Delaware state journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1870-1883, 1880-12-09
MIR. Bird Argues Five Hours
and a Half.
A STRONG FORENSIC EFFORT
The Last Case in the Old Court
House History of the Plaintiff
Corporation---The Keen
Points Brought Out.
NOW FOR TEE CHARGE AND VERDICT


liam L. Oroasdale. MIR. Bird said:
Gentlemen of the Jury: congratulate you,
entlemen, that you are approaching at last
the end of this very serious and important
trial and, going outside of this case, when !
recall that this possibly is the last civil case
that ever will be tried in this house; that
here, where the courts have sat and juries
from this county for well nigh 200 years that
here, at the bar of this court, where the VAN
dykes and the Rodgers and the great Clayton
and the Bayards have all spoken to jurles OF
this county. and where, from that bench, law
has been administered by as able judges as
ever lived in the United States whose decis
ions are respected as much as any decisions OF
any courtsi i'll the United States; say going out
side of this case, when | consider this and
what this trial shows, as far as this room is
concerned no contested trial that has ever
come here before a jury has been of greater
Importance than this.
1t is case which must appeal to Won. 1t
is case which must receive from YOU all the
ability, all the reason. all the reelection that
each one of YOU here Possesses Ii Is a case,
as my learned friend who so ably addressed
you yesterday said, that is far beyond the
parties interested, this corporation and vii
liam i. Croasdale Ii is case which inter
estu every man and every woman and every
child in this community
Now | want you to consider with me this
slons not gathered from that stand, but what
you have heard as the sworn testimony Of the
| witnesses in this case-did William L. Croas-
! dale write those plecesI Not what your I'M
| pressiona may be, for you cannot go by them
4 You are sworn to try this case according to
/ the evidence, and all the evidence iii this cast
comes there from that stand or by the COM
missions or papers which have been put III
| evidence
Now, although every one Of You may be
impressed fully and firmly with the belief
that William L. Croasdale wrote these pieces
yet If it has not been shown to you by the
proof, you cannot consider 1t if every man
that you met on your way home or on youi
road to this court house. from the time you
were trst empaneled III this case had said to
you, II know William /, Croasddle wrote
them, you cannot consider 1t II it were
written upon every house III the community,
you cannot consider it.
Now, what has been shown to your salts
faction by the oath you lave taken to try tue
case according to the evidence that you WIN
well and truly try the traverse joined between
the Delaware state Fire and Marine Insurance
Company, the plaintiff, and William i.
Croasdale the defendant, and true verdict
give according to the evidence, has 1t been
shown to your satisfaction under that oath
by the evidence, not by belief. not by impress
sions, has it been shown by the evidence thai
he wrote these piecest
Now, If he did not, there is an end of the
case If he did not write them there TIN,
case goes. More as you heard me ARGUE
before their Honors, when we made i'll till
case motion for nOn-snt there Is another
suit pending against this publishing company
and this is i'll testimony, a suit brought 'o
the publication. This is a case where til,
man who Is an editor OF paper il not til,
D proprietor. The only operation i'll this cas-,
a that connects this defendant with the writing
of these pieces or their publication is tins
I he il the chief editor OF that paper. Did b.
p write them
The suit for the publication Is to com
i hereafter. This plaintiff Is seeking to cove
4 two sets of damages, one for the publication
for that publication they hold this corpora
ton, The Every Evening Publishing Con
!. pany, and have sued them, and what are the
after Croasdae for! Not for publication
for they want the Every Evening Compan
o for the publication, but they are after hi
!. because they say he wrote them.
