The Story of a Dark Plot; Or, Tyranny on the Frontier — John Shaqi
The Story of a Dark Plot; Or, Tyranny on the FrontierA.L.O.C.
History
The Story of a Dark Plot; Or, Tyranny on the Frontier
A.L.O.C.
Smith, William W.; Temperance
The Autumn Court of the District of Bedford was opened at Sweetsburg,
Que., on Thursday, August 30th, 1894, and at this session the Sutton
Junction Assault Case was considered. The lawyers in charge of the
case were H. T. Duffy, on behalf of the Alliance, and E. Racicot, on
behalf of the accused hotel keepers. The court room was thronged each
day with eager listeners, and much interest was evinced both by the
temperance and anti-temperance people.
The following account of proceedings at court and other matters
relating to the assault case is from _The Templar_, a temperance
paper, published in Hamilton, Ont., and a large part of this
description was also published in the Montreal _Daily Witness_:
"The excitement in Brome County, Quebec, over the arrest of
several prominent liquor sellers on the charge of conspiring to
murder Mr. W. W. Smith, President of Brome County Temperance
Alliance, increases as the developments are becoming known to
the public. According to the evidence, there remains no longer
any question that Mr. Smith's devotion to Prohibition, and
particularly his determined stand for the honest enforcement of
the Scott Act, which is in force in that county, made him a
shining mark for the vengeance of the men whose trade and profits
were so seriously affected thereby. The confession of Walter
Kelly, the assailant, that he was employed to 'do up' Mr. Smith
because he was a man who gave the hotel keepers much trouble, and
had to be thrashed, as well as the payment of money by Mr. Jenne,
proves the animus of the assault, while the general evidence
indicates a wide-spread conspiracy, embracing others than the
accused, to cause the diabolical crime. The publicans of Brome,
and, indeed, the liquor traffic as a whole, lie under the
terrible suspicion of sympathy with this crime. It is not beyond
the traffic. Its record is traced in blood as well as tears. _The
Templar_ is quite ready to believe that there are men in the
business who would shrink with horror from the very thought of
engaging in such a deed of blood, but the assault upon Mr. Smith,
of Sutton, is the natural fruit of the damnable business, and
those exceptions have not been wholly dominated by the genius of
the traffic. What cares the liquor seller who suffers while he
thrives? The excitement centres at Sweetsburg, where the court is
engaged in hearing the evidence against James Wilson and M. L.
Jenne, hotel keepers at Sutton and Abercorn, who are charged
with conspiring to murder Mr. Smith. The preliminary hearing
began last Friday morning. People had come from all parts of the
surrounding country, and several newspaper people from across the
line, male and female, were on hand.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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