Show I STATE WITHOUT t LAWS I This Is the Actual Condition of Idaho Today I + i ASSEMBLY OF LA WllAKERS I I A GUTN T COME BEFORE LEGISLATURE I t 1Lu1y Wat3 New Code t Remedy Defect of Present Laws But r Ablest Lawyers Selihy I I Sad Oppose This laDia mondeld Jacks aon I 4 Specal Correspondence Boise Ida Dec 10The cans have begun be-gun t gather for the mixup that ym go down in history as Idaho reconstruction reconstruc-tion legislature that is if the seion really doef rebuild properlY the many laws whose construction has been so faulty that they have only stood because been given the supreme court has not an opportunity to send a blast in their dIrection A state practically without stte laws That is the condition ot Idaho today to-day I the rule laid down in the fee bill case were applied to any one ot over I ii lglOt 22 important laws they would not comb up to requirements Citizens have as a rule refrained from applying the rule until the legislature is given an oppor unti te tunity to amend the faulty measure Some few have held off at the sacrifice or hed of a personal interests but the majority or those whose pockets would be lined by an attack that would unhinge certain leg Islatlon have resisted the temptation because reisted islaton cause they feared to set in motion an endless end-less chain whose links might enfold them and grind them to death In this connection I am told that the supreme court will indicate to the legislature legis-lature through Governor Steunenberg just what laws are defective and wherein The 1at defectve executive has been In correspondence with various members of the legislature who have been apprised or this proposed solu tiol or the difficulty What the supreme court proposes is to hold a little private session at which it will pass on the constitutionality con-stitutionality of a big bundle of laws without anyone having speclicl attacked at-tacked them This may appear a trifle ludicrous and some of the legislators may resent the intrusion and the imputation that they ae not competent to unravel the tangled skein Still it seems to be a vise expedieut I will not do for Iqao to sit two oar long over this volcano of legal uncertainty and the scheme outlined out-lined will if adopted by the wise men remove re-move t menace and male it possible for a code commission to more intelligently take up its work The legal frteri is divided over the question of a code commission The ma ority seem to favor it but some of the leading lawyers in ofh state object to it on account of the expense which they assort as-sort ccIoJo can ill afford at this time when tho legislaturo can remedy the < fete laws giving alt the relief nees at It is out sar no extra cost I pointed by the objector that the expense will not b less than 0 and they contend con-tend the state cannot afford such a luxury Better be pointed out by sister states as a back number better a good bank account with less pride they say The real objection or these leading lights of the bar however is found in the fat that the result of a code commissions labors would be to materially simplify i the work or less brilliant lawyers who could then easily solve the riddle of Idaos complex laws whereas now many of them are continually misled by the numerous Cmplcton and find it difficult to com Pete with those wh have possessed the selves or the key to the get puzzle Jack Davis wl never be pardoned So I was informed this week by a man who is in a position to know whereof he speaks The press has pretty fully informed in-formed the people concerning this case which has gained so much prominence as to place it gne front rank of crImna prosecutions in this state The story has been told of the finding of the riddled bodies or Commlng and Wilson the sheepherders thirteen days after their murder of rtle dee n htr cattlemen cattle-men anti sheepma or Cassia county of the conviction on circumstantial evidence I or Diamondfeld Jack Davis Of the statements of Jet Gra ana J id lOWr in support or Davis applcaton for pardon that Gray killed the men in de tense of himself and Bower and of the action of the board of pardon in re ureving Davis pending the result Of I trays trial When the board refused to pardon Davis on what is generally considered avery a-very strong showIng for the condemned man opposed only by the physical facts or the case it practically state to the people that it did not believe the sworn statements of Bower and Gray who either at the trial of Davis or before the board perjured themselves for their statements on these occasions were dirt di-rt opposite I they hang Jack Davis it will be murder was another statement made tome to-me thio week John Sparks of Reno Zov the head of the great cattle firm of Spark HereId in whose employ Davis was when th crime was committ d and who has stood at Dais side from the frt spending a mint of money i his defense gave utterance to these words Mr Sparks says he Is a certain of Davis innocence aah is fal his l own existence The two statements quoted strongly por tray the present status or the case and throw on the canvas a vivid picture of desperate hope defying death Probably in the annals of crime of the northwest there has never been a case similar to that of Diaondfeld Jack And what or the man who stands un stnds der shadow of the glows and through the loop of the nose of which another man has thrust his head to some one whom he claims Is a victim of circumstances circum-stances lie is supposed to be a bad man His name indicates a border character bristling with weaPons But to the via ior he Presents more the alerance or a bay digger who has devote too muCh of his time to the perusal of yellow backed literature Dlamoleld Jack is as sneak as a newborn Moses He