Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-08-18
bringing Elemr the Facts.

The contrast between the arguments OF the
prosecution and defense in the star route cases is
so marked that it the attention of the most
casual reader, and, of course. the effect must be
lnhniteiy greater upon the jury, who hear all OF
Doth sides The pros 'cGtOn present plain and in
disputable facts, brought out In the evidence and
supported in many cases ty figures; tie defense
zeal In gener3iitieS, sometimes of e. gIttrring
KIND, and in bubbles and trrhncaiitleS OF law
possibly with tie view OF confusing the minds OF
the jury. That course pcrh2i S. is all that is left
TO the defense. Having Ut rly failed to overthrow
or weaken any OF the damaging proofs submitted
by the government, cOuns for defendants under
take to distract the attention OF the Jury from the
real elements and evidence OF the case The arg1l-
ment OF Mr.. Bliss yesterday illustrated the wide
dinerenee not only between the arguments, but
also in the kind and character OF evidence pre-
sented by the opposing sides. In the beginning he
briefly reviewed the fliInsy character or the testf
mony for the defense, and he followed this by
recalling to the jury some OF the hard, stubborn,
undisputed and fndisputable facts put In
evidence by the government. To make
clear the charge OF reckless extravaganza In the
Star se'vice, he recalled the testimony showing
that thousands OF dollars had been paid TO con-
tractors to carry the mail on slower time thln 1t
was actually being carried when these orders
were Issued. In other words, this was BraGy,s
method OF 'exped1ting" backwards. He would
increase the pay Of a route enormously under the
pretext cf increasing the schedule time when In
fact, as was proved by numerous witnesses the
regular time that had been made under the origf-
nal contract was faster than the time caHed for in
the expedition. Mr.. Bliss mentioned Pee. & Co "a
California route as one in which this method of
getting money from the Treasury for division
among the ring was used. One order increased
the pay OF the route ST. COO ostenslbly for an in
crease OF speed, while In truth the time regularly
made prior To the issuance % the order was faster
than that called for In the expedition Thus SIT 900
was taken from the government in one lump. with
out any Improvement In the route mentioned Mr.
Bliss declared that this SIT 600 like other sums
similarly taken from the Treasury frauduently
went, not to the contractors or sub-contractors
who actually performed the mail service, but to
The ring in Washington On another route
from ke1rney to Kent. at one time 81 200
vas allowed for expedition when the s.eyi-
deBce was undlsputed that the malls had been
carried all the time at rate as fast as the expe-
dited time" More than this the subcontractor
who was operating that route never knew until
this tzal brought the fact light that q 200 had
been wrung from the Treasury In the pretense
that the people he was serving desired faster
mails. he was performing this service for 81, 500
per year, while Brady allowing s4a02 e5 for it,
ana the difference went into the pockets OF the
ring. Mr.. Bliss cited another route In proof, the
pay Of which was increased from $3.50 to
$4s,esl31 estensbly for expedition and because it
was great through route, when In fact the testl-
mony OF the postmasters along the route showed
that for is days the mail bag carried did not
contain single letter. and what little
mall was carried was gathered up at way stations
MT. Bliss speech OF yesterday was composed
mainly OF just such Illustrations OF dishonesty and
corruption, taken from the evidence In the case,
al have been mentioned 1t cleared away the
confusion, II any existed, In the minds OF the Jury,
and recalled their attention to the part of the
case they must pass upon--the evidence Counsel
Tor defense had in their extremity, read law to
tne jury In eopious quantity, impressing upon
Them part of the case they have nothing to do
with Mr.. Bliss put before the Jury that part OF
the case which belongs to them, in all its force
and strength.