The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1883-06-20
The Verdict.

iliO lndhOo oil ouu VI oil bulUBS. U6
long effort to obtain jury, themonths of
evidence-taking, with almost daily excur-
sions by the lawyers on various hairsplit-
ting legal questions, the tedious weeks of
argument by counsel, the final charge of
the JUDICIAL consuming more than six
months of time-have come to an end and
the jury has found the star route-we sup
pose they must be no longer called thieves
-" not guilty of conspiracy to defraud
the government. Thus ends the second
trial. AT the first trial Rerdell was found
guilty and the jury stood nine for convic-
ton of Brady, Dorsey and their associates
to three against conviction. The later
course of this trial had made it quite plain
that the jury would not convict. A disa-
greement seemed to be the probable out
come of the long trial. An acquittal GER
tainly was not looked for by the people
generally or by those who had followed
the reports of the trial. The announce
ment of the verdict Thursday morning
of last week was received by the Judge in
undisguised amazement. Mrs. Dorsey
was ecstatic in her demonstrations of ioy.
Some of the defendants wept, congratula-
tions were showered upon them by sympa-
thizing friends and the court room became
the scene of confusion and wild uproar.
When the defendants and their counsel
reached the street they we're the recipients
OF popular ovation. Free drinks were
furnished the crowd, always ready to
throw up its hat for the victor in con-
test. Receptions followed at Dorsey's
and at Ingersoll's residence. There was
a serenade, harangues were made to the
people who congregated on the sidewalks
and they were invited in to share the hos
pitality of the great acquitted. The jury
men were the objects of the most affec-
tionate solicitude by the defence and
their friends. At the reception at the
house of Dorsey, one of them was discov-
cred in the crowd and was instantly
seized upon by Mrs. Dorsey and her sister
Mrs. Peck who, linking arms with him,
introduced him to all their friends as "the
honest juryman." To the people generally
these coarse and extravagant demonstra-
tions are suggestive of hilarity over deliv-
erance from much feared and much
merited punishment, rather than the
chastened joy which the innocent feel and
exhibit at the failure of an unjust and
groundless prosecution.
Dorsey, Brady and their fellow defend
ants have escaped the application of the
official brand of their guilt, but in the two
long trials in which their transactions
have been made public their character for
uprightness has been smirched beyond
the power OF any jury by its verdict to
whiten it. The mere fact that they had
cunningly covered their iniquity with a
thin veil of devotion to the public wei.
fare, that the government counsel were
unable to prove beyond reasonable
doubt to an incapable and hopelessly
befogged jury the existence of conspir
acy TO rob the national treasury, has
saved these men from the legal penalty
for their otfenses. The evidence has beer
sufficient to convince probably nine-tenths
of the intelligent public that the defend
ants robbed the government of immense
sums of money. The able Judge who
tried the case was convinced of theil
guilt. No forfeiture of ill-gotten gains
no convict's garb could add to the depth
of the popular conviction of the Grimm
atty of these men. Henceforth they mus
take their places in the public esteem sid,
by side with Tweed and the great army o
J rsscals whose misdeeds have made then
infamous.
: There is no feeling that the government
has not honestly, skillfully and vigorousl.
J prosecuted this case. On this point tn
New York Sun, a political opponent o
the administration but an active sym
, pathizer with its efforts to bring thes
thieves TO justice, says: SIN our opinion
: it is not necessary to impute folly o
, knavery either to the judge or to the jur
in order to explain the escape of the Sta
| route defendants. We believe they hav
, been ably prosecuted and fairly tried. A
3 we have more than once pointed out, how
ever, the case against them involves inht
rent difficulties of proof which must rende