The Republican journal., 1876-03-02
Brodhead ON Babcock and the Pres
ident.

ST. LOUIS, Feb. 49, The closing argl
ments in the Babcock trial were commenc
ed this morning, by James o. Brodhead
of the special counsel for the Government
The courtroom was crowded
ARGUMENT FOR THE PROSECUTION.
The Government represent is not the
Congress, the President or the judiciary
but it is the law of the land The strict
enforcement of the law is vital to Natona
existence. 1t is tor you simply to inquire
il the law has been violated by the deten
dant, and If it has, it is tor YOU to take
cognizance of it, and the punishment is il
your hands. The Grand Jury found az
Indictment against this man but you art
to pass on the evidence submitted to you
and, it you believe the defendant is guilty
you are not to be influenced by his former
good character Men as good as he have
fallen before temptation. \ conspiracy
may exist by solemn agreement or by q
tacit understanding, and one who connives
at the purpose of a guilty connivance, OF
shields it, is himself guilty in the eye Of
the law
Col. Brodhead then reviewed at great
length the evidence, not conhning himself
to the testimony for the Government, but
using, as he went along, the letters and
telegrams and witnesses of the defence,
Il will show You before | get through,
gentlemen" he said, ''that their tracks
all lead in the same direction-eyerv one
of them There IS not a single one turned
the other way At nearly every point
the Presidents deposition was quoted and
the construction put upon /. which carried
out the theory OF the prosecution. Alter
reading the telegrams between Joyce and
Babcock, about a successor to Ford in
1873, Col. Brodhead said it seemed from
the Presidents deposition hat Babcock
came to him to see what he could do for
Joyce rs Il candidate for the vacancy. The
President said No, let the bondsmen of
Ford recommend somebody" Babcocll
telegraphed Joyce, See that Ford's
bondsmen recommend you" joyce I'M
derstood that when he sent back the mes
sage: IAN expression from the President
will secure everything" Babcock under
stood it. What could have been meant
other than that the conspiracy was to 90
on? And then Joyce sent the message
recommending Mcguire, and With it one
to Babcock in which he uses the word
"mum.' The defence say that this meant
that Bahcock was not to mention that
Joyce had been Il candidate. Can any
man accept this rs Il sensible conclusion
This mum means that there was some
thing hidden ard secret, understood be-
tween Joyce and this defendant, which
they did not wish to have known
They have introduced ut this point in
their defence a long series Of letters which
passed between Joyce and Babcock COM
mencing formally and then growing ia
Colonel" My Dear Joycen But these
letters stop in 1873. Why don't they pro-
ducc the letters of 1874 and 1879, when
these distilleries were running ont the
"crooked' at their fullest capacity? These
letters commence in 1870 and run down
through 1871 and 1872 but in 1873 there
is only one, and alter that not one. Where
are the others of 1874 and 1870? COL
Brodhead then passed to the telegramS OF
March, 1871, when Joyce was ordered to
California, and Avery notified him that
agents We're going to Nt. Louis Avery
furnished the Information, but lie could
not stop the agents 50 Joyce sent the tel
egram to Babcock "Make Douglass call
off his scandal houndsn That means
Ihe "scandal hounds We're
called o. Mr.. Douglass remembers that
Babcock saw him about this time, and
asked hum about this matter, and he told
him no charges against Ford We're being
investigated. Col Brodhea then sketch
ed the dispatches through the Fall of 1874
/, I,,t,,
raid in st. Louis. lie noted the various
delays tor the elections, and sarcasticaIlv
said these revenues We're political ma
chimes The election TO these distinguish-
ed individuals was of more consequence
than the detection Of frauds on the revenue
These delays dated down to the ith of
December, when Brooks, with his men
waiting in Philadelphia, was notified that
the raid was of
1t was on the 18th Of December, Bah
cock. having seen the Commissioner, tele-
graphed Mcdonald the "Sylph'' despatch,
Il succeeded; they will not GO The
raiding party did. When Rogers told Nc
Donald on the Sth of December that the
agents had not gone that was enough to
satisfy Mcdonald and made him feel so
good that he sent his telegram to Joyce,
dead dog. Tie goose hangs altitudlum
sun shines" Mcdonald had put some
thing else in motion, and on which he re-
lied. \ letter from Brooks had been sto-
len from Rogerss desk and wrong con-
structing had been put upon that letter,
and it had been put in Babcock's hand,
who, before the 18th of December, as
Douglass testified, showed this to Doug
lass, and gave ii a blackmailing construc-
ton. Why should Babcock, with all the
duties which he is credited with,
have busted himself in this secret and hid
den manner, binding Douglass not to tell
Rogers who had shown him the letter?
Col. Brodhead continued Babcock work
ed for five days in manner which would
have been remarkably disntereStcd had
he been an innocent man, in behalf of the
ring, appealing not only to Douglass, but
the President, and telling the latter that
he had told Douglass that officers out here
ought not to be treated as thieves Now
was there anything in this letter to war
rant the assertion that officers were being
treated rs spies? Most assuredly not,
and Babcock did not speak by that letter,
but by knowledge independent of it,
Taking up the revocation order of the
President Col. Brodhead said the Pres
ident had declared that Babcock did not in
hucnce him in the revocation of the order
suspensions: but that did not
prove that Habcock had not worked else
where to that end. The testimony shows
that he went to Douglass, who had the
power to revoke the order 1t shows that
by warning that gentleman Of the disas-
trous effect which this order must hay.
on his prospects for pretermcnt, he tried
to induce action on his part. 1t shows
that Joyce, on receiving Information that
the order had been reduced to II Temporal
~ arrangement, telegraphed Badcock to
''push things" and they We're pushed
The explanation which the President and
Tuition gave for the revocation
of that order were not at all adequate to
the act. Sensation,] They explained that
because the Supervisors all over the coun-
try had learned of the order some DAYS
before, they had time to straighten up at-
fairs, it anything was wrong, and there
fore the whole scheme would be defeated
but such was not the case The order as
suggested originally, and the President
him Golf claims tho crndit of II wac iutopJ