Stephen H. Branch's Alligator, Vol. 1 no. 18, August 21, 1858

Transcriber Notes
Volume I.—No. 18.SATURDAY, AUGUST 21, 1858.Price 2 Cents.
We conclude, the public feel slightly interested in our libel case; therefore we shall take the liberty to lay before our readers a few extracts from the weekly press of our city, as we did in our last the opinions of the dailies.
During the last three months Branch’s Alligator has been the talk of the town. Through the columns of his little sheet, Branch has made charges of the most serious nature against prominent citizens and office holders. At first no notice was taken of these attacks, finally, however, these charges were so generally talked of that it became necessary for the parties assailed to notice them. Mayor Tiemann, Simeon Draper and Supervisor Bell united in a complaint before the Grand Jury, who found an indictment; whereupon all the rest of the individuals who had been honored with the attentions of the Alligator set to work to aid in bringing Branch to justice. His case was set down for trial in the sessions on Monday last. When the case was called, Branch announced himself ready for trial; the District Attorney, however, said he would not be ready till Tuesday. An attempt had been made on Saturday to prejudice the case by one of his bondsmen, being indused to surrender Branch, and on Tuesday, in the middle of the trial, Mr. Southworth, the other bondsman, went into Court and surrendered him. In both cases other parties came forward and took the places of these pretended friends. By applying the sharpest rules of legal practice, his testimony was ruled out and Branch was convicted, and without giving him time to breathe, he was sentenced to pay a fine of $250 and to be imprisoned in the Penitentiary for one year. The Recorder in his remarks volunteered the gentle hint to the rest of the newspapers, that there were a number of other editors whom he meant to put through a similar course of sprouts. While we do not care to quarrel with the verdict of the jury, and certainly do not wish to be understood as advocating the license of the Press to assail unjustly the character of any individual in the community, we must say to the Recorder and the parties to the trial, that we hardly think they will find any other case in which they will be permitted to put an editor through with quite such railroad speed, though we admit that if justice were as promptly administered in all cases, the Court of Sessions would stand much higher in public estimation. Of the real merits of Branch’s case we have no means of judging. That he believed the truth of the charges he made we have not the slightest doubt. If there was any falsehood in the matter, he was the dupe of it and not the perpetrator, and we sincerely regret that the prosecutors saw fit to avail themselves of legal technicalities to shut out what his witnesses had to say. It is quite as unfortunate for them as it is for Branch. While their suppression consigns him to prison it leaves the prosecution open to invidious comments, all of which might have been silenced by dragging the slanderers (if such they are) into the light of day and refuting these calumnies. That, however, is their business, not ours. In the meantime poor Branch has been consigned to the tender mercies of the Ten Governors—one of whom, at least, has publicly announced his determination to “put him through the roughest course of training any man ever got on the Island.” We were surprised to hear that the Governor in question had made this heartless speech. We supposed him to be a Christian and a man , but we cannot reconcile the idea of striking a fallen and powerless brother as either an evidence of Christianity or manhood , and we trust the Governor will yet see the impropriety of attempting to put his threat into execution. We see by this morning’s Express , that Branch was on Friday seen in the quarry with his hands all a mass of blisters, working away under a broiling sun. This looks as though the Governors intend to give him the full benefit of his sentence.