The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-08-18
THE ANARCHIST TR1AL.
Mr.. Black Tires Out the Jury-Closing Argu-
ment to Begin To-Day.

CHICAGO, Aug 17.-This is the fftieth day of
the Anarchist trias, and Captain Black, the lead
ing counsel for the defense, began the closing
plea for the prisoners. Captain Black began his
argument as soon as the jury were seated. He
said: MAY it please the court, and gentlemen
of the jury, on the morning of May 5, 1886, the
good people of Chicago were startled at the
event which happened at the Haymarket Fear
Is the mother Of cruelty, and perhaps that will
account in some measure for the bitterness with
which the State has prosecuted this case. The
serious question which confronts US, however, is,
to what extent, you. gentlemen, in your deliber-
ntions, may be influenced by passion or preju-
dice. On the night of May 4, dynamite bomb
was thrown at the Haymarket, in this city, and
exploded. It caused widespread havoc and loss
Of human life. But the moral responsibility for
dynamite does not rest upon the Socialists, This
explosive was given to the world by science.
We might well stand appalled, at the dread
results this terrible agent is capable OF produc
ing" Captain Black reiterated that dynamite,
so far as the origin Of its manufacture was con-
cerned, had no connection at al with the doc
trines of socialism and ne laid down this to be a
rule of law the jury should follow in their DELHI
erations "When man is charged. or sought
to be charged, with crime, as in this case the
people must show who threw the bomb-who
did the deed-and must show that these defend
ants were connected directly with the guilty
man. He then proceeded to enlighten the jury
that the State mstook their functions altogether.
The speaker said that counsel for the State were
wrong when one of them advised the jury that
upon them it was depended to maintain the law
and government, because those defendants plot
ted against the State. They were revolution
lists, it was said, but that was not true. There
could be no revolution, though, except when the
heart of the people rose to redress some great
wrong" Continuing, the counsel gave scien-
tific account Of dynamite and the experiments
with it as anaagency of modern warfare Then
he declared that dynamite was in the world to
stay, and that these defendants were in no wise
responsible for it.
But the Haymarket bomb was thrown on the
night of May 4, and murder resulted from it.
Who was responsible for it9 The man who
threw the bomb; one else. He argued that
these defendants could not be convicted as acces-
pories before the fact. He said that the State
had, all through the case, attempted to secure
conviction by appealing to the jury's prejudice
md passion, aud absurdly declaring tha. the
security of our institutions depended on the
punishment of these men.
Captain Black then took up the line adopted
by the attorneys who had preceded him for the
defense He urged that Gilmer, was not to be
credited, and that while Thompson's story is less
vulnerable still 1t had been directly contradict
ed in various essentials by four witnesses for the
defense
Captain Black on the convening of court this
afternoon. quoted from the testimony of Mr.
English, reporter, that witness was instructed
by his paper to take only the inhammatory pass
ages of Parsons speech at the Haymarket. The
following was read as a sample. ut behooves
You, II you do not want your wives and children
TO perish from hunger, to arm yourselves in the
interest of your liberty and your rights The
speaker held there was nothing in the above to
warrant that Parsons was then speaking on be-
half of the alleged conspiracy The further cir
cumstance proving that no violence was contem-
plated that night consisted in this, that when
the black cloud came up, and rain was threatened,
nm adjournment was proposed. Fielden
had tho stand at the time, but he, simple soul,
begged a few minutes delay, saying he had but
little more to say, and then, in all simplicity,
went on to say it. This was in the line going to
prove that Spies had no connection with the al
legged conspiracy. The circular calling for the
Tuesday night meeting referred to specific OBJ
Sect sDo not the circumstances prove that Au-
gust Spies was not aware of the meeting held on
May 81 Do they not prove that he could have
no share in the design of that meeting, of which
the one at the Haymarkst, with its result, was
an accident in the general conspiracyP After
having reviewed the crcumstantial evidence
connected with the various defendants the speak
er exclaimed: Now, what about Louis Lngg2'
The prosecution proved that Lngg gave some
bombs to one Lehman, who buried the missiles
In or near Ogden's Grove, where they remained
until dug up by the officers, under the guidance
Of Lehman. This certainly did not prove that
Lingg gave bombs to be thrown at the Hay
market meeting Captain Black claimed that
I4ingg, as a bomb maker, could not even be
brought into connection with Socialism An.
archism because, as member of the cabinet
makers union, he only carried out the order of
that organization to make certain experiments.
In this connection, Captain Black reiterated his
statement of the forenoon, that no distributor
or middleman, in the handling OF dynamite or
other dangerous explosives, could be held re-
eponsiole as an accessory to any murder COM
mitted by means OF these explosives.
Referring to Seliger's testimony impeachinT
Ldneg. the speaker sharply criticised the prose-
cuticu for what he termed making bargain
with an old and experienced criminal 10 order 10
put the moose around boys neck and regard
ing the testimony of accomplices, Captain Black
informed the jurors that they must exercise the
utmost caution. ct this poins several Of the
aurors requested the termination of the eratory
for the day, and On adjournment was eaHse-
6usntly ordered. Captain Black announced