Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1881-11-18


just at present is as to who is responsible for
the failure of the government in its first step
in the star route prosecutions. The facts are
briefly, that last September, while anxiety
about President Garfield was at its height,
and when the case against Brady and his fell
lows had been made nearly ready for prose-
cution, the grand jury for the District of
Columbia suddenly adjourned until October
The specific offences for which the govern
ment was preparing to prosecute Brady &
Co. were committed Oct LIST and I'd, 1873.
Under the statute such cases outlaw in three
years and the recess of the grand Jury gave
these cases time to outlaw. The government,
therefore, in order that trial might be had,
proceeded by information, or, in other words,
on the representation of the United States
Attorney to the court upon proper affidavit.
The accused persons through their counsel,
claimed that the government could not pro-
coed against them by information, the crime
of which they were accused being an ''infa-
nous" one, and therefore, under the statute,
liable to be tried only upon indictment. The
matter was fully argued before Judge Cox,
who ruled, as stated last week, that proceed
ure could not be by information.
The government having thus met with a
serious repulse at the outset, the question is,
who is responsible for the unexpected ad-
journment of the grand jury last September
which prevented the proper indictment of
Brady and the other accused persons Dis
trict Attorney Corkhill said in open court
last week, and his statement has not been
disputed, that he was not, because he was
told by Attorney General Mac Veagh, in eff
feet, on the 9TH of September, that he need
not trouble himself about the star route cases,
and that when the government was ready for
the grand jury he would be informed. The
grand jury was held in session for ten days
longer, and then adjourned until Oct. 30
too late for the purpose of indictment Mr..
Cook, the leading counsel for the govern
ment says, on the other hand, with the ut
most positiveness, that the adjournment was
a surprise both to him and to the Attorney
General, being without the concurrence,
knowledge or desire" of either of them.
Here are two directly opposite statements of
the same matter and until somebody speaks
out the public have no means of knowing
where the truth lies. Some people find rea-
son to suspect that Secretary Blaine had
some friends mixed up in the star route bus
mess which he "took care of by bringing
about the adjournment of the grand jury,
and one theory is that it is because of some
thing which Mr.. Blaine has said or done that
Mr.. Mac Veagh has been so hasty and decid-
ed in his determination TO get out of the cab
met. Mr.. Mac Yeagh, on his part, is credited
with the rather singular statement that he
considered his own usefulness as representing
the government in the star route cases as alb
solutely ended by the death of President Gar
field and that any subsequent supervision of
those cases by him was inevitably calculated,
in his opinion, ITO give the erroneous impress
sion that they were still being conducted by
the past administration rather than the pres
ent, and such an impression, he thought
would be very injurious indeed to the cases
themselves" This expression is one with
which the public cannot sympathize, and it
is not easy to understand just what Mr.. Mac
Yeagh means by it. 10 the ordinary mind
there would seem to be nothing more in the
way of Mr.. Mac Yeagh remaining in the
cabinet and pushing the star route prosecu-
tons through to their end than in that of
Mr. James remaining to carry out the postal
reforms which he has instituted If Mr.
Blaine or anybody else has crippled the gov
eminent in the matter of these prosecutions
Mr.. Mac Yeagh owes it to himself and the
country to speak out.
Fortunately the failure of the government
in its first step in these prosecutions does not
bring the whole matter to an end. There
are other ofenses on which the star route
men can be prosecuted, and the government
counsel announce that they will in a few
days proceed vigorously against the members
of the ring, and just as though no such decis-
ion as that of Judge Cox had been rendered