Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-11-22
WALTON, DEPOSED,
To CONTINUE FIGHT
IN FEDERAL COURT

EIR 1 @0EllaEE OOOlI
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla, Nov.
20.-(By the Associated Press.)-J.
! c. WaltOns gubernatorial career, as
spectacular as it was brief. ended
/ yesterday.
Deposed by the verdict of a SEN
ate court of impeachment which
found him guilty of charges of moral
tulpitude, corruption in office, neg
lect of duty and incompetence, his
tenn of office as Oklahoma's fifth
governor was broken off after little
more than ten months, sensational to
the last.
But as his successor prepared for
mally to take over the reins of gov
eminent today, Walton girded for a
last desperate effort to retain the
office by i voking the aid of the
| United States courts, clinging tena-
ciously to the plea that he was not
given a fair trial, with the promise
of more dramatics yet to come.
His next move will be made to-
! morrow when his legal staff appears
before a federal judge here for a
rehearing of his application for a
retroactive injunction to annul the
action Of the court of impeachment.
This falling, an appeal will be taken
as last resort to the United States
supreme court, accompanied by a Pc
! t!tlon for writ of supercedas to de-
clare him the incumbent until the
case is threshed out before the tribu-
| nal.
Former Appeal Denied
The deposed executives original
| application was denied the day be-
, lore the impeachment trial opened,
and observers see scant likelihood
that the decision will be reversed
after the rehearing. Neither is it
probable, they say, that the United
| States supreme court will intervene.
should the local federal court affirm
its previous ruling on grounds that
it has no jurisdiction in the case.
WaltOn's removal was decreed last
night by unanimous vote of the SEN
ate court after he had been convict
ed of eleven of the sixteen impeach-
ment articles upon which he was
prosecuted. and his application had
been denied for new trial.
The proceedings were carried off
speedily, Immediately the house
board or prosecution announced it
had completed presentation of evil
dence. One by one the articles were
voted upon, and after each, the. YER
dict was announced by the chief JUS
tice of the state supreme court, pre-
siding.
At the end the record showed YER
diets for acQuittal on but five of the
charges. The votes on two of the
articles were unanimous for convic-
ton and the others, upon which
guilty verdicts were passed, were
voted by substantial majorities.
Six Charges Dismissed
Six of the original twenty-five
charges upon which the executive
was impeached by the lower house
were dismissed on motion or the
board of prosecution. All these grew
out of Walton's martial law declara
lions in the state.
When the final vote had been
taken, chief of counsel for the ex-
ecutive laid an application for a new
trial before the court, which prompt
ly was rejected.
The court then adjourned until
this morning, at which time it was
to consider a motion to assess all
costs of the trial against the deposed
governor.
Walton. having withdrawn from
the hearing Saturday after denounc-
ing the court for what he de-
cIared was it's unfairnesS in the
proceedings, was not represented
Ky counsel at the final session of the
trial except for the filing of the new
trial r'otion, and the defense pre-
scented no evidence.
A statement reiterating his deter
mination to continue the fight was
issued here today by J. c. Walton.
only the rats leave a ship in dis
tress," the deposed executive assert
ed. Few have deserted me in this
fight, and the ship is not sinking.
1t is only the shadow they see in
the water"
Lieutenant-G Governor NJ. e. Trap,
who has been acting executive since
Walton's suspension before his trial
and who automatically becomes gov
ernor with Walton's removal. de-
clared he would address the legisla-
tire within the next two or three
days and added:
1t will be my purpose to give an
efficient and economic administra-
ton. That is the kind of an admin
istration this state is entitled to and
I shall bend all my efforts to the
accomplishment of such an end. To
be successful we must have the sim
cere cooperation of all factions. L
do not believe in a one-man govern
ment, l. me and N.Y. must be drop
ped from our vocabulary; in the fu-
ture it must be we, us and our [
expect to take the people into my
confidence and with the cooperation
Of the legislature we will soon work
or way out of our present difficult
ties
Basis of Conviction
The charges upon which Walton
was convicted follow:
Padding the state payrolls by en-
plOying many superfluous workers;
exceeding his pardon and parole au-
thority to provide lucrative fees for
his political supporters and friends;
diversion of public funds by placing
his private chauffeur on the state
payroll; preventing a legally con-
stituted grand jury from assembling;
suspension of the writ of habeas
corpus during military rule over the
state; illegal issuance of deficiency
certificates when no occasion de-
manded 1.-TWO charges); attempting
to prevent a special state election,
rendering a false report of his cam
paign expenses; soliciting gifts and
contributions after he was elected
to office; general incompetence.
Acquittal was voted on the fol-
lowing articles:
Using his official position to &C
quire private property and credit;
receiving a bride to approve an ap-