The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-01-31
LAWYERS AND WITNESSES.

| = AsA~S
: Our friends need give themselves but littl
anxiety about the inaccuracy or incomplete
ness Of much Of the evidence taken by Messrs
Hoar, Wheeler, Frye and Marshall. The
. read in the daily reports Of the testimony o
numerous witnesses, much that they believ
to be false, much that they perceive to b.
irrelevant, much that is clearly prompted b,
partisan ill-will, much that is contradictory
and inconsistent, and very much that i.
purely OF second hand or hearsay character
Yet our people need not think it strictly
necessary to contradict all that is false, or to
rebut what is liable to be misunderstood, OF
to introduce evidence as to the character OF
the witnesses. The members Of the commit
tee know about what the testimony is worth
that is brought before them, because they are
lawyers familiar with the rules for the pro-
duction of evidence, and long practiced in
separating from the grain of truth the chatf
of surplusage, irrelevancy, falsity and -inad-
instability. 5....-..#.
Judge Hoar, of Worcester, has been prac-
ticing lawyer at the bars of Boston and other
cities since 1913; Hon. William A. Wheeler
has practiced since 1914 in the courts of
Northeastern New York and elsewhere, and
was for some years Prosecuting Attorney for
his district Hon. William p. Frye, of
Maine, has practiced law since 1852, and was
for series OF years Attorney General Of the
State and Hon. Samuel S. Marshall was an
active member Of the bar more than twenty.
five years ago, was two years or more Attor-
ney General Of the State Of Illinois, besides |
having served six years on the bench as |
Judge Of the Circuit Court. Each and all are |
familiar from long experience, with the
varied character and value Of testimony /:
hey are accustomed to all the subterfuges of
Interested or dishonest witnesses ; they know
he ear-marks which distinguish all the
yarieties of false witnesses they know bv
instinct when an artful, inter
sted or malignant perjurer attempts to
0 suppress, color, distort, magnify or wholly
iolate the truth. They can at once tell
,hen the story presented is made up or not
Or special and sinister purpose They can
eadily see when the direct interest of the
fitness in the matter at issue is such as to
lake it extremely probable that his testi-
lony is more or less false. They have been
ing accustomed to insist upon the exclusion
the evidence that does not bear upon the l
inject OF inquiry. AS to hearsay evidence,
ley know how intrinsically feeble it must
ways be; how insufficient to satisfy as to
efinite facts; how often it is the mask and
oak Of fraud, and how difficult it is to rebut !
explain. They know that in cases Of hear
y there is no opportunity to bring to bear .
that potent machine by T
lich lawyers thresh out the unmxed truth, Of
e indispensable test of veracity, the great
feguard against false witnesses. They will a
be content unless they have such proof as j;
II satisfy minds free from prejudice beyond
doubt. "
The white people of Louisiana being the
used, the presumption Of innocence must
overcome if at all, by such proof as will IS
isfy strong minded men. They may hear
multitude Of stories, but they are not going
receive all they hear with childlike Gre W
lily. They will treat fabricated evidence Se
a presumption of the weakness of the hi.
Sc for which it is offered. .. an
IS to the testimony of Kellogg and all the 49,,
ants of Radical offices, these lawyers ms
that they are interested, and are there a he
J presumed to give testimony as much in !,
'r of themselves as possible. AS to the &c,
,ers who have become notorious for perse- n
ng, marrying and dragooning the white u "a, !,
pie OF South Carolina, Georgia and Ala :
"a, they give little heed to their evidently An
lcious, always superficial and often incon. age
mt or contradictory testimony. Our peo-
have good reason to hope that all the evil
e received will be duly analysed and
n at its intrinsic value
eantime, while trust is reposed in the 10
character and legal ability of the gentle ~.
composing the committee, no effort -,
I'D be spared to lay the truth before them. -
if at last the facts presented do not i'm
J their minds as they do our own, let us
repaired to bear the disappointment as H..
ntly as We have borne those which are
itely greater OF