the proceedings. So important, in fact, was the case considered, that the Morning Oregonian published daily a verbatim report of the trial, and this act on the part of the newspaper received general commendation, especially in view of the fact that Harvey W. Scott, its editor-in-chief, had long been a political enemy of the disgraced statesman. In its graphic description of the scenes incident to the jury's verdict of guilty, the Oregonian the next morning printed the following sketch:
"Although hard hit, as a man must be under such awful conditions. Senator Mitchell retained his composure. Tears welled into his eyes and his voice shook, and, as he slowly rose from his seat, after the jury had been polled and Court adjourned, he tottered, and for the brief spell of perhaps a minute the shocking force of the verdict seemed suddenly to unload upon his shoulders every one of those 70 years through which he has passed, and he became old, very old."
Immediately after the verdict had been rendered, Francis J. Heney gave out the following statement; "I congratulate Oregon upon the high standard of its citizenship, as exemplified by the conduct and verdict of the trial jury which has just evidenced to the world that Oregon believes in the enforcement of the laws of our country, and that in Oregon no man is above the law. Every man who sat upon the jury is entitled to have his name emblazoned upon Oregon's perpetual roll of honor."
But little more remains to be told about the case. On July 25, 1905, Judge DeHaven sentenced Senator Mitchell to six months in the Multnomah County Jail, at Portland, Oregon, and also imposed a fine of $1,000. Pending an appeal from the verdict of the jury, Senator Mitchell succumbed to death, passing away in Portland on December 8, 1905, as the result of a dental operation, his ailment being diagnosed as diabetic coma.
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