As long as Chicago judges can take upon themselves to have their critics arraigned for contempt of court, it is a delicate matter for a newspaper to criticize a judge for treatment received. Yet the manner in which Justice Cooling commented upon and decided the case of A. B. Lange vs. Bjornson and Reimers calls for a statement of the facts and some explanations on our part.

Of the two defendants Mr. Reimers is nothing but the black sheep of the family who was sent to America because his family would not have him at home. Mr. Bjornson, son of his father, as every Norwegian knows, is not much better; he came to this country to make some money, inviting his compatriots [here] to come and pay fifty cents to hear a lecture on political events in Norway. In almost every city which he has visited the lecture has been denounced as rot; the Norwegian papers in Brooklyn stated that Bjornson departed from that city leaving various bills unpaid. In Chicago he refused to accept the agreement 2offered and made by his advance agent and denounced the ticket-seller, the doorkeeper, the usher, and others for demanding pay for their services. And similar reports come from other cities. Scandia called his lecture a fraud perpetrated upon the public and declared it worth just fifty cents less than the admission fee. When he arrived in Minnesota and found that our criticism was hurting his business, he offered twenty dollars through an aquaintance in Chicago if we would stop criticizing his lecture; he may tell what answer he received if he so chooses.

Then came accounts of scandalous behavior on his part and his manager's in Minnesota towns; reports were sent to Scandia that certain papers had received full information through their regular news service but had been induced to suppress the matter. The editor of Scandia while in Minnesota investigated the stories, and from the best obtainable sources found them to be true; he found that certain papers actually had been induced to suppress them, and that the Norwegians in those districts were very indignant over the behavior of 3these two worthies. He was fully satisfied that everything [reported] was true, that the Norwegians in the towns concerned were right in denouncing these two gentlemen as a disgrace to their nationality, and that they fully deserved to be exposed. Scandia then published [the facts] that Mr. Reimers, in Belgrade, Stearns County, [Minnesota], had attempted to ravish a chambermaid in the hotel; that her screams brought people to the room; that Mr. Bjornson laughed at the whole affair; that both were rotten-egged out of town; and that Mr. Reimers was arrested in Grant County, charged with attempted rape, and on his way back was released in Pope County through habeas corpus proceedings.

We also quoted from other papers [an item stating] that the pair had invited two servant girls to their room in Appleton and had tried to get them drunk but were chased out of the hotel by the landlord, and that there were calls for Judge Lynch.

This was some three months ago, and they never wrote to deny it; on the contrary, 4we have heard the story substantiated by people from the neighborhood. Then, three weeks ago, having just come back to Chicago, the worthy pair lay in wait for the editor of Scandia, sneaked up behind him, got a strangle hold on his throat, and knocked him down.

They were first arrested for disorderly conduct, but this case was dismissed, and they were again arrested for assault and battery on a warrant issued by Justice Crocker. When they appeared in court, after being in Chicago for a week or so, they swore that they could not get any justice before Justice Crocker--perhaps because he is known as an honorable man--and got a change of venue to Justice Cooling, who, by the way, is an old fried of their attorney, Johan Waage.

Here they admitted being rotten-egged out of Belgrade. Mr. Reimers also admitted the arrest for attempted rape and the following release through habeas corpus [proceedings]; but he denied the attempted rape and would have it appear 5as a case of blackmail. The complainant might have told how eye-witnesses describe the situation when the girl's screams brought them to the room, and we might have published it if it had not been too filthy for publication.

We have always thought that admission of fact was equivalent to proof, but Judge Cooling evidently has a different opinion; after all the admissions made by Mr. Reimers the court found that there was nothing proved. Even though the defendant denied the attempted rape, it is unlikely that people in a quiet country community would rotten-egg visitors out of town without having some cause for doing so. But the court, having previously interrupted the proceedings in order to air his love for newspapers in general and for the Chicago Tribune in particular, declared that the defendants had been libeled and let them off with a fine of one cent and costs. Justice Cooling even added that if he had been libeled in the same way, he would have done as these defendants had done; this seems to imply that the justice would have sneaked up behind his alleged libeler, collared him, and slugged him from behind where it could 6be done in safety. All this goes to show that Justice Cooling must be a brave man, a very brave man.

The following letter, sent to us for publication, shows what Norwegians think of these two "sons of their fathers". And we may add that when Mr. Bjornson on last Friday gave a lecture in Wicker Park Hall, which has a capacity of nearly fifteen hundred, there were only sixty people present, and of these more than half had free tickets, that shows what the Norwegians of Chicago think of them.

The letter which we received follows:

Mr. A. B. Lange.

Dear Sir: Answering your inquiry of recent date concerning the conduct of Erling Bjornson and Reimers, I state that Reimers, the big whelp, as Mr. 7Arctander termed him in a letter to me, did insult the chambermaid at the hotel here, and when Bjornson's attention was called to it, he instead of reprimanding him laughed at it, and to everybody's surprise and disgust took the pup's part. The result was the rotten-egging and the arrest of Reimers, followed by the release under habeas corpus. Their attorneys are now suing the "prince" and his partner for attorneys' fees. The sheriffs here still have a warrant for Reimers' arrest.

Personally I think that when a big-snooted Norwegian or any one else commits a crime against morals and decency, he should not be spared, whether he is Consul Hobe's friend or any one else's.

Yours truly,

T. J. Anderson.