The national Republican. [volume] (Washington City [D.C.]) 1866-1870, 1869-09-20

CRIMINAL Court -Jud1g Fisher. Til
court was engaged during the whole of
session Saturday In the trial of
THE scHURMAS CASE.
The court opened at 10 o'clock. Mr. Cad
rington, for the prosecution, continuing I'll
cvldence-in- chief, recalled
Mr.. Fayman. The witness testified as Al
the manner Of living of the accused. lid
house was elegantly furnished; he had 4
piano and kept carriage.
Mr.. Jones sworn. Witness Is an expert a l
the detection Of handwriting, and upon tic
distracted notes being shown him said that
the signatures thereon were IN the hans =
writing Of Schurman.
Witness was cross.cxamincd at length b.
Mr.. Riddle as to the means by which he wa
enabled to identify these signatures as III
handwriting OF the accused. lie instancedl
his "s's" as specific letters which conveyed I
to him the. impression that the forgerics wc,c
In the handwriting of the accused. Tie
general style Of pen stroke and character If
the penmanship also convinced him that tn,
accused wrote tho signatures. Mr.. Riddle
took tho letter In turn and examined the VII
ness as 10 the pecullarities of each letter Of
the forgery as compared with the acknowI.
edged handwriting Of the accused.
Mr.. Darlington then submitted to the at.
tention OF the Jury a letter written by the &c
cused to the Secretary of the Treasury, ask
Ing permission to compare the pcnmanship
therein with the handwriting upon the notes
Mr.. Price sworn. There were no other
Impressions OF the First National Bank OF
Jersey ever lost from the Treasury Depart
ment, except the 81, 900 involved In this
case. The vault whence these bonds were.
taken Is In the District OF Columbia.
Cross-examined. Some of these distracted
notes have been returned to the Department
from New York In anonymous letters.
The United States here closed Its evidence
in-chief.
MOTION TO AcQUIT THE ACCUSED.
Mr.. Phillips asked the court 10 Instruct the
jury that the United States has failed to \
prove certain allegations Of the Indictment,
and that, therefore, the jury should acquit
the accused. This motion was In the nature
OF demurrer to evidence. The Indictment
alleged that the notes stolen were ''stamped
and printed IN part" whereas the testimony
showed that they were stamped and printed !
~ rhole. All that was required on the part
OF the Treasury Department had been done,
and the papers had only to be sent to the
bank without any additional mark.
The indictment did not follow the act!
The act made the offence to relate to papers
'printcd or stamped" whereas the lndlctl
mcnt charged tho taking of papers ''printed |
or stamped or prepared In part" This
variance was fatal. Now was Il shown that
tnc + lfst NATIONAL BANK oil Jersey Clty was
organized under act of Congress as the law
required
Messrs. Norris and Darlington replied,
contending that the motion being admitted
TO be In the nature Of demurrer to eyi.
dencc was an admission that there was no
error apparent on the face OF the Indictment.
The words Of the act under which the Of
fence was laid were "stampcd and printed |
and prepared for circulation each part sep.
aratcd by commas; and this making papers
on which any Of the operations had been
made was legal subject of The statutory
crime Of abstraction.
Judge Fisher said he understood the
words to have the grammatical construc-
tion stamped, printed, and In part prepared
for circulation.
The counsel for the prosecution continu.
Ing, urged that the notes were described /
properly under the statute. lie had shown
that tho First National Bank of Jersey City
was a national bank doing business, circu-
lating notes, and having relations with the
Treasury Department OF the United States.
More was not required. If tho bank was
not properly organized, It was for the de-
fence to show that fact.
Mr.. Riddle replied In lengthy aud ablcIe
argument, sustaining the grounds taken byy
Mr.. Phillips.
At the close of the argument, Judge Fisher
reserved his judgment until Monday, and the I
court adjourned.