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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.