| Show s Contempt Case Is Now NOlO Closed Explanation of Our Position N THE fHE United States State court yesterday Judge I IN John A. A Mar Marshall hall fined The Republican Herald-Republican Publishing Publishing- company George E. E Hale general manager and Arthur J J. Brown editor 50 30 each on the char charge e of contempt of court on which ho he had held the corporation and the individuals guilty on October 9 The fines were vere promptly paid as as the defendants because of the nominal fine imposed and the manifest desire of the court to be fair in inthe inthe inthe the matter malter decided not to appeal Of the action of Judge shall Marshall The Republican Herald and tho the in individuals individuals in- in named med have no complaint to make and no criticism ism to voice Our right to do so o is unquestioned unquestioned unquestioned under the law and we would do so if we wo were so disposed The rho case was originally brought by Tom rom Kearns owner of two losing newspapers because of the manner in which The Republican Herald served to its readers the tho dt developments in court during the trial of the case of Frank I. I against the Salt Lake Telegram for salary due Judge shall Marshall dismissed dismissed dismissed dis dis- 1 missed the first case ease inasmuch as the thc Kearns lawyers lawyers lawyers law law- Powers x who are also attorneys for John S. S Bransford and Belle London the I mayors mayor's social ocial expert had brought criminal charges in a civil c case e. e Dismissing that Judge Marshall Marshall Mar Mar- InrI shall ordered proceedings in criminal contempt I have resulted as stated above I As was argued during luring the trial of the case while whilo certain eminent authorities hold that the manner in which The Republican Herald handled the report t I of the Kearns case was contempt of court in inI that it tended to bias bins the jury other authorities I equally as prominent and eminent hold that it is not contempt of court Judge Marshall has held that itis it itis itis j is but Judge Pritchard of North Carolina United I States jud judge c for the Fourth district equally equall as ns good goodan an authority as Judge shall Marshall held that a similar and much stronger case was not contempt The question has never been passed upon by a n. federal judge of greater reater rit authority than Judge Marshall and this decision merely aligns him with one set of au au- Whether or not such publications are in contempt is still a 3 disputed question In Ins his ll s decision Judge Marshall quoted Justice Holmes in the case of Patterson against the supreme court of Colorado During the trial hial of a case before the Colorado supreme court Senator Pattersons Patterson's newspaper the Denver Demer News criticised the court Ho He Heas was as punished for contempt and appealed the case to tho the United States Stales supreme court That ourt held that it had no jurisdiction and for that reason refused to pass on the merits of the case l. l e although Justice Holmes wrote an opinion of the matter That opinion however does not carT carry with ith it a precedent or a court order because the court made no order holding bolding that it was as a R matter between the Colorado supreme court and Senator P Patterson something with which the supreme court o of the United States had nothing to do Authorities of equal weight and jurisdiction arc are to be found on each side of the question The Republican Herald of course had no desire i and no intention to bias or prejudice the jury fury in in the thc case of against the Telegram b It would not have injured our feelings or ruffled our sleep if the jury had forced Kearns learns to deliver both the Tribune and md Tel Telegram to in fee fec simple as pay for his services and we cared eared so little about that we could have seen him afflicted with v th two such handicaps as these newspapers without shedding a tear It was a matter of no interest to us as to how the case terminated In order orner to save saye himself from pa paying ing for forthe tho the kind of work the latter had been doing for the character assassination in which these newspapers had indulged under the management Kearns went on the witness stand and made a clean breast of 01 it exhibiting the fact that his lIis newspapers had bad lost in one ono year and that Kearns himself is so yellow that he will foul his own nest to save sae a few of f his exceedingly quest questionable dollars Kea Kearns Ils by his own testimony proved the truth o of every charge The Republican Herald had been making about his his- newspapers and it was was' due the people of Utah th that t this should be made known own Kearns was willing the jury should hear this bathe but bat buthe he lIe did not want the people generally to know it He was willing the jury should hear that he lie was running running running run run- ning losing properties that he lie stopped slopped l his s newspaper news news- newspaper paper campaign against the race meets here because ono one of the race promoters owed him money moncy and he it the tue whole inside stor of ot otI wanted to get to have ha story I his failures told in court in order that he might avoid paying one of his