The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1921-07-11
BRINfON CASE
ENDS TERM OF
COURT IN CITY
Judge Nuessle Goes to Wash.
burn to Hold Court For
Several Days
POLITICIANS ARE ARGUING
BrintOn Claims it VindicatiOn
While NOnpartisans Deny
This Claim

The Brinton perjury case, which was
ended Saturday afternoon in district
court, concluded the business Of the
June term Of court which, had it not
been for the case, would have ended
July 2. Judge Nuessle goes to WASH
burn Tuesday morning to hold court
for several days.
from June %, and was tried during
weather which made it no easy task
for, lawyers for the defense or the
prosecution.
Brinton declared the verdict Of not
guilty was complete vindication IF
his charges.
Deny IFS Vindication.
Nonpartisans, pointing to Judge
Nuessle's instruction, declared the YER
dict did not mean a vindication of
Brinton. Under the perjury statute,
they said, and the courts instructions
in conformity, the truht or falsity of
the matters charged was not the is
sue. If Brinton Believed he was tell
ing the truth, whether it was true o:
false, it was necessary to acquit him,
they said
! Defendants Statement.
Mr.. Brinton made the following
statement after the verdict was read:
II wish to repeat what said at the
time Of my arrest by the attorney gen.
eral, which was before this affair is
over the defendant will be the plain
tiff and the plaintiffs will be the de-
PENDANTS. According to the evidence
produced in this case and by the ar
gument Of Attorney General Weeks I
was really the plaintiff and the state
officials the defendants. or course
everybody who is familiar with the
case understands that the administra-
ton brought this case in self-defensc
and never intended to try it in court
as the pleadings for a postponement
by Mr.. Lemke show. 1t is the first
time defendant charged with seri-
Gus crime demanded being prosecuted
when the prosecutor did not want to
prosecute. 1t took me nearly year
to get them into court and the result
is satisfactory to me-"
What Was Charged.
The information charged BrintOn
with testifying falsely upon great
number Of things before the house in
vestigating committee. There were "a
assignments in the information.
Among other things he charged:
That there was headed controversy
! over the policy Of the Bank of North
Dakota at the time Of its organization.
That the scandinavian American
bank of Fargo was partly owned and
controlled by leaders Of the NOnparti-
san League.
That the Scandinavian-Ameri
bank was bought by J. j. Hastings,
then financial manager of the league.
on instructions from Townley and
Lemke during the year 1917, following
! conferences held in the national Of
| fees of the league.
That the scandinavian American
bank control was taken away from
Hastings and turned over to William
Lemke and II. A. Paddock.
| That the Publishers National Serv-
ice Bureau was organized by A. C.
Townley and was controlled by Will
liam Lemke.
That he (Brinton) knew that sub
stantially every dollar of state money
deposited in the Scandinavian-Ameri-
can bank at Fargo was loaned to dunn
my corporations organized by A. C.
Townley and William Lemke, in which
league leaders were used for different
purposes such as directors or incor-
! porators but who were, in reality, not
directors or incOrpOrators.
That about $45,OO0 was loaned by
the Scandinavian-Ame bank OF
J Fargo to league corporations within
sixty days after the opening of the
Bank of North Dakota.
Paper Brought 10 Bank.
That at, one time between $230,OGO
and $260,O00 Of league paper" was
, brought into the Bank of North Dakota
and accepted by +. w. Cathro, but
which, through the interference OF
Brinton and J. r. Waters was finally
refused That he (Brinton) talked 70
William Lemke about this and Lemke
was on the side of Cathro, wanting the
League paper" in the bank.
That there was serious discussion
over the policy Of whether or not
league paper" should be put in the
Bank Of North Dakota. That William
Lemke, F.. W. CathrO and A. C. Town
ley took the position that he use of the
Bank of North Dakota to finance
league corporations by the accepting of
"league paper" in the bank was legiti-
mate.
That he (Brintom told Governo:
Continued on Page Five)