The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1882-09-09
TELEGRAPHIC
STAR ROUTES.
enc Judge Charges the Joy.

this morning, Judge Wylie after some
explanatory remarks to the jury, began
his charge. He said: By the act oil
March Sd, 10, Congress appropriated
So, 900, 600 for the maintenance Ofthe star
route service. That appropriation was
for the fecal year $50. The sppropria-
ton was ali asked by the department.
The records Of the treasury and post
Office department showed that for three
previous years there was IN ~unexpended
balance OF nearly $4.0 600, 600 to the credit
of the poetofice department. There was
in evidence a statement showing that the
postmaster general, on December 9Th,
'79, had asked for the re6ppropristion of
90. 600, 600, to meet deficiencies in the APP
preparation for the star route service.
This was the statement calculated to
arrest the attention of Congress, for in
showing in Eve months after the begin
ninf of the fiscal year, there was q
deficiency of %. 000, 600, that was a fact
to alarm the country. An investigation
folloNed. and an additional appropria-
ton was made with a provision for limited
expedition aud an increase Of service
upon routes; that was as faF as the action
of Congress ought 10 have gone. Other
circumstances were fit subjects forjudiciGl
investigation. This Investigation follows,
and an indictment was found against
those alleged c~onspirators. This indict-
ment might be said TO have FIVE features:
first, historical; second, describing the
conspiracy; third, the means; fourth,
overt acts; and fifth, the partition of the
money. The historical part was well
known; as to the mean used to carry IN
the conspiracy, the jury need not trouble
themselves about that. Whether or not
they were sufficiently described in the
Indictment was not for them to consider.
The division of mony depended upon the
question of the existence Of q conspiracy.
and that was really the only considers
ton for the jury, whether there was 8
conspiracy, followed By the commission
| of overt acts. The false papers and petit
lions were the means used, and it had
never been held that government was re.
quired to accurately describe the means.
Whether the parties were mutually
interested in several contracts was Of nc
| consequence. Their interest in the
| conspiracy must be considered. The
parties were, according to the indictment,
individual owners Of contracts, and
mutually interested only in the con-
! spirAcy. Any overt act under any
| one of the contracts was ali overt
act under all of them. Referring to
the prayers, Judge WylIe said the
c%onspirators were jointly united for
the purpose, sndiseverslly for the others
Each man stood on his OWL defense. The
Jury could not convict q man Of con-
spirscy, but they could convict two of
the defendants. If there had been only
one overt act committed, and the jury
! acquitted the party committing it, then
the defendants must all be acquitted.
Brady had been called the Key, the
master key, to the whole conspiracy, and
il no overt acts were shown to have been
committed by any of the other defend
ants, then they must all be acquitted.
The position taken by the defense that all
the defendants must be shown to hsye
beer interested in all the contracts was
false. If it bad been shown that they
were criminslly interested in only one,
that was sufficient, and the conspiracy
wa established, Surplussge IN the in
dictment could not vitiste 1t. This in
dictment charged but one conspiracy.
It could not comprise two .conspirscles-
Part of the defendants might be wholly
acquitted and part convicted, but If the
jury found two conspirseies, three of the
parties guilty Of one, and the remaining
four guilty Of another, then the indict-
ment failed. So much for the frame Of
the indictments. Now, as 10 the proof.
A conspiracy is seldom reduced TO writ
ing. They are generally entered into IN
q Very Informal way. Parties might re-
side in different parts OF the country, but
if By any means, even by dumb show,
thew entered into an agreement to defreud
government. followed by the overt act.
that was 8 conspiracy. The law required
a verdict of guilty only when the
Jury entertained DO reasonable doubt
Of the guilt Of the defendants.
The doub., to be reasonable, must be |
based upon evidence, not upon mere con-
lecture. He would now talk uDon the
routes aad see if they could be connected
with any rational theory Of innocence.
If it could, the defendants were entitled
to the benefit OF that theory. lie would
select q small route, the route from
Vermillion to Sioux Falls, Dakota,
The date OF the CONTRACT was March 18th. !
1878, to <uu four years, John ". Dor-
sey, the contractor; the trips were once a
week: the distance fifty miles, TO which
two miles had been added; the time wss
fourteen hours. There we're nine post
Offices, but no towns on the route. Soon
after the service was put on It wss dis
covered that the actual distance was
about seventy miles, and information
had been distinctly snd repeatedly fur
nished to the second assistant postmaster
general. On December Sd, 1878, the
number OF trips wss doubled; OF May
Sd, 1879, the route was practically as
signed to the sub-cOntrsctor; on July
Is, 1879, the humber Of trips wss IN
creased TO six, and the time reduced TO
ten hours, snd increased compensation 10
S6,I3S; deductiBg 81 hour for delays s.
postofices, the carrier Was required 70
travel the seventy miles IN nine hours.
Petitions snd letters had been sent il,
and il did rot absolutely follow Inst this
expedition was fraudulent. Il the Jury
could reconcile itself With sny theory o.
innocence, then i must do It. s. con
eressmsn OF influence, Mr.. Bennett, had
asked fox i, and that must be considered.
Soon stser, every postmaster on tae roo:e
united IN 8 protest to he department.
saying the time wss imprscticsble, and
ssked 70 have the fourteen hours
schedule restored, and Bennett eDdo-ceo'
this protest, and It vas sent here.
Just 81 this point this member OF Con-
gress, it seems, lost ais influence; t0r ne
was Informed that It could DC, De oene.
After reading The law relative 20 pro
du~ctiveBess. Judge Wylie inquired wnst
Lho --I--o-T-o-C- E-- Hrr- - -tTc ia II