“Reeve Weber Heavily Fined,” Toronto Globe. February 25, 1919. Page 02. 
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And Gets Month in Jail at Hard Labor for Uttering Sedition
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SCATHINGLY DENOUNCED
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Magistrate and Judge Alike Rebuke Neustadt German and Warn Him
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(Special Despatch to The Globe.)
Owen Sound, Feb. 24 – One month in jail and a fine of $4,500 was the sentence pronounced on Reeve Joseph Weber of Neustadt here to-day. In default of payment of his fine Reever Weber would be imprisoned for three years in the Provincial Penitentiary, but he chose to pay the fine. Besides he has to pay all the costs of the proceedings, amounting to approximately $300.

The trial was held in Owen Sound on February 12 and 13 before Police Magsitrate A. D. Creasor, with N. F. Davidson, K.C., of Toronto, acting for the Crown, and D. O’Connell and F. W. Callaghan of Toronto for the accused.

The charge was laid under the War Measures Act of 1914, whereby Weber was charged with making seditious statements likely to hinder recruiting. It was based on words used by Weber to Arthur Mutton, when he is supposed to have said: ‘The _______ British are licked, and they know it. Before either of my sons go to fight, they will die in the hardware store. If they want any fighting let them come to Neustadt and they will get it.’

Magistrate Creasor found Reeve Weber guilty on this charge and remanded him for sentence. An application for a stated case made by counsel for the accused was withdrawn.

Pleads Guilty on Second Charge
On a second charge before the local Police Court Reeve Weber pleaded guilty to making seditious statements likely to cause disaffection. This also was based on the conversation with Mutton, and on it Weber received a sentence of $4,500 fine and one month in jail, this sentence to be concurrent with the previous one.

In sentencing him Magistrate Creasor said that Reeve Weber was a man born in this country, who had lived here all his life. In times of danger he had used disloyal expressions and had possibly influenced his sons to be disloyal also. When he was through with his sentence the Magistrate hoped that he would remember that everyone living in Canada was supposed to be loyal.

Sentenced Suspended on Other Charge
Reeve Weber also came before Mr. Justice Lennox at the Spring Assizes in Owen Sound this afternoon on four charges. Weber pleaded guilty to one charge and is on suspended sentenced pending his good behavior. The charges against him were the only ones in the docket, and were laid under the Military Service Act.

The first charge was of attempting to resist or impede the operation of the Military Service Act by a written communication to Judge Widdlefield, a member of the local Appeal Tribunal. In this letter Reeve Weber offered to give $500 to patriotic funds if his son, Elmer Joseph Weber, were exempted, and the second charge is of offering a consideration directly or indirectly to a member of an appeal Tribunal. The second indictment was based on written and oral communications by Reeve Weber to secure signatures for his son’s exemption.

Admits Guilt, Stay Granted.
On the first charge of the Widdifield indictment the Grand Jury brought in almost immediately a true bill, and Reeve Weber pleaded guilty. Crown Prosecutor Davidson requested a stay of further proceedings on the second count of this indictment and on the second indictment, and also asked for a suspended sentence. These were granted.

Seething Denunciation.
The denunciation by Mr. Justice Lennox of the Neustadt Reeve was most scathing. He said that disloyalty was one of the gravest offences, and there was no ground or excuse for anyone in Canada being guilty of disloyalty. Reeve Weber was a public man and a leader of the people in his district, yet he was stirring up disloyalty and encouraging his two songs to evade the service of their country. He had also made threats of grave bodily harm. In connection with the war and in defiance of the duties of citizenship, Mr. Justice Lennox said, Reeve Weber displayed some of the worst characteristics of a bad citizen. His father had come to this country to better his condition, and he had prospered here! New citizens were welcomed and encouraged, but they had to behave. The only alternatives were to get in behind the prison bars or to get out of the country. In conclusion the Judge said that if after he was released Reeve Weber was a man of good behavior toward his neighbors and the Corwn his sentence would be suspended. If, however, he showed any intimation of relapsing, he would be brought before a Judge to receive a heavy sentence.

Reeve Most Dejected.
During the rebuke of the Judge Reeve Weber stood in the prisoner’s box with his head bowed, and supported himself with one hand on the railing. He appeared most dejected, both in the Assizes and when receiving his sentence in the Police Court, and his face showed considerable emotion. With hardly a word of his counsel, he was led slowly off to the cells in the county jail.

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“Reever Weber Again Remanded,” Toronto Globe. February 21, 1919. Page 16.
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Stated Case Asked For As A Precedent, To Know If Order Retroactive.
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(Special Despatch to The Globe.)
Owen Sound, Feb. 20. – Reeve Joseph Weber of Neustadt was again remanded to Monday next when he came up before Police Magistrate Creasor here this morning. At his trial Tuesday and Wednesday of last week he was found guilty of uttering seditious language and remanded for sentence. On Monday he also appears before Mr. Justice Rose of Toronto at the Assizes in this town on four charges under the War Measures and Military Service Acts.

