Tveito, who did not know what to
vote unless somebody told him. And
then the assistant attorney general
of so great commonwealth as Mon
tana tells you twelve men that he is
here trying to have it established that
this is a government of the people
but everyone who believes that it was
wrong to take away from Tveito this
sample ballot favors not a govern
ment by the consent of the governed
but government under which man
of Tveito's lack of intelligence and
appreciation of citizenship can go into
voting booth here in Valley coun-
ty and vote as somebody else tells
him to vote. And you tell me that
that is government? Is that the kind
of case in which you want to con-
vict citizen of this town against
whom there cannot be one word spo.
ken which will cast blemish upon
his name? And l do not care if all
the Tveitos and all of his kind get
together in Valley count and come ir
here under somebody's direction and
admit to substituting card like this
for such a sample ballot, damnable ir
its purpose, as was actually taker
away from Tveito.
The assistant attorney general tells
you twelve men that there isn't any
controversy but that it was a care
instead of sample ballot that was
taken from Tveito. l do not under.
stand what the attorney general means
when he says there isn't any materiaI
conflict in the evidence upon that
point, when Tveito, who doesn't ever
understand the English language
and the assistant attorney general ad
mits that-that isn't perhaps anything
against him, but personally l am tirec
of these people in this country who
won't take the pains and the time te
study the English language so thai
they can throw off the rule of thu
people who are controlling Tveito
For one, l resent walking down t.
this court house behind a bunch O.
people talking some foreign Language
that we cannot understand; resen
| it as an American citizen. It is no