The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1919-11-21


proof in the testimony"
Touching upon the Inconsistencies
he pointed out in Meints Testimony
Butler declared with biting sarcasm,
1T Is indeed. your honor, hard for
q lawyer to examine client whose
story Is so weak as the one advanced
by the plaintiff. The very quality oil
the argument shows lack of mater
ial."
Responding to the arguments o.
Mr.. Butler, Attorney Tom Davis ar
raigned the defendants as conspira
tors who deliberately plotted wrong
to John Meints. This conspiracy
began, he declared when the men
met at the Springwater church on
their way TO the Fred Meints home
From there he traced theig course to
the Meints home, their temper as
displayed by the acts which occurred
at the farmhouse, their insistence
upon taking Meints to Luverne first
and then to the South Dakota line.
Meeting at Commercial Club Rooms
Later he referred TO the meetjne
at the Commercial club rooms, men
tioning this as a further step in the
conspiracy. He called to the atten-
Iticn of the court the fact that Meints
was taken toward Bowe, s. D., in
stead of 10 vahey Springs as he had
requested.
At the scene OF the holdup he held
ND as significant the fact that, ac-
cording 10 Meints testimony, the
men stopped their cars, got out and
held up their hands before ordered
to do so by the advancing gang oil
masked men.
"The mere fact that they say they
took Neints to the line is disproven
BY their very acts" Davis declared
There is no question but that this
case must go TO, the jury on the
grounds that the meeting at the
Springwater church was for an I'm
terror purpose and none other. They
entered the Meints home as mob
because they wanted to get John
Meints out of the state" .-.-
Attorney Davis then referred to
Meints claim that he recognized Bed
ford iamong the men who tarrtN and
feathered him.
Judge Booth interrupted him here
remarking: unless yOu can prove
and prove beyond doubt that the
defendants took part in the event at
the South Dakota line you have mo
csae. 1t rests on the testimony OF
John Meints and John Meints alone.
Concluding his argument, Attorne.
Davis contended the question was for
q Jury to determine the facts and not
for the court TO take into its own
hands and direct a verdict for the de-
PENDANT.
lie Sueur Argued Briefly.
Attorney LeSueur also argued
briefly before the court on the ques-
ton. His contention was that wheth-
er or not the defendants tarred and
feathered Meints, that they were re-
.sponsible for the harm that came to
him because they took him to the
South Dakota line. ~.
"Here was man living peacefully
on that farm" he declared. HE was
taken away, held at Luverne until
the hours of night and of darkness,
taken to the South Dakota line and
there he suffered great wrong. The
mere congregating of these men at
his home with angry nNtiyes was a
violation, of his rights as citizen and
entities him to punitive damages.
After the arguments were COM
plete.l Judge Booth; stated he would
take the matter under adyisement
until s:30 O'Clock this morning when
he, was to rule on the motion OF the
Defense ,erfs 1000, tisr r
Last evening witnesses were called
and recalled by both the defense and
the complainant for short testimony
CO. roborating or bearing chiefly on
the minor issues of the case. Rev.
Bedford was recalled and questioned
about a speech he made in Luverne,
being asked if he made any reference
to keeping John Meints in Iowa. This
he denied He was asked by the
plaintiff attorneys if he made any
statement about congress being too
slow and that the people knew betf
ter what to do 4
o. NJ. Ferguson was recalled and
testified about the speech Bedford
made at the village of Hills. There
he said the only reference Bedford
made to the Nonpartisan league was
that he mentioned an organization
(which some of our Gisloyal citizens
enthusiastically support.
fio Denial BY Ferguson. > Z
LIE Sueur asked Mr.. Ferguson If he
ever made statements to the effect
that it was as well the federal gov
eminent did not know too much about
affairs in Luverne. fFt
81 said nothing of the kind" Fer
guson responded promptly. ~
Mr. Butler then called for the full
conversation which Mr.. Ferguson had
with keenan, and Murray of the de-
partment of justice. Ferguson re-
lated the talk in detail. He admitted
he became angry with the govern
ment officials because they did not
appear to want to investigate loyalty
issues but insinuated things about
''men who were very loyal and OF
high standing in the community
Ferguson admitted he asked the
men to show their credentials and
told them he did not believe "that the
government was sending out men like
them" -...
George Keenan,, former agent OF
the department of justice, was then
called by Mr.. lie Sleur. He related
about the same conversation as Mr.
Ferguson but declaring that when he
left Ferguson's office the latter re-
marked, at is just as well the, fed