The reason for the further adjournment was that Weber’s counsel, Messrs. D. O’Connell and F. W. Callaghan of Toronto, have applied for a stated case as a precedent. The proceedings against Weber were under an order in Council, and there is some doubt as to whether it is retroactive or not, for the time for the laying of information was up for some months before this order in Council was passed. Bail was taken for the same sum as before, $10,000 personal bond and two sureties of $5,000 each.

Before the train which Reeve Weber was on arrived in Owen Sound, Mrs. Weber called up Chief of Police Foster on long-distance telephone to ask him to meet the train. The Chief assured her that there would be no recurrence of mob law against Weber here, and that he need not fear as to his personal safety.

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“At Osgoode Hall,” Toronto Globe. February 20, 1919. Page 07.
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JUDGES’ CHAMBERS.
Before Mulock, C.J.

Rex v. Weber – D. O’Connell, for defendant, moved to change place of trial from Owen Sound to such other place as the court may direct. E. Bayly, K.C., for the Attorney-General. Held that the court cannot on the evidence hold that prisoner cannot have a fair trial in Grey, where the jury will be drawn from a large county of some 60,000 population. Motion refused, but without prejudice to an application for change before the trial Judge. No costs.

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“Pte. Elmer J. Weber Gets 10-Year Term,” Toronto Star. February 5, 1919. Page 04.
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Sentence Read Before Battalion at Exhibition Camp To-day.
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Standing before his regiment in hollow square and apparently indifferent to his fate, Elmer J. Weber, son of Reever Weber, of Neustadt, Ont., was at the Exhibition Camp today sentenced to ten years servitude on a charge of desertion.

The original sentence passed by the court-martial which took place two weeks ago was fifteen years, but this was reduced by order-in-Council. The sentence was read by Capt. R. A. Plato, Adjutant of the 2nd Battalion, Canadian Garrison Regiment, to which the prisoner belonged. Weber took his sentence without a quiver, and now waits at the Exhibition detention room for the escort to take film to Kingston Penitentiary.

The following is a certified copy of a report of the Committee of the Privcy Council, approved by His Excellency the Governor-General on the 30th January, 1919:

‘The Committee of the Privy Council have had before them a report, dated 27th January, 1919, from the Minister of Militiar and Defence, stating that before a general court-martial held at Torontoon the 14th day of January, 1919, No. 3810998 Private Elmer Joseph Weber, 2nd Battalion, Canadian Garrison Regiment, was tried on the charge of having, when on active service, deserted His Majesty’s service.

Was Flagrant Breach of M.S.A.
‘It appeared from the evidence that this was a particularly flagrant case. The accused lived in a German settlement, and his whole course of conduct from the time the Military Service Act went into operation, indicated determination to evade the military service. He applied for exemption, which was disallowed and appealed. His father, who was in business, with the accused and one other son, got up petitions for his exemption, and under threat of boycott, induced manufacturing firms with which he was dealing, to write to the Military Service authorities on behalf of his son. When exemption was refused, money was furnished the accused whereby he went West and lived there for a long time under an assumed name. He was finally apprehended in the Province of Saaskatchewan. It was clear from the evidence that the accused and his family were the centre of a disloyal German community, and it was a clear case of deliberate desertion. The evidence brought forward on behalf of the accused did not cast any doubt on the truth of the facts above enumerated.’

Reduce Sentence.
‘The court found the accused guilty of the charge, and sentenced him to undergo penal servitude for fifteen years.

‘The Judge-Advocate-General reports that the proceedings are regular, the finding properly made and the sentence authorized by law, and Militia Council is of the opinion that the finding and sentence should be confirmed.

‘The Minister, therefore, recommends accordingly.

‘The committee concur in the foregoing, recommendation, subject to the reduction of the sentence to ten years and submit the same for approval.’

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“Neustadt Reeve Begs For Mercy From Mob,” Toronto Star. January 31, 1919. Page 14.
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Joseph Weber Now at Home After Being Ejected From Owen Sound.
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Special to The Star.
Owen Sound, Jan. 31 – Reeve Joseph Weber of Neustadt, who was sent out of town last night by an angry mob of returned soldiers and their friends, has reached his home in Neustadt. Evidently Weber proceeded by foot to one of the stations on the Grand Trunk outside Owen Sound and there got aboard the early morning southbound train for Neustadt, for according to a telephone message from taht place he reached there on the train this morning. There was considerable anxiety in Owen Sound as to the whereabouts of the man this morning, as there was a heavy snowstorm during the night, and Weber is a man well up in years. Shallow Lake is the nearest station to Owen Sound, and it is presumed he spent the night there.

Chief of Police W. O. Forster told The Star to-day that he knew nothing of the disturbance until an early hour to-day.

The chief declared that no action would be taken against the citizens. ‘He will be safe from any rough handling, too, when he comes back for his trial next Wednesday,’ declared the chief.

