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The Lee County Journal
VOL. IX.
Scored Fore and Aft for At
tempt to Shield Swayne.
Highly Bensational Proceedings In
- Houss of Representatives During
_ Discussion of Notorious Im.
g . peachment Case. :
writh an agreement reached to vote
on the Swayne impeachment articles
Wednesday at 3:30 o'clock the debate
{n the house Tuesday wes carried on
at a high pressure for more than five
hours. Mr. Grosvenor furnished the
text for a vigorous speech by Bourke
Cpck-ran of New York by the read
ing of a letter from Judge Pardee,
formerly of New Orleans, but now ®
resident of Atlanta,Ga., declaring that
politics was at the bottom of the im
peachment proceedings. :
The fact of a judge transmitting
such a letter, Mr. Cockran declared
drama.ticany, was ‘“‘a monstrous spec
tacle.” Mr. Grosvenor asserted that
Were was no ground presented for
impeachment in the report ‘of the
committee. The other deéfenders ot
the Florida judge during the day were 1
Messrs. Lacey of lows, Nevin of Omo,fJ
Moon of Pennsylvania and Crumpack.
er of Indiana. Mr. Lamar of Florida
closed the debate for the day, review:
ing the sentiment of his state and the
record of Judge Swayne. He declared
there was ample ground for impeach-.
ment. :
Mr. Grosvenor of Ohio began a
gpeech in behalf of Judge Swayne by
the statement that he had never been
so much shocked as to the status of
the law profession as he had been at
gome of the expressions of bad tem
per and bad legal propositions that
had been made in the debate.
Mr. Grosvenor then read the letter
of Judge Pardee.
In it the judge expresses surprise
that the house committee on the ju
diciary had voted “six democrats and
two republicans” to present articles
of impeachment against Judge
Swayne. He reviews the ciroum
stance of Swayne’s appointment in
the early part of the Harrison admin
igtration and following an election In
Florida, in which it was reported and
generally believed that gross frauds
had been perpetrated against the re
publican party. Judge Swayne had
told him that it was the desire of
the administration that those guilty
of those frauds should be proceeded
against. This litigation had engen
dered an intense feeling against
Judge Swayne. It was then regarded
as hazardous for Judge Swayne to
travel about the district and from that
time on Judge Swayne was persona
pon grata to the democrats in Flor
ida.
“Following this unpopularity,” the
lettor coptinues: “Judge Swayne’s dis.
LEESBURG. GA., FRIDAY,JANUARY 27. 1905
trict was changed, “largely for the
purpose of punishing him, The change
of the district resulted in his being,
as it were, legislated out of his dis
trict.” i ; h
The house had been noticeably im- i
pressed by the contents of the letter
Soon afterwards Bourke Cockran took
the floor to argue for impeachment, It
was expected the eloquent New York.
er would refer to the letter in his
speech. Cockran did not disappeint
the house in this. ‘
He characterized Judge Swayne's
conduct as outrageous, and then de
scribed Judge Pardee as “that other}
judge who drags his fame in the dirt
In order to throw i mantle over his
inferior.” ‘
Cockran declared Judge Pardee had
destroyed his own usefulness as &
judge by <defending Swayne. |
The attack created a great sensa.
tion in the house, for Cockran went
the Ilmit of invective in describing his
etsimate of .Tndge Pardee's act.
e et stngpomentinsi
STRIKE ON PANAMA CANAL.
Several Laberers Have Been Kvicted
\ from Company Houses. |
A dispatch from Colon says: The
strike of the St. Cristobal men ended
Monday. The canal officials brought
in 120 laborers, chiefly Colombians,
from Panama and other points along
the line. These men temporarily are
receiving $1.50 sllver per day and also
free quarters and food. Several strik
ing laborers were evioted Saturday
evening from the canal commission’s
houses, but a large number have given
up the strike and are gradually re
wuming work, T
DECLARE REPORT UNTRUE.
Alabamlans Declare They Did Not
Dine with Booker Washington,
~ The report printed in New York
that members of the Birmingham,
Ala, delegation who went to Washing
ton to invite the President to visit
that city fraternized and dined with
Booker T. Washington on the traim
en route, is emphatically denied by
every member of the party who has
returned to Birmingham,
NOVEL PLAN TO END WAR.
General Strike in All Countries Sug
gested at Meeting in Barcelona.
A curious method for terminating
the Russo-Japanese war wag started
at a meeting in Barcelona, Spain, on
Monday. The delegates representing
106 labor and other societies petition
ed the International Peace Society of
Holland demanding that a general
strike be proclaimed in all countries
with the object of ending the hos
tilities in the Far East.
HEARING PEABODY CONTEST.
| Colorado Legislative Committee Holds
Its First Open Session,
) In the (~urt of appeals chamber
at Denver, Col, Wednesday afternoon,
i_the committee of twenty-seven mem
- bers of ihe general assembly, eigh
teen democrats, appointed to hear the
contest of James H. Peabody for the
seat of Governor Alva Adams, held
its first open session.
