The Washington herald., 1920-02-27
(THIRD ARTICLE.3
by q stan Correspendent.

Il
Grand Rapids, Mich. Feb. 2s.--In
the preceding articles efforts have
been made to give an outline Of
what is actually taking place. day
by day, in Judge Sessions court
room. The facts assembled here
have no relation to news as such.
What has been said on the stand
has been sent broadcast throughout
the land. Details have been used
only to aid In tinting a picture,
which In it's bald perspective, mir
rors Michigan as It Is today.
Corruption, technical" In nature
the defense would have II, has been
shown in high and low places.
/ Ethical and moral considerations
apparently have had no place In the
States politics for years. No tears
are shed over past misdeeds and
present conditions would not have
Jared the moral sense OF the COM
monwealth had not an inquisitive
government delved below the sur
face of the body polite.
Proper for Generations.
What has been revealed has been
going on for years. why make US
the "goats'?" Is the condensed opinion
of the 123 defendants. They say
I'VE may have violated the spirit
of the law but why make fuss
over something which has been
recognized as proper in politics for
generations
The great majority Of those in
dicted insist they came into court
with clean hands. It Is now up
to the jury to decide whether or
not they had technically been de-
filed in handling the money, which
In the main was distributed openly
and with little or no concealment.
In the final verdict the moral as
pect Is not likely to be touched upon.
That will belleft for a higher court.
| The jury IL composed OF men of
average intelligence. Six are farm
ers. which would seem to be in
favor of the defendants, as many
of them are agriculturists. The
other six are q grain dealer, q cat
tie buyer, two produce. buyers. an
elevator manager and a grocer.
Both Parties Affected.
Partisan followers do very little
guessing on what the verdict will
be. They agree, however. that both
sides have an equal show before
Judge Sessions, but Democrats do
not seem to be more anxious for
a verdict than the Republicans. 1t
is recognized that il one party man
agement 10 convicted the other is
likely to be affected, so mutual self
protection enters strongly into the
case. Adherents of both agree that
II would be a fine thing for tho
country were a clear-cut decision
rendered. but they cannot see the
justice OF trying II out on Michi-
gan. They fnd a refuge In the
statement that their own State Is
no worse than others.
There is. however. an element
composed Of innocent bystanders
which feels the disgrace which the
mass indictments have brought
upon Il. These "outsiders' recog-
nize that the State is getting what
is coming to It and there is no ef-
fort made on their part TO minimize
the importance OF the case as 1t ap-
plies to their own communities.
Among these are A. p. Johnson.
publisher of the Grand Rapids News
Michigan" Johnson Ii Independent
in politics. He was asked what was
wrong with Michigan. He answered
II in the dictated statement which
follows;
There Is nothing wrong with
Michigan. There il nothing wrong
with its people. There is little
wrong with it's laws.
warped Responsibility.
But here in Michigan. as else
where the world over, there are a
few whose warped concept of re-
sponsibility disturbs our equilib-
rum. They exist in all classes of
activity-the <ocial. Industrial. po-