Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-06-16
Of the judge. unanimously brought in verdict

OF not guilty
That seems to us final. It does not prove
that there were not gross waste and maladmin-
lstratlon In the Post ONCE department That
was shown long ago by o committee Of the
House OF Representatives. composed Of men,
oers OF both parties, some OF whom went so far
as TO lay the result Of their investigation before
MI Hayes, then occupying the ONCE Of Presi-
dent, with the urgent request that he remove
MI. Brady, then Second Assistant Postmaster
General. which he did not do. But the verdict
must be held to show conclusively that the gov
eminent was unable to prove q conspiracy to
defraud 1t between the defendants.
VIII Not Affect the Judgment Of the
Public.
From the New York Tribune.
Both the prosecution and tie court are open
to criticism for permitting the trial to drag on
to point where probably it would have been
dimcult for some Of the iurymen to render an
been so disposed. The very character Of the
jury made it necessary that the case while made
clear, should be presentedin as compact shape
as possible. 1t may be that the defendants owe
In part, to this circumstance q verdict which
win not anect the Judgment OF the public. They
escape the penalties Of the law, but they cannot
| escape general condemnation.
mistake OF = Long Trial.
| From the New York Evening Post
The escape of Brady and Dorsey Is most un-
fortunate; but what is more unfortunate still is
| that the effect OF the two star route trials has
been, not to make an example Of anybody, but
| rather to draw people to the conclusion that the
attempt to secure conviction for any Of the
ofenses with which they are charged is hope
less. and that Brady and Dorsey. In their brazen
defiance OF the government and In their predic-
fiar Int "noh
vict Them were perfectly right.
The conclusion, too. has been gradually fore
| Ing Itself upon the public mind that. although
the administration was honest in its determine
ton to punish the ring II possible the trial itself
has been made to subserve a great variety OF
other objects in which the public has no sort of
concern. The case has lasted over six months
| and Is one OF the longest jury trials on record.
Yet everybody knows that in such a trial. with
an ordinary jury, the only hope Of securing a
conviction lies In making 1t as short possible.
By extending the time of trial, by occupying,
not days, but weeks, with addresses to the Jury,
and arguments upon evidence and discussions
upon points of law. the minds of the jury are
distracted from the main point at issue, and be-
sides this they gradually come to regard the
| case not as that Of their own government trying
| to bring criminals to Justice but as mere strug-
| gle of wits between a lot Of sharp counsel
sort OF game in which they sit as final referees,
and decide which side makes the best score.
The Jury System I'm Danger.
From the New York Mail and Express.
Whether or not the failure OF justice In these
star route trials has been due to the Ignorance
mental imbecility or rum soaked condition OF
1urymen, or to bribery, or to what not the yer.
dict will be received by the American people
with Indignation, disappointment and disgust.
1t would not take many such costly and dis.
graceful failures to put the ancient system Of
trial by jury. as 1t now stands, in danger. The
highest end OF government is justice. When
Justice is threatened by corruption, by diaboli
Cal resources of defense or by the Ignorance
| or unftness Of jurors, the very foundations @
government and society feel the shock.
Not Proven.
From the New York Sun.
1t Is mistake to suppose that either in Eng
land or America the people undertake to punisf
| by legal process every man who may have com
| mitted crime. Only those are to suffer thu.
whose guilt is 80 plain that twelve men sitting
In Judgment have no doubt of it, II the defend
ants IN the star route case could not be brought
within this category they were entitled to 20
iree; and we can only regret that the proof failed
| to establish their responsibility for crime O
which We believed them to be guilty.
The Whole Thing a National Iumilia-
From the Baltimore American.
The trial which has just concluded began, one
may say, with two defendants already convicted
and one who pleaded guilty. The evidence was
fuller, the charge Of the judge more seyere-and
yet the jury finds them all not guilty.
Still, there will be feeling OF relief that Is Is
| all over. For more than year these exposures
have been kept under the nOstrils of the public
The whole thing has been q national humilia-
| ton.
A Proper Object for Plumber.
| From the Chicago Inter. Ocean.
There has long been an apprehension that the
star route prosecutions, which were begun with
| such flourish of trumpets would end in q
feeble gasp, but no one expected an acQuittal
Few men have ever been punished for fraud In
washington, the juries Of that city apparently
having an Unborn conviction that the govern
ment is proper object Of plumber.
What the Jury Have Done.
From the Baltimore Day.
They have established the fact that no man of
| high position who robs the government with
| liberal hand can be convicted in Washington.
| If the thieves have money and position they are
| free from punishment so long as the venue of
the Offense must be laid In the federal capital.
1t is true rings formed for thievery, and which
| did steal millions from the government, have
been broken up and the members thereof sent
to the penitentiary; but the convictions occurred
| elsewhere; the government was not compelled
to submit its case to a Washington jury, and the
| Post Office department did not enter into BUSH
! ness relations with tho defendants q week be-
| fore the close of the trial.
The Remarkable Verdict
From the Baltimore Sun.
In spite Of the complexities of the case pub
lie opinion has settled down very generally. on
the strength Of the testimony for the govern
ment. to the belief that the charges against the
accused were proved by the testimony adduced,
in spite of the verdict of the Jury to the con,
trary. That verdict was the more remarkable
from the fact that the testimony brought for
ward by the government on the trial Just closed
| was much stronger than that at its command at
the first trial on which the charge of consniracu