Now, what Ii the proof! what is the proof
q Mark you, gentlemen, all this proof Is the
O own-they are bound by it all the proof tia
has been offered i'll this case i'll relation to IT,
Ii writing of these llbelUus articles las bee
h offered by the plaintiff we have offered not
scintilla. Now, what was the prOotl Inc
brought Bell here, they brought lIumphr
Il they brought Schrack, they brought Young
,s none Of these four remenbered-all of the
- employees III one capacity or another OF / |
II Every Evening Publishing Company
"A the witneaaes remember and only one, sal
that he did not write them, that was MIR. Be
- The testimony is that Bell and Humphr,
" both wrote editorial matter for that pape
4 that If, i'll handwriting that MIR. Young, Il
a. witness, knew but MIR. Young, the wItne
Of whom they produced, told yOu positively al
~, distinctly that other editorial matter We
d" through his hands III the handwriting Of pc
Is pie he did not know. MIR. Young told y,
n distinctly that editorial matter cane II
der his supervision not in Il
handwriting Of Croasdale, Humphrey or Be
and he did not know IN whohe handwriting
y might be you remember that. He v
: asked by my learned friend then, "Do 81
~ know whether Mr. Croasdale wrote tho
4 pieces p NO. Now, right there, Ii,
Croasdale written those pieces, geutleme
ID mark you. succession VI editorials ut lea
Of half q dozen of them. yet MIR. Young, vi
. read over all this matter as il went up to hi
H. for recOllect that If all these editorials We
be in the same handwriting, would 1t have be-
a.. possible for Mr.. Young tu have examined
- this editorial matter in regard to this plant
At and had it been in the same handwriting, Ii
be- to have remembered it. Impossible, Imp
slble II Mr.. Croasdac wrote those editurli
u III regard to this plaintiff charged with bel
fraud and so on, Mr.. Young never could hu
examined them and not have known it. Z
very fact that he did not know it shows I'll
go somebody else other than Mr. Croasdi
'e- wrote at least, some of them, if not all
~, them,
tn Now, gentlemen, what else? Mark W
b. they are seeking to hold him for mrdt
,r them, My learned friend said, when
opened this case that he did not ca
be whether he could prove he wrote them
as not Well. we do. We think it a very II
: teriat fact in this case, for tins jury to KIN
IL who did write them and | will tell You vi
VS. by the proof i'll this case, brought here
the plaintiff, it has been shown that y
Croasdale was at times absent sometimes
two weekH at time. If anybody else wrt
he these pieces; if he was absent from home Il
- could not rec them, he was not bound
fae them, If they were written in Ills absence II
set published by corporation, are you gong
at hold Mr.. Croasdae responsible for that, VII
N' 1t was in proof and brought here by tn
that when Mr. CrOasdalc was absent no e
nm torial matter of his went into the papt
Mr. Bell toldyO that i'll hisabsence that he Il
tat nlshed the editorials and Mr. Humphry 4
ms nished editorials, aud it may be that the N
to whose handwriting Mr., Young could
Vi testify furnished some of these editorials.
Mark me, You CT mot go back to your bell
you cannot do it you cannot do this. d
their Honors will tell yuu So and say to '
that what my learned friend stated yestcr(
anything an attorney could be gui
"a, of before jury the fact
ite he spoke Of it and brought it into this c
10 when he had no right to, that this defend
I'VE refused to answer their iOnors will tell \
TO yon cannot consider it; it has nothing to
ay with it. You are to consider the case nm
a a your oaths, You have got to shut up v
10 imaginatiOns, and you cannot consider "
80 beliefs.
wn We "justiiied, said my learned friend ::
On pleaded not guilty and then We ''justiiie
raj Now, gentlemen, say to you and every /;
by yer would say to you that in this action,
md only action that can be called for libel, cal
ms an faction on the case, the general iss
III, and there is a general issue to every action
"s law, is mot guilty In other words if
'of parliamentary when rule day came and
IN were not here to put in the pleas, if Mr. Ba
lay and myself had remained silent, the proth
els otary would be bound to put in the plea -
On BtultE, pecailse II IL the general Issue IN
an case. BY it we can prove that Mr. Croasd
,na did not write thCse pieces, by it We put
"a burden on them to show that he did WI
'nu them Have they done til Are you "a
yes fed, for, mind. You are trying n case of '
10. interest to this man, but you are trying it
the proof and, when you render your verd
whatever that may be you want to rende
in accordance with the evidence and the
their Honors will give you, and you do
want to try the case from your own stal
DO. point outside of the evidence. Now, ther
nm ask you at the outset, before | come to
~ justification, here standing upon the grou
80 Of law or technicshty, throwing the equit
'fe you please aside, We come to you ON "
oaths as jurymen aud say, you are bound
sen try this case by the evidence alone, and tb
It's is no evidence in this case to warrant You
ch, finding a verdict that William 7, Croasd
Al Ia