The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1875-07-17

-THE PARKER TRIAL-JUDaE HoaE's AR
oualENT FOE THE DEFENCE Court
met at 10 A. NJ, yesterday. Judge S. L.
Hoge said:
With the permission of the Court and
gentlemen of the jury, after a session of
two weeks duration, in listening to the
complicated testimony of this case, and
the long arguments which the distin-
gulshed gentlemen for the plaintiff have
made, the Attorney General in his open
ing address to the jury, wherein he told
you what he expected and proposed To
prove, and the discussion OF the tcsti-
mony by his distinguished associtc, the
jury must be necessarily wcaricl and ont
of patience. He then sail that he would,
therefore, present his argument in as
short time us the Importance of the
case and his duty to the defendant would
permit; he snid that he Ind great faith i'll
the jurlcS of the country and perfect
confidence in the integrity of the jury
he was addressing; that Notwithstanding
the most distinguished newspaper in the
State has said that this jury is composed
of mechanics, farmers, laborcrs and
| working men, and notwithstanding the
fact TINT some of them had never had
the advantages of n collcgintc education,
SSeJ nAiSi AS iOOhctt lfltO tIclT luccS, nC
| could tell that they were mc1l of intclli-
gencc, capable of approaching the mag
nltudc OF the interests in their charge
| md the Importance of the case and were
fully capable of deciding it properly; he
said thut he was we'll aware that, If the
gentlemen charged with the editorial de-
partment of the paper referred to could
have their own way, some Of the gentle
men now on this jury would never
have been allowed to be there: but
he thanked God tliat they did not
| control the courts of the country vet.
| He said TINT after this expression of con-
tidence in the character Of the jury, he
would proceed to reply to the distin-
guishcd counsel who have already spoken,
| firstly, to the Attorney-Gencral's opening
address, and, secondly, to his associates
argument on tho testimony. He said
that the Attorney-Gcncrals ability WAS
| we'll recognized in all of the courts III
| this State, and TINT he was by far the
most eloquent and powerful advocate in
this commonwealth; that the Attorney
| General had come before them with clean
hands, and, he believed, pure heart
| yet the Acknowledgement says that he
has been compelled to hang his head in
shame because of the nisdccds of this
defendant who is n fcllow-Rcpublican in
this great party. He said that he, with
the Attorney-General, eagerly felt the
wrongs done by the Republican party of
the State and regretted them; TINT, in
the last campaign, when the LAWYERS
and politicians on both sides were dis
cussing the financial condition of the
State, when the Republican party put
Dnnicl II. Chamberlain in ns Governor
of the State, with the Attorney General
and Governor Chamberlain, he, too, had
pledged good anl honest government to
the people of the State; bnt when he and
the Governor, and the Attorney Gen cral,
and tho Judge on the bench, and NIL
others who took part in that campaign,
promised the people good government,
they promised that they would open up
a new book, and not that they would go
back into the pnst for dead issues and
wrongs We now hear from all sides.
from everybody and from all the news
papers i'll the State that the government
Is good, that AIr. Chamberlain makes Il
good and efficient Governor for all the
| people, and Yet the Acknowledgement
hnnys his head i'll shame, and goes wan-
drring up and down the banks of
the Congnree River, with that settled
melancholy on his face, because some
body has charged Niles c. Parker with
corruption. Now let us, gentlemen, en-
able the AttOrncy-Gcneral's incc to beam
again, rs he holds it up III the sunlight
with JOY and smiles, by finding by your
verdict that Parker is innocent of this
charge, and TINT he is an honest man.
The State says that Parker, while Trea-
surcr, took $3.50, 900 Of coupons from the
| treasury, which coupons were the pro-
perty of the State, and ask you for n vcr-
dict for what they claim they hnvc proved
Parker has taken. They ask you for
judgment for s150,OOO, which they say
was Parker.s share of the $3.50, 600 which
Kimpton divided out Here the Attor-
neyGeneral interrupted the speaker and
stated that the plaintiff asked for judg-
mcnt for S225,9 Judge Hogc sail
that he knew that was in the complaint,
but that if there was anything proved in
the plaintiffs case, if Ladd's testimony
proved anything at MI, it did prove that
Parker had not received the whole of
$3.50, 600 Of coupons, but had received
only $3.50, 600 Of coupons; he said TINT
| tho Olnintiff had taken oycrv Oocoih1o ,J