Shell Strikes Church Where
He Was Attending Service.
DIRE PLOT IS ALLEGED
Sensational Affair Might Have Been
Only Accident, But All Cireum
stances Point in Opposite
. * Direction.
A St. Petersburg dispatch says: The
festival ‘of Bpipuany, the blessing of
the waters, had just been concluded
at 1 o'clock Thursday afternoon when
simultaneously with the salute fired
fiom the St. Peter and St. Paul fort
ress, either a rain of bullets or a
shrapnel shell swept over the little
chapel built over the frozen Neva,
in front of the winter palacs, where
Emperor Nicholas and every member
of the Romanoff family were partici
pating in the service.
‘The missiles went high, entering
windows of the splendid row of sa
long along the water front, from
which the empress, the Jaies of the
court and members of the diplomatic
corps, ‘including Ambassador McCor
mick, Secretary Bddy and Second Sec
retary Bliss, and all the high dignita
ples of the state, army and navy were
witnessing the glittering spetacle be
low. Fortunately, the bullets passed
over the heads of all present, striking
the opposite walls and clattering down
on the parqueted floor of the white
salon,
The first impression of those who
heard the crash was that 1t was due
to falling crystals from the glass
chandeliers and >aused by concussion
from the booming guns. Everybody
had been laboring under a more or
less mervous strain, because of the
strike situation, and when the truth
was lealized, the windows were has
tily vacated and the greatest excite
ment reigned within the palace.
From the holes passing through the
double windows, it is certain that the
bullets came from the direction of the
bourse. In the meantime, there is no
evidence outside of what occurred.
The crowds of people who formed
black lines along the quays, the pal
ace bridge, the steps of the bourse
and every other point of vantage in
the white Arctic landscape did not
betray the least excitement. Neither
did the imperial party in the chapel
below. ,
Everything on the surface seems to
indlcate the existence of a deadly and
deep-laid plot against the emperor in
which artillery men were enlisted.
It is understood that all the men
and the officers of the battery were
immediately placed under arrest for
examination,
The police took charge of the spot
where the battery stili stands and
drew a double cordon across the river,
searching out everything in the line
of fire. :
. An old barge frozen in the ice was
thoroughly examined to ascertain
~whethey the bullets could possibly
- have come from it, but no evidence
was dicovered tending to substantiate
such a theory. :
From an authoritetive source it ap
pears that doubt of the existence of a
plot arises from the fact that shrap
nel wasg distributed to the battery in
anticipation of trouble on this occa
sion. Under this fact rests the the
ory of a possible mistake made by a
gunner. .
“If this was a deliberate plot,” sald
an officlal especially charged with the
safeguarding of the person of his maj
esty, “it was very ingenious. I have
been prepared for an anarchist at
tempt in any form we could conceive,
but an atsempt to kill the emperor
with one of his own guns, under the
guise of firing a salute was never
dreamed of. It is a new departurs
against a repetition of which we must
take precautions. If gunners of the
emperor's picked guard can be en
listed in such a dastardly conspiracy,
serious possibilities are presented.”
TO DRAIN THE HARBOR.
Japs Contemplats Scheme for Saving
Sunken Ships at Port Arthur.
It has been proposed to dam Port
Arthur harbor at the entrance and
pump out the water preparatory to
salving the Russian war vessels,
Discussing the matter, a naval of
ficer sald that under ordinary circum
staaves such a great work would be .
unprofitable, but in view of the num
ber of ships possibly salvable and
the shallowness and smallness of the
harbor it was the most economical
method.
PAYING FOR FRIAR LANDS.
More Than Half of the Seven Millions
Appropriated Has Changed Hands.
More than half of the $7,000,000 ap
propriated for payment of the friars’
land in the Philippines has been paid
out to the Catholic orders and the tl
tle to the land has passed to the Phil
ippine government. This money was
disbursed through London banks.
BANK SAFE UNYIELUDING.
Burglarg Make Fruitiess Visit to La
fayette, Ala, Bank.
The Bank of Lafayette, Ala. was
entered by robbers last Sunday night.’
The vault door was blown open and
the burglars tried to blow open the
safe containing about $20,000, but
failea in the attempt. No money was
- secured by the robbers,
HAD HIS GUN READY. !
Juige Hargis s Finally Accused nf
Complicity in Feud Murders.
A. F. Byrd, attorney for the com
monwea'th in the case against Bill
Britton for the alleged assassination
of James Cockrill, at Jackson, in the
feudal war, made a sensational state
ment in court at Lexington, - Ky,
Wednesday, that he would prove that
Judge Hargis sat in the window of
his stire with a rifle in his hand pre
pared to shoot at the time that Brit.
ton and@ Curtis Jett are alleged to
bave killed Cockrill.
NO. 28.