The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-08-21
NEWBERRY TREATED
 WRONGLY, 50 SAYS SECRETARY HUGHES.
Expresses Conviction in Letter That Michigan Senator "Was Wrongly and Most
 Unjustly Convicted"
By Associated Press


 Washington, August 20.-Secretary night by the republican national com mittee, expressed conviction, after review of the Newberry case. that Senator Newberry was wrongly and most unjuSly convicted"
 The secretary. writing to the Rev. Hugh B. McCauley of Paterson, N. J., in response to an inquiry as to the facts in the Newberry case, gives in detail the findings of the courts, especially the supreme court. which set aside the conviction of Mr. New berry. and then concludes:
 Despite the long period of prepa- ration. the rigid investigation, the careful choosing of their ground, the long drawn out trial. the attempt In every possible way to besmirch. and the zeal, ability and even bitterness of his pursuers in their endeavor to establish a violation of law on the part of Senator Newberry. completely failed and accordingly Senator New berry stood as senator duly elected by the people of the state of Michi- gan. and entitled to his seat in the Senate of the United States"
 MT. Hughes expresses the belief that there seems to be a general mis- conception of the nature of the liti- gation and its result, and Senator Newberry has suffered in conse- quenee most serious injustice
 "The conviction of Senator New berry" he continues, was obtained under a statute held by the majority of the supreme court to be invalid; rested upon ground which did not involve any finding by the jury or moral turpitude, and was effected only by most serious misconstruc- tion of the statute which exposed him to conviction regardless of any moral offense upon his part. and no matter how high minded he might have been in his conduct in his campaign"
 Morality Not Involved
 The secretary, who as counsel for MT. Newberry and his associates par ticipated in arguments in the case before the supreme court, further de- clares in his letter, that "it should be borne in mind that Senator New berry's conviction in the lower court vas not based on any charge Of fraud or corruption or of the use of money for any illegal purposes or of any act involving moral turpitude.
 MT. Hughes then explains that the conviction of MT. Newberry was based solely on the charge that there had been an expenditure in his campaign and election of more than s3,750, the limit fixed by the statute by the state of Michigan, and that the fed eral corrupt practices act made 1t unlawful for a candidate to spend in excess of the limit fixed by state law.
 Senator Newberry could not have been convicted" MT. Hughes adds "even upon this charge without what I always regarded. and so stated in my argument to the supreme court, as an extraordinary misapplication of the statute upon which the charge was based"
 Other counts of the indictment re- turned against Mir. Newberry. includ- ing that charging conspiracy to com init a number of offenses. MT. Hughes emphasizes, were set aside, and the jury in the trial rendered a verdict of not guilty of the charge of con- spiracy to defraud by use of the mails.
 Discussing the decision of the su- preme court at length MT. Hughes points out to his correspondent that the majority of the court opinion held that the federal statute was un- constitutional and therefore the con viction should be set aside and that the other four justices. while not concurring on the question of con- stitutionality, joined in reversing the judgment of conviction, because the statute had been misconstrued by the trial court"