Morning journal and courier., 1886-07-17
Ahernoon Session

Court opened promptly at 2 o'clock, when Talcott H. Russell commenced the opening | argument for the defense. In his opening re- ' marks MT. Russell said: In what have to | say, gentlemen, shall not be 80 eloquent as my friend Judge Blydenburgh, but hope to ! say something more relevant. think I shall be able to show you that the real trouble | with the COURIER is the loss of patronage, if ! there is any loss of this kind. I ! think there is but very little in the argument | or appeal of Judge Blydenburgh, which was | calculated more to work upon the sentiments I of the jury than upon their good sense of the right and wrong of the case they are trying. \ don't know what the labor troubles in diff ferent parts of the country have to do with this case These men are not foreigners, but they are good law-abiding citizens and DO outside issues should be brought into this ease.'
 Referring to the case of Busche, he said there was not particle of evidence that he had anything to do with this case in any way whatever. MT. Russell read from the author ities on the definition of conspiracy, quoting from Greenleaf and others, and
 said if they went beyond these
 they were involved in confusion
 and mystery. He said that under the old English laws there could be found a plenty of law against workmen conspiring together to increase their wages, and their suits were
 based principally upon those laws, which had no bearing upon these cases. In New, York, he said, they took these English laws
 and practically re- enacted them, but no such
 law prevailed in this State. He said there
 was no doubt that men could combine to
 raise their wages and that was all these
 accused had done; they had simply withheld
 their patronage and asked their friends to do
 the same. Combination, he said, was the
 law of modern life. Railroads combined
 and coal dealers combined and the people
 suffered, yet it was net criminal in the eyes
 of the law. So with workmen, they had the
 same right to combine together for
 their own protection. There must be some
 thing criminal in the act committed to make
 them amenable to the law. There was only one
 law in this State that had the least possible I
 bearing upon this case. The attorney then l
 went over the evidence in regard to the l
 threats that were made, Eff threats they l
 were" and claimed that in reality there were I
 no threats made, so far as extorting, or an | attempt to extort money was concerned. He 1 claimed that there was no actual indemnity | claim made by the Typographical union on | the News, and this should never have been dragged into this case. He said that MT. | filling never even dreamed that an attempt l had been made to extort money from the | Darlington Publishing company until he | found that the first count in the | indictment was defective and that he intro duced this claim to make his count hold. | He claimed that the union was willing to l take in all the COURIER men but two, and | would have done so but for this combination in the COURIER efice whereby the printers agreed that none would join the union unless all were admitted. Russell insisted that the | Darlington Publishing company did not keep their agreement and therefore the union was justified in taking the course it did. He said the COURIER was large and influential paper and could plead their own cause, while the printers had no other way than to publish the circulars they did and send MT. Glidden out on the street to circulate them; it was the only way they had to in- form the public regarding their side of the case and their statement was fair l one He claimed there was not the least 1 evidence that any threats were made by Glidden in any case. He had not used a I single threat from beginning to end. He simply appealed to them not to patronize paper that broke faith with them. In the course of his remarks MT. Russell said that during the Independent (Mugwump) move ment he received letters from business men telling him that it would hurt his business if he persisted in sustaining the Independents cause. Suppose had rushed into court, ,said Mir. Russell, and asked MT. Doolittle to prosecute these men for conspiracy.
 In concluding he appealed to the jury to reat the case fairly and not consider the .asts with any prejudice or any feeling ,r consideration of business interests, put decide it on the law and the facts as they tand. MT. Moran followed MT. Russell and confined himself principally to quotations 4