Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 41, Number 46, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 February 1909 — Libel Indictments Returned. [ARTICLE]

Libel Indictments Returned.

Wednesday the grand jury of the District of Columbia, which has been investigating the libel charges against the New York World and the' Indianapolis News, indicted these papeis for criminal libel. Bench warrants have been issued for the arrest of Joseph Pulitzer, Caleb M. Van Hamm and Robert H. Lyman, of New York, proprietors and editors of the New York World, and for Delavan Smith and Chari's R. Williams, owners of the Indianapolis News. The warrants were issued In connection with the publication in these newspapers of charges of Irregularities in the purchase by the: United States government of the Panama canal property from the French company. The warrants were issued by the clerk of criminal court No. 1, and are directed against all five of the natural defendents of the two newspapers. The summons requires the corporate defendent, the Press Publishing Company, of New York,. to appear in court forthwith to answer to the indictments. District Attorney Baker probably will not send the copies of the bench warrants and the certified cop:e3 of the indictments to New York or to Indianapolis for a day or two. They were placed in the hands of the United States marshal in Washington, D. C., late Wednesday afternoon and he will proceed with them in accordance with the directions of Mr. Baker. Theodore Roosevelt, William H. Taft, Elihu Root, J. Pierpont Morgan, Charles P. Taft, Douglas Robinson and William Nelson Cromwell are the men alleged in the indictments as having been villified by - the stories appearing In the two newspapers. The New York World, commenting on the case, criticized President Roosevelt and the government for their action in the matter. The Indianapolis News did not comment upon the matter further than to say that its publishers would contest extradition to the Disrict of Columbia for trial on the ground that if any offense had been committed, it was committed in Indianapolis, the place of publication of the News. It is understood that both papers will contest extradition. The Department of Justice Wednesday night issued a statement to the effect that it considered any public statement regarding the investigation of the charges of criminal libel by the grand jury of the District of -Columbia was altogether inappropriate during the pendency of such investigation, notwithstanding the fact that American newspapers and others have not hesitated to comment freely and unfairly upon the character of the supposed purpose of the inquiry in progress, and for that reason the present statement had been delayed and is now limited to the proceedings within the District of Columbia. Then followed a discourse upon the legality of libel suits beine- instituted in the District of Columbia and quotations from authorities in regard to libel actions. The Department of Justice holds that public officials are servants of the people and are open to criticism by the public the same as any employe is open to criticism by his employer, as such criticism is of value in that it tends to cause men in public trust to be more faithful to their constituents; but that unwonton vituperation on the part of newspapers tends only to weaken the power of the press.