jackals what was due him t Kearns was willing to have the jury hear that his i I papers were losing circulation prestige business and money but ho he did not want the tuc public to know it t I But tho the public did learn earn it through tho the columns t I of The Herald To g- g give gc c the public a astill astill astill still further object lesson in the difference between a cur and a thoroughbred Kearns had his his' attorneys institute proceedings in contempt against The Her Her- Republican ald-Republican its ils manager and its editor lIe He accepted accepted ac nc- ac- ac the verdict the jury jut gave gaye he did f not not ask for a new trial on the ground that The Tho Herald- Herald Republican publications had biased the jury jur or prevented prevented prevented pre pre- vented a fair trial He was glad to emerge from the case with the small verdict against him Lim as he had bad every reason to believe i it would be greater Every citizen of Utah conversant with the matter has wondered wondered wondered won won- dered that Kearns did not ask for a new trial if the publications of this paper biased or prejudiced e the tIle jury against him He could not have had a better basis for asking another hearing if his charges ere were true His attorneys of course merely did what they were employed to do Having shown their th r asinine tendencies tendencies cies by getting a client on the stand in court to damage damage damage dam dam- age his property to the extent of many many thousands thousands thousands thou thou- sands of dollars in order to avoid paying a few Yew thousands thousands thousands thou thou- sands they probably smarted under tinder the public criticism criticism criticism cism and ridicule to which they were subjected If there is any necessity for all any ono to employ an au attorney attorney ney at all any time one of that attorneys attorney's s 's duties l tiCS would be we should think to prevent his client from making making making mak mak- ing g the tho sort of or spectacle of himself that Kearns didon did didon didon on the sl stand ud in his own case Had Kearns Learns r never contested contested contested con con- tested the case he would not nol have been forced forcer to pay over o As it was by his own testimony his if it be he he lie immeasurably injured inured newspapers if possible to injure anything that is minus quantity Kearns earns would hive been better off had he been in the situation in which Balaam S v of sacred history found himself Balaam f fas as as Bible students well Drell l know noN s had bad an ass 1 t r 1 to speak for him Having employed Powers Powers Pow Pow- ers C why should Kearns dohis d do dohis his own talking Having lost Jost the issue in the case se although emerging from it with a smaller verdict than wa was expected Kearns tried to get even en with The Herald Herald- Republican for his own folly and the folly of hi his awyers b by making trouble for this paper which had given tho the public a pen picture o othe of the Kearns exhibition on the stand The herald herald- Republican is well wen satisfied with the outcome w we wencer never nc held to the opinion that Kearns could use HIe th the federal court for hi his own ends The nominal fine fin imposed by Judge Marshall and the leniency sho u n proves s the thc justice and reliability of our om confidence in view of the courts court's s apparently sincere belief that tha we had transgressed Kearns earns advanced in the affidavit it upon which th the contempt case was based that our publications ha had tended to discredit him with the jury Certainly n none no noone lone one need h. h try very hard to discredit Tom Kearns Keams ii in Utah If his record his daily life his despicable public policy his reputation on everything thing known about abou him everything for which he lie stands docs does not discredit discredit discredit dis dis- credit him then anything any publication might do could scarcely have hac any effect When ben Tom rom Kearns Keams went into court told the inside secrets of or his newspaper business admitted it wa was losing that it had hod been suffering a diminished volU volume vol vol- U ume of patronage e and that ho had changed chang its policy in order to get that patronage e restored to him ho lie damaged himself and his newspaper to an nn extent that any anyone one else could not have effected When a aman aman aman man like Kearns who likes to be bc thought successful successful successful success success- ful to be regarded as rich and antI prominent with will Hh Midas-like Midas fingers that turn everything ho he touches to gold goes into court com and snivels an and moans am and simpers and groans as s he did yelping like an any other in order to avoid u paying an underling a asa sa salary I a 1 we wc think the scene rather rattier furnishes an unmistakable unmistakable un un- mistakable index to his character And when he was worsted in the court of public opinion he acted as does docs an any other cur when it is whipped ho he howled lcd And the lawyers who had hat given gi him the fool advice howled with him Only S since they were called into the Belle London case caso have their lacerated feelings been assuaged |
