It is for you to say, gentlemen, whether there shall be such a verdict, or whether there shall be a verdict in accordance with the evidence and in accordance with law.
And let me say right here that I believe the attorneys for the prosecution, eager as they are in the chase, excited with the hunt, after the sober second thought, would be a thousand times better pleased with a verdict of not guilty. Of course they want victory. They want to put in their cap the little feather of success, and they want you to give in the scales of your judgment greater weight to that feather than to the homes and wives and children of these defendants. Do not do it. Do not do it.
I want a verdict in accordance with the evidence. I want a verdict in accordance with the law. I want a verdict that will relieve my clients from the agony of two years. I want a verdict that will drive the darkness from the heart of the wife. I want a verdict that will take the cloud of agony from the roof and the home. I want a verdict that will fill the coming days and nights with joy. I want a verdict that, like a splendid flower, will fill the future of their lives with a sense of thankfulness and gratitude to you, gentlemen, one and all.
The Court. Let me inquire of the counsel for the defence if there are to be any other arguments upon their side?
Mr. Henkle. May it please your Honor, inasmuch as I alone represent two of the defendants, it is perhaps due to this jury and to myself to explain why I do not propose to argue the case. I had prepared myself, with a good deal of labor and painstaking, to submit an argument to the jury.
But after the exhaustive and able argument of my Brother Wilson, I and my colleagues were of the opinion that there was room but for one more argument on the part of the defence, and with entire unanimity we selected our colleague, Brother Ingersoll, to make that argument. And how grandly he has justified the choice, the jury, your Honor, and the spectators will determine.
I saw some time ago a little paragraph in a paper in this city, which represents the interest of the Government, in which it was said that the defendants' counsel were afraid to argue this case because they would come in collision with each other; that each would try to throw the conspiracy at the door of the others and exonerate himself, and that therefore they were afraid to argue the case. I want to say to your Honor that so far from being afraid to argue the case, I should have been very happy to pursue the argument, so far as I am concerned. But out of tender consideration to the jury, who have been kept for six long months from their business and their interests, which I know are suffering, we have unanimously concluded that we would close the argument with that which your Honor has just heard. And I simply want to say further, that I not only do not antagonize with anything that has been said by my Brother Wilson, or by my eloquent friend who has just concluded, but I indorse most fully and cordially every word that has been uttered. And so far as my clients are concerned, gentlemen of the jury, the case is with you.
Mr. Davidge. May it please your Honor, perhaps I ought to add a single word. It was understood among counsel when Colonel Ingersoll, as stated by General Henkle, was unanimously selected to represent the defendants, that both Colonel Ingersoll and myself should have the privilege of addressing the jury if, in the judgment of either, it should be necessary. I have felt such a deep interest in the present case that I have almost hoped he might leave unoccupied some portion of the field of argument. I have listened to every word that has fallen from his lips. He has filled the whole area of the case with such matchless ability and eloquence that I have no ground upon which I could stand in making any further argument. He has so fully uncovered the origin of this so-called prosecution, its methods, and the character and weight of the evidence upon which a conviction is sought, that I can add nothing whatever to what he has said. I need not add that every syllable he has uttered receives my grateful indorsement, as well as that of all the defendants and their counsel in this case.*
* Twelve jury men decided this morning that the Government
had not legally established a case of conspiracy against the
Star Route defendants. This verdict of absolute acquittal
coming so unexpectedly has created a very marked sensation.
The announcement in the court room of the verdict was
followed by an uproarious scene of applause, tears,
hysterics and cheers. Every one expected the jury to
disagree. Judge Wylie himself, a week or ten days ago,
called up the counsel for the prosecution and said to them,
"I do not think you are going to get a verdict out of that
jury. I have watched it carefully, and I am certain that
four of the best men on it are in doubt." Last night an
employee of the Department of Justice reported that the jury
stood eleven to one for acquittal. This came from one of the
bailiffs, who claimed to have overheard a vote.
At any rate the prosecution had intended, if a disagreement
was reported, to ask to have the jury dismissed, on the
ground of the condition of Juror Vernon. Had this been
attempted, Dr. Sowers, who attended Vernon yesterday would
have testified that Vernon was all right mentally, after he
had braced him up with two drinks of brandy.
The court room was crowded when the jurors took their
places. Every one of the defendants was there. Dorsey sat by
his wife, flushed and expectant. Upon the left of Mrs.
Dorsey was her sister Mrs. Peck. Brady was just back of his
special counsel. Judge Wilson, looking as hard and grim as
ever. All of the counsel for the Star Route defendants were
in their seats. Colonel Ingersoll's face showed great self-
control, although he was evidently laboring under strong
nervous excitement. He was flanked by his entire family.
