National Republican., 1882-04-22


ury there, with innuito shrewdness-1 do not
know whother he was born IN New England or
nnt--whercver he was born he does credit TO his
birthplace-with infinite shrewdncsi tells the
jury that Mr.. Rilbourn was well advertised, and
that therefore his business could nothave suffered
He was wcll advertised.
THE GOOD lord DELIVER YOU AND ME-
from such advertisement. [Iaughter.l He was well
advertised; advertised, they said az man whowNs
faithful to his clients aud would not divuGe their
secrets. Very we'll he was advertised that way
once and then ho was advertised 1,TO times TO
that once that he was rascal, that he had great
frauds covered up that this real estate pool was
cesspool, and that he had the top lid on II and
would not takeit OF. lLeughter.l His creditand
standing rs a man ell over the country was thus
impaired and everybody knows It, Dhcrodit
calumny. and accusation Of oil sorts FOL
lowed him everywhere, and although
man might say, Well, he stood IT pretty
we'll. He has had good pluck, and will not
60 back on his clients; sti do not want to get
into such concern as that where another In
vestigaton might come along, and he might
break down next time, or at any rate there might
have been something wrong" There was nothing
wrong, nomore than in my bare hand, forl say here
to the gentlemen on the other side that after We
made the House of Representatives know the
law and Chief Justice Cartier released Mr.. Kill
bourn under the writ Of habeas corpus Mr.. Kill
bourn sat down and wrote letter (which have
here), respectful in tone, TO tho Speaker OF the
House, saying in substance: "Now, having
ASSERTED GREAT PRINCIPLE AND INDICATED
the fact before the courts that was right and you
were wrong, you can send committee and look
through my whole establishment If you want to-"
They did not do II. That is the history Of this
case. Advertised was his business. Why, you
must go by the testimony here. Mr. Kill
bourn swears-and that is the reason am dwell
ing on these points TO enable you TO come TO
verdict-Mr. Kibourn swears that IL destroyed
his business: that It broke up his firm. This oc-
Cured in April, and the firm dissolved in Deccm-
ber; and he remained in that business for year
, aflerward, then he quit. This imprisonment de-
stroyed his business real estate operator here;
as buyer and seller Of real estate 1t destroyed
his business, drove him out and broke him up. 1t
is proved that he was doing a large and lucrative
business before that. How large we were not per-
mted to tell, and the exact extent of the loss we
I, were not allowed to give, but IL will not be din.
cult for you to arrive at IT, They were doing busi-
ness upon large SCALE say here in the light Of
y this testimony, and of my own knowledge, before
u my Maker, this proceeding broke him down TO the
ground and destroyed his firm, destroyed his
o business, aud ruined him financially for the time
. being. Now, gentlemen Of the jury, this is n case
calling form ghty redress not small, but large MIR.
=, Olmsead swears to the same thing. He wasone of
: the partners. 1t does not depend upon Mr.. Kill
boun's oath alone Mr.. 0lmstead
: swEARs THAT THIS PROCEEDING RUINED THE FIRM
y broke IT up, and broke up their business. This
Z Infamous treatment of Mr.. Kilbohrn caused a
" scandal to surround them that no firm could with
y | stand. AS said while ago, the man who con-
fronts either branch of Congress with all its power
: takes great risk and encounters great power
1, the power of the House and Senate, the power OF
y the press, the power Of human imagination, and
l. thatpower which sworse than all the disposition to
N m whpneVnr nnylliug Defnlls him
All this Kilbourn had to contend with. Are you
n to say that with few thousand dollars you
y are going to compensate this man2 hope not
!. Degradation, humiliation of incarceration in q
u common Jail when guilty Of no crime. If there
e had been no loss of health or property such
=, treatment would call for swinging verdic
u under the circumstances, because he was in thu
y right and his antagonists in the wrong OF Cours,
~ there was 10 malice on the part OF Mr. Thompson
y 1t is not for me to charge malice any branch
o. the Government. But that there was more or les
e. pursuit in this case do know. II was from tn
!. 1lth to the 18th Of the month before an answe
y, could be had to a writ of habens corpus-that wri
ie ie which goes with power that no other writ pos
IN sesses. Is this case for light work. repea
that IT, under the circumstances, no harm ha
been done to health, no harm to property
W harm to reputation for the time being still II wou
~ be action such as is not TO be answered light
Nv with few thousand dollars.
70 THIS IS A GREAT BIG QUESTION,
Ut as big as q question OF this kind be- 1t is q
l. vast in its magnitude and assertion of huma
W rights by peaceful methods as can be conceive
ID Of 1t the assertion Of principle in the fac
r of the precedents of the Government for nearl
ne one hundred years. 1t came in the Centennil
ny year. in 1876, and In that same year, through tn
ou bravery of this man. came the downfall of th
s arbitrary power in either branch OF Congress whic
ol ol ifit had been allowed to prevail, would have bee
s dangerous to liberty as either the lnquistion
se Rome was to human freedom as ever the knee
a. boots of James H. were to his subjects Now gen
a' tlemen of the jury, there are great landmarks
human history. You hear men speak of lant
marks as though they were built hero an
ne there TO mark the progress OF ma
IL on the land. think II was Jaco
n who built a landmark of the stones he had reste
," his head upon Mt night, when he dreamed he sa
III the angels ascending and descending. He built
10 landmark the next day with the stones he ha
lat used for his pillow the night before, and called
lot Bethel. Aud so this imprisonment of KilbouI
al shall be as n landmark OF freedom, landmark
ne the assertion of right and justice. Gentlemen,
II" for the sake of the money, not for the sake OF Il
GA dollars and cents, but for the sake of the digni
an of this issue its relation to human progress al
VIC right its relation to constitutional law and justic
sec ask you not to belttle 1t at this late stage
ere great at the beginning; let 1t be great at Il
w close. IL was
her GREAT REVOLUTION ACHIEVED BY KILBoURN
nav in setting right the principles of this Government
'eh and having them declared from the Supren
Court of the United States, in accordance with u
Constitution. Now In its closing stage, in it Ia
my account, we come before you and ask tn
tea twelve men of the District of Columbia may al
ls nounoe 10 the world that they appreciate Il
ed magnitude of his ISSUE Whether we ever cole
hd a dollar or not is not your affair-not much mil
uld but whether you return verdict that sho'
my you cheaper labor, cheaper your ov
the rights, trhe with those fundament
leir principles which have made battlefelds red wi
leu blood or whether you arise to the dignity of d
10 occasion, and assert In manly, broad, srol
urn way the approval which you have in your hea
ave at this moment of this brave man for doing VIII
nat he has done is another question, and one of VI
ma Importance. will leave this with you, &c
d II tlemen with the parting injunction that as y
drs, measure these rights that are your own so tn
ana will be measured unto you at some time
lor AS YOU MEASURE THE GREAT RIGHTS
END which have been nvolyedl In his at some til
cen you or your children will have measured to "
on Let me say to you that no man errs on the side
ms high appreciation of the constitutional rights
s'i, the citizen. When spoken to about the argum,
IL of this case and the question submitted to me
al to whether would go into 1t now, with my &C
reat necton with the Congress of the United state
on- rosolyed ,he doubt I'm NV mind nv saving.
man can make mistake on the side of cOnst
j tional liberty. The Supreme Court of the Uni
dli- States has decided that Halet Kilbourn '
IKE right from the beginning to the end in assert
MS, his freedom fom the Jail" Andas stood with
usl- in the beginning have no hesitation in stand
ken with him in the end. / cannot err in uphold
lore what has been declared by the highest jude
was tribunal Of my country the citizens rights
ana can you err unless you cheaper thOserights.