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Interrogatory 2nd. Have you or not as a member of the Bar of said Court, had occasion to witness the conduct of Judge Stump whilst on the bench. If so, state fully all your knowledge in reference to any facts, showing misconduct in office, want of courtesy and dignity on the bench, incapacity from drunkenness or other causes to attend his official duties.
A. In my attendance upon the Criminal Court I have had frequent occasion to witness the conduct of Judge Stump while on the bench. His general bearing has been such as to bring discredit upon the honorable position he occupies, and his manifest want of appreciation of the solemn responsibilities which rest on him, has been mortifying to those who were obliged to contemplate it. His sad delinquencies of temper, manner and dignity, have been such as to make the just citizen alarmed, when he reflected that the issues of liberty and life were to be determined by a tribunal, whose presiding officer seemed completely destitute of every proper sense of becoming deportment, and who by his unfortunate habits was clearly incapable of discharging his sacred truats.
I have frequently seen him come to the discharge of his duties, when he seemed to be under the influence of liquor, and occasionally have seen him, when overcome by what appeared to he the drowsiness of drunkenness, loose all consciousness on the bench, till he was suddenly startled and awakened by the gibbering merriment of a miscellaneous crowd. When off the "bench, I have seen him in motet public places in such a fallen state of intoxication as to become an object of ridicule to the passer-by, and bring reproach upon his official position, while the members of the profession may entertain respect for the natural abilities of Judge Stump, by the intelligent exercise of which he might have reflected credit upon himself and his office, I believe the sentiment of the Bar to be, with probably no exception, that his unfortunate habits have beguiled him of every fitness for the discharge of the important duties of Judge of the Criminal Court.
Joseph M. Peregoy
1st. Are yoli not a resident of Baltimore and a reporter of one of the daily papers of that city ?
A.I am a resident of Baltimore city> and a reporter for the Baltimore Sun. 3
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