Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-11-04
THE STAR ROUTE CASES.
ARGUMENT CONTINUED TO-DAY.
MR.. BLISS FOR THE GOVERNMENT.

At an early hour this morning the Criminal
Court room was crowded with spectators anx-
1ously waiting the developments Of the day. The
tables Of counsel were filled with law books con.
tanning the authorities sustaining the position
occupied by the government. At ten O'Clock
Messrs Brewster, Bliss and Cook, of counsel fol
the government, were early in their places, and
shortly afterwards MesSrS Totten, IngerSoll, Shell
labarger and Wilson came into court.
II being Mr.. Bliss turn to argp on behalf OF
the government, he said:
"May it please your honor, it has been assigned
to me on behalf of the government to present to
the court such reasons as led the counsel On be-
half Of the government to take what we admit to
be somewhat unusual proceeding of filing OF
seeking to file this Information. AS was stated to
your honor at the time we made the applica-
tion for that permission, we were placed In
this condition: The grand jury had been
adjourned until the Sd OF October, and
what we regarded as some OF the most important
and effective overt acts in pursuance OF this con-
spracy had taken place on the 1st of October 1878
and 1T was open to the claim, therefore, that under
the three years statute of limitations, unless pro-
ceedpgs were commenced in court before the 1st
OF October, 1881, they would be barred under the
Statute. Under those circumstances it was not
open to us to consider whether we preferred to go
before the grand jury or whether we preferred to
seek to file an Information. We were placed in
the condition that II we did not file
an information, seek to file one, we felt that we
Should not have done our duty to the government.
We therefore adopted that course; your honor
sanctioned our filing the information subject to
motion on the part of the defence; and think,
therefore, we may claim to be here without being
exposed to these deDunciations, which we heard
yesterday, Of having made an attack upon the
people, and OF having undertaken to violate their
dearest rights, Mr.. Brady having substituted hiu-
self In the place Of the people.
The position OF myself, and think Of my asso-
ciates In these cases, is briefly this: We have no
desire, under ordinary circumstances, to proceed
outside OF the general practice in criminal cases.
We have no desire to avoid the grand jury. But
think we might just as well charge that the other
side are seeking to avoid the petit jury, as they
have to charge that we are trying to avoid the
grand jury We :have no desire to do anything
except what We can show to your honor sitting in
your place good cause for doing. ] agree that
under ordinary circumstances, without good cause
shown the proper and expedient way is to proceed
He then took up the line of his argument, tend
ing to show that the chief ground and the one to
to be first considered here as it goes to the basis
of the whole proceeding, is apparently that no
criminal information can be consttutionally filed
In this country, but that an Indictment is neces-
Sary. Having read from the fifth amendment to
the Constitution, he said that as that amendment
specifies certain crimes which can only be prose-
jury, 1t necessarily implies that there are crimes
which may be prosecuted in some other way, and
it will not be pretended that there is any other way
to proceed by information in criminal cases has
been been repeatedly recognized by Congress, by
o4maon or or%ns anS b. BY rnd
from section 80 of the act of April 90 1870, CHAP
ss2 stat. at large, 119) He said that that stat
sections 1043 and 1.044, which sections he read
He said that "the right to file informations in
some criminal cases being clear, both under the
statutes of the United States and under the deci-
sions OF the courts, the question remains whether
the crime charged in this information is one COM
He said 1.-The ~ Se ony possbe a1e
to the right to file an Information is found in
the fifth amendment to the Constitution already
an information 'for a capital or otherwise in
famous crime" He said that ''the offence charged
In this information being clearly not capital it
only remains to ascertain whether it is infamous"
and that Gin examining this question, we must
ascertain what crimes we're infamous at the time
of the adoption Of the Constitution" He thought
famous, "we are compelled to go back largely to
the old English authorities, in some cases
evidence the distinction has ceased to be practt-
cal one in the law OF England, If not in all OF
He said that the test in the
this test, what crimes are Infamous? In the gen.
eral language OF the text books the definition of
those crimes which are included under the desig-
nony awn nd SAID aht oo5Rg 3s 'se the
q
''treason and felony, and every crtnaen Jalsi, as
perjury, forgery and the like. 1t was his opinion
their me an0 m V to 10
rectly concern the administration of public JUS
tice, a fact which leads Greenleaf on Evidence to
say that "from these decisions it may be deduced
that the cgiHen dls OF the civil law not only in
wolves the charge Of falsehOOd, but also is one
which may injuriOusly affect the administration OF
Justice by the Introduction of falsehood and fraud
He said that there is ''no decision that cOnspir-
acy to defraud, or any conspiracy which does not
nous crime" SAID he: "This question came up
most distinctly in the OF the Vile de Varsovie
M 5hfopgh IN an
decide it on the principles OF law. He held that
there was no case in which conviction for
conspiracy had been held to make man infamous
unless it was conspiracy to do something which
directly affected the administration of justice, and
that he would not go beyond the existing decisions"
He said that the case before Sir William Scott was
one where Lord Cochrane, who was offered as
witness, had been convicted OF conspiracy to de-
Iounded rePorts He sai9 Bas6ei vs. Barret ar
SRy. Moody, 4s4, conviction Of conspiracy to
bribe witness to stay away, was held to render a
OF which the witness is convicted in the attempt
to prevent the course OF Justice" He said that
oughness and detail Of historic ACCURACY such as
has rarely been bestowed upon any such OF
the law, and certainly never upon any question
like this. MI. Wright has gone back to the
original manuscript authorities in England from
the 18th century down, and examined the whole,
ana ne sums IL up IN C..lS way: "Inere appears TO
be no evidence that during the first OF these
periods from 1900 to 1909 any other crime OF con-
spiracy or combination was known to the COM
mon law than that which was authOrftattvely and
finally defined in AID. 1905, by the ordinance OF
conspirators, 80, Edward /, as consisting In con-
federacy or alliance for the false and malicious
promotion OF Indictments and pleas, or for EN-
bracery or maintenance OF various kinds" &c.
He said: wish to call your honor's attention to
a consideration which applies not only here but
which applies to large portion OF the
argument which was made yesterday, or
rather to large number OF positions taken by the
argument made yesterday; and that is, that your
honor should not, even If your honor
should not be clear that the crime OF conspiracy
may not have been an infamous crime, II you
should regard 1t as double question, upon this
motion somewhat formal in itself, certainly with
out the strictnesS Of criminal pleading under
other circumstances, decide that question ad-
versely to the government, but should allow the
case to proceed; no more than your honor should
decide adversely to the government the novel
question which the gentleman raised yesterday,
that conspiracy to defraud must be conspiracy,
or a crime which, committed by one man would
have been statutory crime against the united
States That Is admittedly new point, and ap-
prehend that your honor would not upon this mo-
tion, whatever might be the inclination OF your
mind, decide that question and turn the govern
ment out Of court; nor do think your honor
would turn the government out OF court.
Your honor would not decide that
the 18th section OF the Revised Statutes the saving