Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1882-09-22
THE sTAR-ROUTE TRIAL.
Judge Wylie's Charge TO the Jury.
EU W WAsHIxoroN. September 8

Judge wyle's Charge TO the Jury.
e WASHINGTON, Septembera
In the Criminal Court this morning Judge
Wyiie, after explanatory remarks TO the jury,
began his charge. He said that by the act OF
March q 1873, Congress appropriated $5.soo,OoO
Tor the maintenance OF the Star-rou.e service.
That appropriation was for the fiscal year OF
1850 The appropriation was all asked by the
Department The records of the Treasury and
fost-omce Departments showed that for the
three previous years there was an unexpend-
ed balance or nearly $4,OO000O to the cred OF
the Post-ofice Department. There was in ev-
ioence statement showing that the Post
master-General, on December 8, 1873. had asked
Tor the appropriate on Of 100000 TO meet the
denciencies in the appropriation for the
otar-route service. This was q statement
calculated to arrest the attention of
congress. for it showed that in fiv, months
after the beginning of the fiscal year there was
deficiency Of 100000. This was fact to
alarm ne country. An investigation followed,
and an additional appropriation was made,
with provisions limitir the exped!t on and in
crease OF service upon routes. That was as
Tar as the act of Congress ought to have gone.
The other circumstances were fit subjects for
judicial investigation. THIS investigation fnl-
lowed, md an Indictment was found against
tnese alleged conspirators. This indictment
might be sud to have five features: First,
historical; second describing the conspiracy;
third, the means; fourth. overt acts; and, a tn,
the PARTITION of the money. The historical part
YVES well known. AS to the means used to
carry on the conspiracy. the jury need not
trouble themselves about that. Whether or
not they were suite emily described in the in
dictment was not for them to consid r. The
division Of monev depended upon the .ques-
ton or the ex stence of conspiracy, and that
was really the only consideration for the jury
whether there was q con spiracy, followed by
the comm ssion of overt acts. False papers
and petitions were the means used 1t never
had b ,en held that the Government was re-
quired to accurately de scribe thu means
Whether the parties were mutually interested
In the several contracts was of NJ conse-
quence- Their interest in the conspiracy must
be considered. The prizes were according
to the md ctm mt, ind vidual owners OF con-
tracts and mutually interested only in the
conspiia cy. Any oN erl act under any one of
the contracts was an overt act under all of
them.
Referring to the defendants prayers, Judge
Wylie "a that the C ,nsp, rators were Jointly
united for the same purpose, and several for
others. Each man stool on his own defer e.
The jury could not convict one man of con-
spiracy, but they could convict two of the de-
act commit ed, and the jury acquitted the
irty committing IL, then the defendants must
all be acquitted. Brady hal been called the
key, the masterkey, to the whole conspiracy,
and If no overt acts w r. shown to be commit
ted by any other defendant then they must all
be acqu tied. The position taken by the de-
Tense that all tn defen lants must be shown to
have been interested i'm all the contracts was
false. If it had been shown that they were
Grim nally interested in only one, that was suf-
hcient, and the conspiracy was established.
Surp usage in the indictment would not v.tate
1t. Tn Indie anent CHI irgei but one offense.
one conspiracy. 1t could not comprise two
c'nsp racies. Part of defend nts might be
VIII lily acquitted and part convicted, but if the
Jury found two consp racies-three of the
parties guilty of one and the remaining four
guilty of another-then the Indictment failed.
So much for the frame of the indictment.
Now as to the proof. A conspiracy is seldom
reduced to writing; it is generally entered
into in very Informal way. The parties
might reside in different parts of the country,
but II by any means, even by dumb show. they
entered into an agreement to defraud the Gov
eminent, followed by an overt act, that was
conspiracy. The law required q verdict of
guilty only when the jury entertained no rea-
sonable doubt of tn guilt of the defe .dants
The doubt, to be reasonable, must be based
upon evidence, not upon mere conjecture. He
would now tlke up one of the routes and see
If it could be connected with any rational
theory of innocence. If it could. the defenl =
ants were entitled to the benefit of that theory.
He would select small route-the route from
Verm II on to oux Falls. D. T. The da of
the contract was March l5, 1873, to run four
years; John w. Dorsey, the contractor: the
trips were once a week; the di lance fifty
miles to which two miles had been added:
the time was fourteen hours: there were
nine post-ofices, but no towns, on the route
Soon after the service was put on it was s.
covered that the &C ual distance was about
seventy miles. and that information had b,en
distinctly and repeatedly furn sh I'd to the DC
ond Assistant POstmast er-General. On De-
cember % 1878, the number of tr ps were
doubled. On May 8, 1879, the route was prac-
tically assigned by subcontract to Vale. On
July 10, 1879, the number of trips was in
creased to six, and the time reduced to ten
hours, increasing the compensation to SOL 3.
Deducting an hour for delays at post-ofiices
the carrier was required to travel the seventy
miles in nine hours. Petit ons and tiers had
been sent in. and it did not absolutely follow
that this expedition was fra dulent If the
jury could rec. ncile it with any theory of in
nCcence they must do it. A Congr, ssman of
influence, Mr.. Bennett, hal asked for it.
u.
every postmaster on the route united in
a protest to the department saying the
time was impracticable. and asked to have the
fouIueenh hour schedule restored, and Ben.
nett indOrse III s protest, and was 8 mt to
Bra y Just at this point this member of
Congress seemed to have lost influence,
for he was informed 1T could not be DONE
After reading the law relative TO productive
ness Judge Wylfe inquir d whit the pro-
ductiyn IS had been in this instance. Read
ing tr m the lecOri, he said tn f r one year
it hid been SOL He had called attenti IN to
this route because ii had been asserted that
m NIB rs of Congress were respons. bi > for ex-
petition. Yet IN thus ise. when il had been
expedited at the request Of a member of G n
gross, its reduction had been refused 10 that
same memb r.
General Henkle interrupted at this point to
remind the court that Fren b had made the
order in question. but Judge Wyie sa posi-
lively tn French had made the order by
Brady's dir cctiom
Here he ,ntlnued, was an increase made
when it was shown the revenues were actual
ly dec cas- ng. If the jury could reconcile
that tn p. oper exc else OF discreet on. let
them do it. 1t could not have be n done
through Ignorance. Ma Iifestly, it was pur-
posely done. The tn ng to be decided was
whether it was done through mistaken eyer
else of dis retion, or purposely and through