The University Case Decision

We inako no apology for devoting so arge a portion of our spaco thia mornng to the decisión of Judge Huntiugon in the University case ; for wo beievc the decisión will interest the groat najority of our readers tUroughout tho State. The decisión is so full and givos so concisoly the history of the oase, the loints at issue and the reasons upon which the finding in respeot to each is msed, that no comment is needod to assist the reader in olearly undorstanding t. In effect it will be seen that thé docison is substantially the same as the conclusión rciiched by the cointnittee of tht Board of Regenta, and adopted by the Board in June, 1876 ; and while it will of cour8e be very unsatisfaotory to Dr. Elose and thoso who havo beeu so persistently his partisans, wo believe it wil commend itself to fair-minded men as a well-considered, impartial, and, on the whole, just deoision, so far as tho case admitted of ono. As between the Kegonta on the one hand and the defendanta Koso and Douglas on the other there was, of course, no ocoasionfor furnishing a basis of Bottlcmcnt, as the partiea had already agreed upon the araount duo. What waa neoded was an authoritativo settlement of the respect ive liabilities of the defondauts namod and this the decisión furnishea ; subject of course, to an appeal to the court o last rosort. It is unfortunate for Dr. Roso and hi friends, and especially for his particular champion, that the view thoy have tak en and insistod upon in the caso pro vents them from regarding tho decisión of Judge Huntington in any othorligh than as a condemnation of the Doctor In itself the decisión is not acondemna tion, the Judge taking special pains to disclaim any intent to pass speciñeal ly upon the question of guilt or inno cenco, and oonfining himself to stating the legal liability. But as the Kose par ty has always predictod the Doctor'a in nocence upen his freedom froin liability it has beeu practically admitted that, i Hable at all, ho is guilty also. It is nat ural, porhaps, that finding themselves so situated, the friondB of Rose should raise an outcry against the decisión, as it wil be seen by our Ann Arbor correspond ence, thoy have done ; but in doing so they can hardly better their cause in the estiuiation of thoughtful men. It i easy to charge a judge with partisan ship or attempting to curry popular fa vor; but in this oase it is simply absurc to make such a charge. Tbanks to th persistent efforts of Rose's champion Beal, public opinión in his own neigh borhood, at least, has beeu 80 turnod in favor of the former, that if Judge Ilunt ington desirod to ourry popular favo in his own circuit, rather than decid impartially, he would inevitably hav decided evory poiut in favor of Rose. As the Free Press has acted through out this whole controversy without par tiality, as between Rose and Douglas, i would be incorrect to say that the do oision is in accordance with our views but we cannot refrain from pointing t one very significant f act in justificación of our position. Against the violen protest of Rose, through Beal, we hav always insisted that the proper place to try the Univorsity case was in th courts ; and now that the case has been 80 tried it is tho party which opposec that method of settlement which is dis satisfied with the result. The conclus ion can ecarcely be avoided that the; had less confidence than they pretendec in the strongth of their case. - Free l'ress It is not necessary that we shauld fol lew Judge Huntington through hi elabórate review and analysis of th testimony, oral and documentary, whic makes up the record of this caso. T thosej who have watched ita progres and familiarized themselvea with it essential details it is evident that hi decisión bears heavily upon Roso anc lightly upon Douglas. The causo wa not a criminal one, and thero is no pen alty attached save the establishing o a pecuniary liability, but all its impli cations as far as Rose is ooncerned poin toward dishonesty. On the other hand Douglas is only held responsible for ac couuts for which his apparent liabilit; can be explained by a wretchedly lax systom of business management or by an abuse of hia confidenco by a subor dinate. The case against Rose, as made out by Judge Huntington, is not com patible with innocence ; the caso a made out against Douglas does no necessarily go farther thau to convic hitn of looseness of administration which has led to deplorable results That we aro only stating fairly the in ferences to be drawn from the first ap portionraent of blame and responsibil ity made in this matter by a tribuna armod with especial powers and using tried methods for tho ascertainments o the truth in disputes of this characte is evidenct from tho naturo of the dem onstrationa called forth yesterday b; tho news among tho immediato friend of the partiea directly intorested. Uf course this is in no sense the ene of tho popular agitation over this mat ter. The Supremo Court inay yet bo called upon to review the findings o the circuit judgo; fortunately, if thi símil be the case, thero is a full recorc upon which that tribunal can baso a final anddecisive verdict. But whether there is an appeal or not, there will be no lack of demonstrations and protests and denunciations. Those whose passions, prejudices, or interests havo been already enlisted in tho con test will stanc their ground, and this decisión wil simply Ktimulate and not allay the loca fermont. But in the end the respect which followB tho decisión of a reputablo court in any class of issues which ii is especially organized to try will make itself felt among the masses of candic people, who have no care in tho matter savo that theintorests of tho Univorsity the public, andjustice shall bo consorved - Detroit Tribune. Judge Huntington has decided the main points in the University defalcation suit, though he acknowledgos his inability to arrivo at a conclusión upon the amonnts due. He decides that Mr. Rose is rosponsible for tho stubless and red line accounts and Dr. Douglas for the " D " and forfeited accounts. The amounts due from each aro to be settled by a cominissioner. In what he actually decides, tho Judge agrees with the report made by a committee of tho Regonts, to wbotn the matter was reforrod previoua to the litigation. Tho full text of the decisión ia printed on the third page of this paper. As might be expected from the stato of feeling in Ann Arbor, the decisión caused much oxcitoment thiire, and the frionda of Dr. Roso will hold a meeting Kriday evening to give expression to ;heir indignation. Kxuctly whatjuriadiction this novel court of review will ïave does not appear. It is evident that nothing short of a Supremo Court decisión will entiroly quiot public feeling on the matter, or be acceptod as final. - Detroit Vost. A Good Templar at Coral violated lis pledge. His wifo thereupon commenced legal proceedings against a saoon-keeper iu the villago to recover images. The unfortunate Templar's )arn, howover, was so located that in order to reach it be had to cross the remises of the vendor of the ardent, whioh, after suit was commenced gainst him, the latter prohibited, and removal of the biirn becamo necessay. Tho Good Templare then oalled a neeting, and the members en masso roceeded in full rogalia to the barn, nd werenearlv two hours in removinir