The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-02-15


that IT had been his endeavor to make Il plain
perhaps dry-statenent of bare facts.
Peychand drew from the treasury q large
! sum OF money to which he had no right, after
| ne had had eight long years in which to inform
| himself as to whether the claim was q just
| and correct one.
There is an assertion of u missing book, but
| that book went into the hands of Mr.. Pey-
what has become of it. This he has not done,
and when the defense placed Mr.. Jules No
blom on the stand, he being the first to say
anything about q missing book, they were
whore the book was, what 1t showed and
| whether or not that book was examined by
| Peychaud in order to verify the statement
upon which the claim was founded before
swearing to the petition which contained that
Referring to the case as directed ag ainst
H. II. SHANNON.
Mr.. Blair explained sfannon's position us
| United States, Commissioner, the manner Of
trying causes in the Court Of Claims. and Of
taking testimony before commissioner.
/ He argued that the charge Of conspiracy
was established by the testimony, as to his fec
of $1,000 contingent upon the successful issue
tered away his judicial dignity, by becoming
q co-plaintiT in q cause in which testimony
was to DO taken before himself in his official
oaRPhhe ,1t ho,no 49,, f ~, o.,.,u.uu ,o .o
came responsible for the acts Of each and all
Of his colleagues. and. us so Responsible, the
Indictment must stand aud verdict Of guilty
must be rendered. He spoke Of the fact Of
| the slightness Of certain evidence, and showed
its character as circtlnstantial, and how evil
dence Of that nature is eventually the strong
est of all evidence and closed by reminding
the jury that in weighing the evidence and
forming q conclusion as to the guilt OF limo
eence Of the accused they must remember the
sacredness. of their own oaths, put aside oil
| bias or prejudice for or against the defendant,
disregard all personal feeling and rcnder their
verdict simply according to the law as laid
down by the court and the facts as adduced
| on the trial.
Mr.. Blair was followed by
MAJOR ]. Il. RusT1N,
counsel for Mr. Shannon, who spoke us fol
lows:
My it ptenae Your Honor and Gentlemen
| of The Juru-The gentlinan who opened this
case for the government In his .exordium
gave you glowing description of the benign
policy Of the government OF the United States
toward the people Of this section since the
late war He pictured to you the mercy that
had been extended to those who had been led
astray in the. heat Of conflict. and described
to you the jubilee and millennium that followed
the humane policy by which all OF these suf
fering people were restored to their rights OF
property and person guaranteed by the CON
stitution. Indeed, his eloquent enthusiasm
led him SO far beyond the pale of fact and his
tory that he proclaimed to you the startling
proposition that the mercful course OF tho
government had been unparalleled In the his
tory Of nations.
You, gentlemen, are too well aware of tho
history Of this section to require me TO enter
into particular refutation of this astounding
and reckless fiction. But, gentlemen the
facts OF this case alone are replste and the re-
cord teens with CHASTITY evidences of that hui
name. generous and mereiful policy the gen
lntYo rbn fcI M
about.
The poor old men who were brought here
from the country to testify for the prosecu-
ton in this case are living witnesses of the
eminent. They told you how the dashng
squadrons Of Pope and the stalwalt infantry
OF Banks secured the parishes OF st. Landry
and Ayoyelles, and despoiled them, against
property. upon which they were to subsst.
They told you how. the army OF quarter.
master wagons. guarded by the so1dery Of
this mercifM government, swooped down upon
their gin-houses and barns and e1nptied them
of their contents without warning or cornpen-
saton. Gentlemen, the law officer OF the gov
eminent Is unfortunate in his assertions
there has been none OF that mercy which the
glowing zeal of his imagination has pictured
| to you. On the contrary, the doors OF the
courts of the government have been closed for
| twelve long years against thousands and tens
Of thousands Of just and righteous claims OF
these people, and remair closed to-day.
For the sake Of the gentleman. for the sake
of the government, for the sake of history,
wish 1t had been as the gentleman asserted
| Major Austin then went over the charges
OF the indictment, and argued that the testi-
mony addueed did not connect either Shannon
l. or Peychaud with the ofTerses charged
therein He argued that while the commits
sioner of tho Court of Claims was an officer Of
the court nevertheless the law made 1t in
clnbent upon the claimant to pay for the
l..-I Lei. ttrI
ton 1885 of the Revised Statutes Of the United
States, which proyldes "When testimony is
taken for the claimant, the fees Of the Com
missioner before whom the testimony Is taken
and the cost of the commission and notice
shall be paid by such claimant.
Under this section 1t was competent for the
commissioner to make any arrangement with
the claimant he chose; that the Assistant At
| tOrney General was wrong In saying COM
missioner was like u Judge. Such was not the
case A Judge received salary from the gov
eminent A commissioners was like the clerk
Of court; while the law provided for fees, he
nevertheless could make any arrangements
with litigants he chose to. Suppose @ litigant
were to come to Mr.. Woolhey, Che clerk of this
court, with q case, and tell him it was q good
claim, but he was poor and did not have the
money required by law for deposit, and that
he would give him hundred dollars il he
not Mr.. Woolfley have right to make
such an Arrangement? Certainly he would
Shannon is in the same position. He
made an arrangement contingent on the
contrary to law; he had % right to make it.
Major Austin then reviewed the evidence Of
various witnesses toshow that there WIS moth
| ing to implicate either Shannon or Peychaud
in the charges Of the Indictment, and said that
tho documentary evidence proved nothing if
not linked together by The testimony Of
Adolphe Bouchard. He described Bouchard's
pconnection with the case; his association with
the notorious John r Barrett. Cunningham
and others; his interest in the claims now
pending; his attempt to blackmail Peychaud,
trict Attorney, Beckwitb, to relieve him from
prosecution II he would testify, his unwilling
ness to become d prosecuting witness, etc.
| Major Austin then closed as follows: The
charges against these honorable gentlemen
rest upon the testimony of this infamous
man Bouchard-the man who sat for three
days upon that witness stand and proclaimed
| his own dishonor. In all my life, gentlemen,
| r Ittfnp tn 4ol1 n ,itItEf