The curtain came down abruptly on the last act of Janet Smith’s sad story after nearly sixteen months of inquests and trials that had filled the pages of the papers and entranced the public. The preliminary hearing of the charges against Jackson, David Paterson, Mrs. Stratton, Point Grey police commissioner H.P. McRaney and reeve James Paton opened in a Vancouver city courtroom on December 1.
City prosecutor Major W. McKay rose to his feet, and the courtroom was suddenly silent as he told Magistrate H.C. Shaw that he had received a message from Victoria staying the charges against all five accused. There would be no prosecution. The unexpected, audacious move startled attendees and reporters alike. There were many who had wanted to see Jackson get his comeuppance. Instead of hearing new testimony, they listened as Shaw read a message from Deputy Attorney General Carter in which Carter maintained that the legal move was entirely his own decision. He didn’t bother to appear in person, and there were not many who believed him, feeling without doubt that it was a direct order from Manson. Jackson was Manson’s man, and while there seemed little new to be unveiled in further testimony, a new trial always provided a possibility of more scandal.
Carter maintained that the order could have been made earlier, but he had decided to wait until all the significant evidence was in, particularly the case against the Point Grey trio who had been found not guilty on all counts. He stated that these decisions constituted a repudiation of Robinson’s evidence and his allegations against Jackson and the others. The deputy cited the assizes court jury’s finding of guilt as proof that Robinson’s story was beyond belief. “No public good can come from further proceedings,” stated Carter, knowing it was a very hard sell with a skeptical audience, but insisting that Manson had left the decision entirely in his hands.
Carter contended that Robinson had not laid his charges in good faith and that the attorney general’s department “should not lend itself to such a method.” He added it would be an insult to ask the court now to consider such evidence and “it ought not, in common fairness, be permitted.” Carter maintained it would be a “useless waste of public money and should be stayed.” His hypocritical statement spoke of a justice that certainly had not been accorded Wong Foon Sing, and expenditure of public funds had not been a consideration in hounding of the houseboy. Nevertheless, the charges were dropped and the five were free.
Manson faced another round of sharp attacks from politicians and the public because of this latest move. It was reasonable to assume that the strategy had the backing, however reluctant, of Manson’s colleagues and the premier, who had deemed that it was preferable to face attack over the move than risk possible disaster with Jackson on the stand again. One member, C.F. Davie, said Manson had abused his prerogatives with the stay of proceedings and that it swept away all confidence in him as the province’s chief law enforcement officer. “It was the most shocking blunder and misuse of justice this province has ever known,” he declared. Davie insisted that Manson, as the man in charge, should not have left something of this importance to his deputy.
The assault went on, with R.R. Pooley telling the legislature that Manson knew if Jackson was found guilty, the attorney general was equally guilty of criminal actions. Manson argued back that it would have been in his interests to have the case go ahead, but it would have been an abuse of the courts. The opposition moved a motion to slash Manson’s $7,500 salary to $10, but his colleagues hung tough and defeated it in a vote.
With his party standing publicly behind him in the House (although in private some members voiced differing views), and in the face of Manson’s stonewalling, the opposition attack and the furor finally died. The politicians had other issues to deal with and an election was looming. They also perceived that apart from objections made by the die-hard Scots, the trials were over and the decisions made, interest was waning, and even the media seemed prepared to live with the mystery of Janet Smith’s unusual death.
It wasn’t all over, however, for the unfortunate Cowper, the man who faced the largest number of charges and made the most court appearances. So far he had one win and two losses, being acquitted of kidnapping but convicted of the criminal and civil libel charges.
On December 7 the judge told Cowper the civil case was going to cost him a large sum of money. He was to pay the Bakers $2,000 plus the costs of the action. Baker’s legal bill was expected to be about $1,500. In 1925 this added up to much more than a year’s wages for most people. Two days later a writ was issued to set aside the transfer of Cowper’s home at 1032 Pacific to his wife’s name. Cowper turned over a $2,000 cheque to Baker and negotiated a lower damage bill. He was poorer, but he was neither cowed nor penitent. He still flailed away in his paper in support of his causes and against his arch-foe Manson.
Cowper wrote in the Tribune that if anyone thought the heavy financial penalties imposed on him would mean the end of the paper, they were very much mistaken. Despite attempts to take away his house, his “weekly paper of virile comment and opinion circulating throughout B.C.” could not be silenced.
He was relentless, even when his fate and the amounts to be paid in the civil action were still before the courts. In November he had cockily announced a contest, the winner to be the person who made the closest guess as to the number of ballots cast in a “Should Manson Resign” poll. The winner would get transportation for two to Victoria and an introduction to the attorney general, something which Manson naturally knew nothing about.
In mid-December the Tribune announced the results, which came as little surprise. Ballots favouring Manson’s resignation totalled 1,238, compared to a meagre five opposed and four spoiled. Cowper said the closest guess to the 1,247 votes cast was submitted by Mrs. E. Todd, who lived on West 20th Avenue. The Tribune said her steamer tickets to the capital were on the way, but didn’t mention the introduction to Manson. It’s highly unlikely that Mrs. Todd and the attorney general ever met face to face.
The Cowper contest was one example of the reasons his Saturday Tribune was for a time a popular best seller, but its appeal didn’t last and it faded away like so many papers and magazines that flourished briefly in Vancouver’s early days. Undaunted, Cowper went on to other challenges.