The Evening critic., 1883-05-26
cor, INoERsoLL CLOSES

DetcnSc-They IuuOrse All Tnnt
wilson ana IngersOii Said.
Owing TO the late hour in the afternoon yes
terday. at which Colonel Ingersoll made his
closing speech to the Star Route jury, only
brief synopsis OF It could be given to the pub
lie and for the benefit OF the readers OF THE
CRITIC 1t is given in full:
The Defendants I'm the Case.
Now let me speak Just q moment about these
people-the defendants in this case. First,
there Ia Stephen w. Dorsey. take great In
terest in this case; admit It. would rather
lose my right hand than have you convict
II he were convicted would lose confidence In
trial by jury; would believe that there were
no twelve men In the world that had the honor
and the manhood to stand by what they be-
lieved TO be the evidence and the law. would
feel as though trial by jury was n failure.
admit have that interest In it-all that any
body can have in any case. You can onlycon-
Wet that man by the testimony of A. W. Moore
and NJ. O. Rerdell. That testimony Withdrawn
from the record and there is
Not Ono Word Against Him.
l want you to know and want you to remem-
ber what kind of man he is. You have seen
him; you Know him and you know something
OF him. 1t Is for you to decide whether you
will take tho Testimony of Rerdell as against
that man. II Is for you TO decide whether you
Will take the testimony OF A. W. Moore as
against that man. These men who are prose-
cutting him seem to forget who he is and what
he has been. Yet mon disgrace the position
that stephen W. Dorsey helped to give them
by attacking him.
John w. Dorsey Can be Convicted by
the Testimony Of Nobody.
There is no testimony against him. except
that OF one man. He is an honest man. He
an honest man. He told why he did not put
his money In the bank at Middiebury, VT,
because they thought that he owed debt
which no did not think he owed. He need not
havo told It, but he is an honest man, and
that IL the reason he told 1t. The prosecution
does not appreciate that kind OF a man, that
Ia
The only witnesses against Miner are Rer.
dell and Moore, and thoy being dead, that is
the end of 1t.
What Evidence IL There Against Har-
vey M. vnile?
One witness, Mr.. Rerdell. What did Harvey
NJ. Vaile do? At the solicitation OF Mr.. Miner
he money to his hay
| dor He wrote a letter saying that he was trus-
tee for s. W. Dorsey, aud he was, because the
concern owed B. W; dorsey I "a lew ,S tnonsana y, DOL
stephen W. Dorsey. That is ALL that Is all.
You have seen Mr.. Vaie hero from day to
| day. You know that he is q man OF mind. /
think he is an honest man. l think no testi-
fed TO the exact truth. He did what any other
man had the right to do; he helped man, not
entirely from charity, but believing after all
that It might be good Investment, as you
have done II you have ever had the opportn-
nifty. And there is not tho slightest scintilla
| Of evidence against him, not the slightest.
believe every word that he testified, ana so do
you.
Thomas j. Brady.
And tten they come to Thomas J. Brady,
and tell yon that that man is to be convicted
upon the testimony of whom? Mr.. Walsh.
And who else? Mr.. Rerdell. You have some
idea of human nature. You have a little and
have a little. Here is Mr.. Walsh, an athlete;
a man who, had he lived In Rome in ancient
times, might have been n gladiator. Laugh
teri He loans Mr.. Brady twenty-five thousand
or thirty thousand dollars. For some OF this
money he has notes, for other portions he has
not. He sends word to Brady that he would
like TO fix the interest. He goes there and
Brady takes these notes and puts them in his
pocket and they part as philosophers.
If We Believe that. We Must Believe
| 1t as Idiots.
You do not believe 1t. You do not believe any
man ever allowed another to take $25,0 900 In
notes belonging to him and put them In his
the door and you bowling and Wishing him a
happy voyage. [Laughter.l My mind is so
constructed that cannot believe that ! can
not help it.. imagine your minds are built
little after the same model. l do not believe
the story; you do not.
Mr.. Rerdell 1t is sufficient for me to speak
| the name. need argue no further. That Is
enough. You saw Mr.. Brady on the stand and
could listen to it Without knowing it to be
true. say now to each one OF you that when
you heard It you believed It, and every one OF
you believed 1t was the truth. Take from
this record the testimony of Rerdell, Walsh
and Moore and what is left? Some papers, pe
tiiions, orders, aflidayits, all made, signed
|
is all that is left. Where is your conspiracy?
Faded into thin air, nothing left.
why He DweIt Upon RerdelI.
presume 1t Will be said by the prosecu-
tion that spent about three days on Mr.. Rer-
dell. admit 1t. Why? Because regarded
Rerdell as your case. Because male up my
mind that when killed Rerdell the case had
breathed It's last. That is the reason. And
had 1t been necessary to spend a few weeks
more ohould have done so. But 1t is not ne.
the Subject he not
DO not want 1t in the power of any human
being TO say that It was my fault. l went at
knew he was dead. [Laughter.] / ad-
init 1t.
Now, gentlemen, let us see what have
| proved. Let us see what up to this time l
have substantiated In my Judgment. First, I
think have shown that John W. Dorsey, John
II. Peck and John II. Miner agreed in 1877 to
go Into the mail business. That Peck wrote a
letter to stephen W. Dorsey, who was then a
United States Senator, asking him to get some
TO the cost OF service on routes in the Western
States and Territories then advertised by the
say nothing about It to other contractors. That
Boone sent out circulars for the purpose OF
| getting the requisite information; that Is, the
cost Of corn and oats and the wages OF men.
That John r. Miner came TO Washington on
the 1st OF December, 1877. That he went to
the house of Stephen W. Dorsey, as had been
the custom for several years. That he occu
pied room In that house, and that he and
Mr.. Boone went on with the business OF max
Ing proposals and getting up forms OF con
| tracts.
That John W. Dorsey came here in the early
part OF January, 1873. That after his arrival
the partnership was formed between him and
A. E. Boone, and that the partnership was
dated the 18th day Of January, 1878.
t That s. W. Dorsey, at the request OF hi.
, brother and brother.in-law, advanced tn,
amount OF money necessary to pay incidenta
expenses. That he gave his advice whenever
n 1t was asked. That he assisted the paItie
all that he conveniently could.
: That the last bids or proposals were put II
, by these parties on the I'd OF February, 1879
0 OF March OF the same year. That Miner, Peck
n Dorsey and Boone received about i've times a
many awards as they had anticipated
s Thereupon another partnership was forme
. with the style OF Miner, Peck Il Co., and tina
the partners in this firm were John II. Miner
Q John NJ. Peck and John W. Dorsey. Tha
thereupon John W. Dorsey and John II. Mine
went West for the purpose OF subcontractln
{ the routes. That John II. Miner on his retur
4 from the West met Stephen W. Dorsey q
Saint Louis about the 10th OF July, 1878. Tha
70 Stephen W. Dorsey up TO that time had ad
y vanced eight thousand or nine thousand do
lars. That he then gave TO Mr.. Miner note
amounting to about $500 10 be by him dis
i. counted at the German-Amerlcan Nationa
+. Bank OF Washington.
u That Stephen W. Dorsey then told Mine
! that he would advance no more and would In
dorse no more. That Stephen W. Dorsey weI
from Saint Louis to New Mexico; that John
Miner came 10 the city OF Washington, arrll
ing here about the 20th OF July. That Joh
a II. Miner then found that service in Easter
n oregon was not in operation, although 1t ha