Mr. Farrell, Mr. Baker (Colonel Ingersoll's secretary), and
the white-haired and white-bearded Mr. Bush, the hard
working associate of Colonel Ingersoll, were also present.
When the jurors took their places in the court room
precisely at ten o'clock, Judge Wylie looked at them, and
said In his slow hesitating way: "Gentlemen, I have sent
for you to learn—ahem—to learn if you have agreed—ahem—
upon a verdict." Mr. Crane the foreman said: "We have
agreed."
Judge Wylie gave a start of surprise and looked towards the
seats for the counsel of the Government. Not one of them was
present. This looked very ominous for the Government's case,
and indicated besides that the bailiffs must have betrayed
the secrets of the jury room to the prosecution, as neither
Bliss nor Merrick came to the court room at all. Mr. Ker,
one of the counsel for the prosecution, came in and stood In
the door as the Judge said to the Clerk, "Receive this
verdict." There was the usual silence as every one turned
toward the foreman. Mr. Crane said very deliberately. "We
find the defendants not guilty."
Then there followed a scene of great confusion and uproar,
which the Judge could not restrain. Indeed he did not try.
The triumph of such an unexpected success after two years of
fighting in the face of the entire power of the Government,
made the humblest person connected in the most remote degree
with the defence crazy with joy. When Colonel Ingersoll came
out of the Court House a crowd gathered in front of him, and
then one stout-lunged, broad shouldered man cried out "Three
cheers for Colonel Ingersoll." There was a wild scene of
tiger-like cheering from the excited crowd. This
demonstration was a personal compliment to the Colonel, for
when the defendants passed out there was not the slightest
sign of approval or disapproval beyond the congratulations
of personal friends. Colonel Ingersoll stood on the broad
steps of the Court House and smiled with the benevolent air
of a popular orator in front of a congenial crowd, and
laughed outright when some over-euthusiastic admirer called,
"Speech, speech."
The morning was clear and bright. Colonel Ingersoll watched
the crowd a moment, himself a picture of radiant good
nature, as he stood with his white straw hut encircled with
a blue band, pushed back from his face. His short thin black
coat was partially buttoned over a white duck waistcoat. He
rested his hands in the pockets of his gray trousers. The
request for "Speech, speech" so amused him that he chuckled
over It all the way to his open carriage, which came up a
moment after. He was driven through Pennsylvania Avenue with
his family. People called out to him from the sidewalk, and
he was obliged to lift his hat so much that he finally sat
bareheaded, like a conquering hero, waving his hands to the
right and to the left. His house was thronged all day. Mrs.
Blaine and her daughter Margaret were among the first who
called. There was a profession of people all day long who
had no sympathy at all with the defendants, and who were
perfectly indifferent whether they went to the penitentiary
or not, but who were most heartily glad that their friend
Colonel Ingersoll had accomplished such a great personal
victory.
Now that the case is over, it is time to tell some facts
about the prosecution which have been withheld until the
case was closed. In the first place, the management of the
prosecution has been equally scandalous with the crimes
charged against the defendants. The District Attorney here
has always been allowed a five dollar fee for the
prosecution of cases. Attorney-Generals who preceded Mr.
Brewster ruled that this should be the official fee of
special counsel. This was made up by allowing the payment of
lump sums as retainers. When Bliss and Merrick were put upon
the extravagant pay of one hundred and fifty dollars per day
it was inevitable that they would prolong the case to the
uttermost. Bliss has, on top of all this pay, put in an
extraordinary list of personal expenses, which have been
allowed up to a very recent date. The amount of extra matter
run into this case only to prolong it has resulted in so
confusing the case as to materially aid the defence.
Then the reporting of the case has been turned into a huge
job. The stenographers will clear between thirty and forty
thousand dollars on their work.
The other day I estimated from official sources, the cost of
the Star Route trials at one million dollars. It will go
above that. It will foot up near one million two hundred
thousand dollars. This evening Col. Ingersoll was serenaded.
There was a large gathering of friends of the Star Route
defendants at Colonel Ingersoll's house to-night. Indoors
the acquitted men, their counsel, and a large number of
their more intimate friends, many of them women, met to
exchange mutual congratulations. And in the street a crowd
had gathered, partly out of curiosity—and partly to express
their sympathy with the defendants. They cheered Ingersoll
and the other counsel as well as the defendants and the
jury, and called for speeches. Colonel Ingersoll and Judges
Wilson and Carpenter spoke briefly.
Col. Ingersoll's speech was short and vigorous. He hailed
the verdict of the jury as a victory for truth and justice,
and as a notice to the administration that it could not
terrorize a jury by indicting jurymen, and a warning to the
President that he could not force a verdict by turning
honest servants out of office.
The Sun, New York, June 15,1883.