Made to Sing National Anthem.
A mob of returned soldiers and their sympathizers about two hundred strong went to the Comely House where Reever Weber was staying about ten o’clock last night and demanded that he be produced. The crowd got round him and made him kiss the Union Jack and sing the National Anthem. They then decked him out with flags in his hat and invited him to get his grip. He was then escorted by a cheering crowd and marched through the streets toward the Grand Trunk station where he was told to proceed to his home town, Neustadt. There being no train until this morning, Weber appealed to the crowd to be allowed to stay over, or to hire a conveyance to take him but they would not be satisfied by anything less than to proceed at once. Weber started off down the Grand Trunk tracks, grip in hand. Part of the mob followed him a considerable distance to see that he got out of town. When last seen Weber was proceeding on the Grand Trunk tracks in the direction of Neustadt, which is about fifty or sixty miles from here.

The local police were powerless to prevent the mob, but they did not at any time threaten him with personal violence. Weber was very much afraid and during the singing of the National Anthem broke down and pleaded for mercy.

Reeve Weber was arrested here on Tuesday afternoon on two separate warrants charging him with breach of the War Measures Act and the Military Service Act. The request for his arrest came from the headquarters of the Dominion Police of this district and they were executed by P.C. Thomas Carson at the Comely House.

Mr. Weber was taken to the Police office and latter allowed out on bail of $2,000, half of which was given by Reeve Holm, and the other half by Reeve Schenk, of Normandy, and the charges will be heard next Wednesday. Mr. Weber arrived on the noon G.T.R. train on Tuesday and attended the first meeting of the County Council at the Court House. He returned to the Comely House and was placed under arrest.

The arrest of Neustadt’s reeve has caused quite a sensation in town and amongst the county councillors here.

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“Reeve Arrested While At Council,” Toronto Globe. January 30, 1919. Page 14.
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Joseph Weber of Neustadt is Accused of Sedition and Impeding M.S.A.
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(Special Despatch to The Globe.)
Owen Sound, Jan. 29 – Reeve Joseph Weber of Neustadt was arrested here last night of five charges of using seditious language and of attempting to impede the operation of the Military Service Act. Weber came here to attend the County Council, and was arrested on two arrants after the first day’s session. He is now out on $2,000 bail, funished by Reeve Holm and Ex-Reeve Schank of Normandy, but will come up before Police Magistrate Creasor of Owen Sound on Wednesday next. Witnesses are being called from Neustadt, Hanover, and Harriston, and the case is arousing great interest in this district.

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“An 8-Months Search For A Young German,” Toronto Star. January 24, 1919. Page 02.
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Farmer Led Dominion Police Merry Chase – Bush Telegraph in Grey County
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Like a revelation from the Secret Service Department was the evidence submitted in Police Court today in the case against E. F. Planz, a young German farmer from Grey County, charged with failure to report under the M.S.A. Magistrate Kingsford sat almost speechless on the bench as he listened to the public prosecutor, W. R. Smyth’s, exposure of an organized system of ’bush telegraphs,’ official and clerical connivance and whosesale exemptions and evasions in the German settlements of Bruce and Grey counties.

Mr. Smyth declared that two Dominion policeman had worked from May until January, and it had cost the Dominion Government nearly $600 to arrest this one individual.

According to the evidence submitted, Planz is the owner of an 80-acre farm in the Neustadt district, that community of German-Canadian families over which Reeve Joseph Weber wields influence. His parents are dead. His sister lives with him at home. When the first call for service came Planz received total exemption as a farmer, but when exemptions were abolished and the 20-22-year class was called he immediately became liable again. Instead of reporting he disappeared.

Eight Months’ Search.
‘It seems incredible,’ your Worship, but it is true,’ said Mr. Smyth, ‘that two Dominion policemen should have been trying from May to January to arrrest this man. His crops were harvested and threshed, and his farm continued to be looked after, but he himself could not be found. The bush telegraph was working almost perfectly. Our disbursements in this case have been between $500 and $600.

‘Under the circumstances I ask for special punishment. If the young man is sent to prison that punishment would fall most heavily on his sister. I, therefore, ask that a very heavy fine be imposed – $1,000. My learned friend has consented to that. Five hundred dollars will be paid in cash and the remainder in two equal installments of $250 between now and next September. In that way we will be partially recompensed for our trouble and outlay in the matter.’

In the course of his exposure, Mr. Smyth stated that Reeve Weber’s total contributions for war purposes were $3, and that, in the interests of patriotism, it had been found necessary to remove a clergyman from the village of Tavistock.

Counsel for the defence agreed that if his client had reported for service at the proper time he would undoubtedly have received farm leave, and would have been now fully discharged. But at the same time, argued the lawyer, a $500 fine would sufficiently cover the offence.

Will Pay by Instalment.
Eventually Magistrate Kingsford remanded the accused on his own bail until the 27th, to see if there were any technical difficulties in the way of receiving a fine by instalments, as proposed.

‘I am astonished at what you have told me,’ said His Worship to Mr. Smyth in conclusion. ‘And you say this was not far from Owen Sound. If the men from Owen Sound had known about it, this sort of thing wouldn’t have lasted five minutes.’

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