Kentucky Lawyer

Old-fashioned orator

103 Kentucky Lawyer badly beaten, and walked over to Mr. Ware. He leaned over and whispered, “Orie, when that old bird finished that damned sermon, instead of Bryson saying ‘Mr. Sheriff , you may recess court,’ he should have said, ‘We will all now rise and receive the benediction.’” Old-fashioned orator All Kentuckians who knew him personally and who had intimate association with him had a genuine affection for the late Governor Edwin P. Morrow of Somerset. He was a man of warm and friendly disposition, a gifted orator, and a very resourceful lawyer when occasion demanded. I recall quite well the last time I saw him. It was in the federal courtroom in Leington where he was defending an elderly doctor charged with violation of the narcotic law. I, as United States Attorney, was putting forth every effort to get a conviction of what I sincerely felt was a serious law violation. Ed Morrow, with equal conviction of his client’s innocence, was determined that there should be an acquittal. President Theodore Roosevelt said that an aggressive fight for right is the noblest sport known to man. With both of us assured we were fighting for the right, you may well understand what a day of noble sport this trial was. About four o’clock in the afternoon it was obvious that the case could not be concluded that day and would likely take all of the net. Mr. Morrow came to me and said, “You’ve got me in a bad fi. When I accepted this employment , I was assured and believed the trial could be concluded in one day. Now it appears we cannot possibly 10 Mac Swinford finish today and may not be able to tomorrow. I accepted an invitation to deliver the keynote speech at the Republican state convention out here at Woodland Auditorium and unless you will help me out, I’ll have to cancel my speech. Would you be willing to consent to a mistrial and take the case up at a later date? If not, I must stay with my client, but will have to forego the delight of giving you Democrats hell out here at the Auditorium for a full hour and a half tomorrow afternoon.” I assured him that I was convinced that giving us Democrats hell was about all the Republicans were going to get out of the election and I wasn’t going to stand in the way of what little fun they were going to have. With that we both went to Judge Church Ford who was presiding and on Ed’s motion and without objection the swearing of the jury was set aside and the case reassigned for trial. He made his speech on the net day as planned and although I didn’t hear it, I know it was a good one. He was stricken in his last illness that afternoon on the bus on his way to Frankfort and died very shortly thereafter. I always appreciated his friendship and the privilege of rendering him an accommodation in his last courthouse appearance. * * * Senator John Sherman Cooper tells this story about Ed Morrow when he was a practicing lawyer in Somerset. A man went into Morrow’s office late one afternoon and 10 Kentucky Lawyer asked him to help him in his trial to following morning at nine o’clock. Ed said, “Well, this is short notice, but what are you charged with?” “Wilful murder,” was the reply. “Man, do you mean to tell me you are going on trial for murder in the morning and are just now getting you a lawyer?” “Oh, no,” said the prospective client, “I’ve got my lawyer, Judge Bethurum, he’ll try the case; but Ed, I want you to come over and sympathize with the jury.” “Old Ring” Notwithstanding his many courthouse battles and his wide law practice for a generation throughout Kentucky, Governor Morrow is probably best remembered for his famous “Old Ring” speech delivered in practically every courthouse in Kentucky from the Big Sandy at the West Virginia border to Mills Point on the Mississippi in his race for governor against James D. Black, the Democratic nominee, in 1919. Back in those days, there wasn’t much issue between the Democratic and Republican parties in local Kentucky politics. The Democratic party was dominant, of course, and when united was unbeatable; but...