has been pIctured as the daring guardian or the range employed by the cattlemen to drill eternal fear into the breasts of the sheepowners and their employees As a mater of fact an ordinary focktender could run him tt death with a frozen shes tai But he was a braggart he fore confinement in murderers row tamed his speeches and spread the prison pallor prsn palor his countenance And his manfac lured storiqs tegt daring deeds oT ig OtiS exchanges of shots with enemies who alwas outnumbered him but who were ever sent to precipitous wo have prcved well nigh fatal to his cause Tnere IS a possibility that the death sentence will be commuted but that is a mater to be considered by a new board of pardon whose decision the condemned man nervously awaits while the self accuse Cray stands ready to take sel place relying on 1 plea of cltdefense for acquittal While the prejufiqing rabble shout for vengeance the great majority of Idaho an with howe heads are waiting In silence for the real facts bearing on the gref a1acv terrible il ee that have been lodged I against fed ofC6r of the Idaho regi mCit in Manila Though the humiliation is ken still few excepting that volatile I lass who need but a suggestion touched to th fuse of the4r sumeton fus her imagination to ex I loe their unreasoning brains will be I lieve the accusations are but the children of mlschlefm31ers until the case is clearly piovon before a properly consti tuted authority Public opinion cons cnnot stsfy itself by trying these men They Te must before the proper military body bo proven guilty before Idaho will believe w1 beleve but they must prove their innocence be for that court before Idaho can defend and hold them tp as her dutiful but maligned sons The charges are directed against Colonel Jones commanding the regiment and Major Figginc the ranking major commanding the frt 11ttlon They I arcs accused of rank cowardiceopenly aeuse cwnriccpcnlY charged with disgracing their regiment rcime and their 11b Such charges arc too serious to b accepted as trim without the fullest proof and they are wihout Eious to be dropped without the fullest fulest vindication possible Tho people of Idaho demand that as Soon a practicable a court be convened ito examine into the fat or convene I th v de1and that the fullest examln ton be had into the conduct of their rusted eons they demand the extreme p nal i these men art shown to bo En and they fully realize hO1tseh an Outcome would smich the glory or their commoaweUt which granted five times the nUmhot or soldiers oritdnal allotted undr the frt call was the send or all the states In the union to report her quota ready to be moved And finally they demand that If thee charges are proven false that those who have given utrneo to them clouding what Jen wise would have been a iurous record for their state be punished as seas se-as military regulations will permit and then set home to be sure like mangy curs mwg be to these officers however if the chares against tem be proven true Better for them that their bones fertilize the feverblster mud or Manila than I to return home with the brand of cowardice coward-ice 9n their brows The chare of cowardice grow out of the maneuvering of the tops whIch resulted in the first real engagement after 1 the Idaho boys landed I is charged that when order were sent to the Idaho regi met to move Colonel Jones and Major Figgins could not be found Other troops were moved around the Idaho I boys who move would have had the position of honor and the las from this state stood In the mud and watched stoo others go in for glory they might have I gained Mortified humiliated angry as one or the accusers states they refused even for a time to salute Major Figgns who was among them a great deal while Colonel Jones remained out of sight for time after some tme atr This is a severe arraignment and none but the thoughtless will believe one ward or it until the chare have ben proven Meantime the people of Idaho will hold their peace but they will speak in 110 I uncertain voice whatever the result of I the investigation AIGtcr charge against thee officers is I that the men have not secured proper I supple and that money sent from this state for the purpose or buying necessaries I neces-saries for the sick has ben devoted to other uses such ns the construction of shower suc et for the well These things wi also have to be looked into I but it is safe to foretell that investiga lon along thoso lines will develop another an-other crop of those soldiers few but pestiferous who imagined when they went to war Uncle Sam would give them target practice on downy couches and serve pate de lola gras and frappe between be-tween shots Boise is going to make another effort for a railroad to connect the northern and southern portions of the state At present the traveler is forced to go around through Washington and Oregon to reach the capital from the north invOlving I in-vOlving a journey that consumes as much tIme as a trip from here to Omaha The Northern Pacific and the Oregon Halway Navigation arc both building south from Lewiston to tap the Seven Devils and the assurance is given that one or both these lines will form a junc ion with the Short Line Boise people want the southern terminal at the capital and I learn that a secret meetnt of business busi-ness men has bee held for the purpose of tatng steps to start a stub line northward north-ward a a inducement for the new lines to come into Boise I is also believed such a step will prove influential In se curing the main line of the Short Line for Boise I is reasoned that the Short Line wilt lose no time In putting Boise on the main line when it is certain one or both or these new lines are heading tor this place REX OSBORNE I 1 0 |