Morning journal and courier., 1886-11-17

4
the committee appointed to investigate th
charges against Secretary Vail made it's II
port finding that the accounts have bee
loosely kept and that Mr.. Vail has not give
proper attention to the complaints nor dc
| voted sufficient time to the interests of tn
| association. The congress then adjourned
THE DEFENSE OF PHILIP MoEt
| Against the Mysterious Claims Mad,
BY ssDoco Wilson.
Boston, Nov. 16.-The arguments in thu
notable Wilson-Moen case were opened be
fore Justice Carpenter in the United States
Circuit court this morning, the Hon. Robert
M. Morse making the plea for Mr.. Moen, the
defendant. He opened by referring to the
claim made by Wilson that Moen owed him
large sum as compensation for the services
of Wilson in settling various suits for breach
of promise, but commended that, owing to
Wilson's own admission, he had received
sums very much larger. It was argued that
the case on the part of Mr.. Wilson rested
solely on his own testimony, and that
on every occasion when he came in
contact with any scrap of doc
umentary evidence he was shown to
be full of contradictions. Over and
over again had Wilson been asked to tell
why Mr.. Moen had given him the large sums
that passed between them, but he persistent
ly declined to do SO. The statement that one
of the considerations for which he was of
fered these large sums was that he was to
remove from the city the Englee sisters was
characterized as an audacious falsehood. Mr.
Moen had never known these girls and had
- Al.
country. The conduct of man who could
undertake such task was characterized as
infamous. The defense commended that the
position of Wilson toward Moen was one of
a blackmailer taking advantage OF the
weakness of the latter in consenting
to pay a sum of money for the con-
cealment of an act with which he had moth
ing to do. A letter purporting to have been
written by Wilson demanding money was
blackmailer, in which it was set forth that
Wilson threatened to hire his father to swear
to anything he wished against Moen The
fact that Moen could have been induced to
pay the large sums which he did in late
years was in part accounted for by the natu-
raj desire to avoid the odium of having paid
the original sum to blackmailer In CON
travention of Wilson's claim that he could
not write his name at the time in question,
five documents from the Quincy Insurance
company were produced on which he signed
his name, as witnessed by several persons
Mr.. Morse resumed his argument at
O'Clock. He said: cat the adjournment T
was calling your attention to the letter of
August 8. Let me say few words as to
what Mr.. Wilson said he did with that
latter q auDI1Oand that ha 81
had gone to his room and with an arm full
of papers had taken that note down stairs
and had burned it. On cross-examination
he said he had found that this was the case
have heard of young men lighting cigars
with 81 900 notes, but this is the first time
that I ever heard of young man having
note for 100000, a note on which
he bases the whole foundation of his suit,
taking it down stairs to get a light. In his
testimony he supposed that was what be-
came of it. On his cross examination he
said he had found that such was the case
If Mr.. Wilson has the letter why didn't he
show it to Mr.. Rice? Do you think that if
he had in his possession letter from Mr.
Moen agreeing to pay him 500, 900 he would
not have shown it to his counsel? This man
fails to give a satisfactory account of why
Mr.. Moen agreed to pay him money. This
man, who wrote threatening letters
to MIR. Moen, who makes false
pr6tenceS anu statements ABOUT that letter,
wants you twelve gentlemen to believe that
Mr.. Moen in August, 1882, paid him (Wilson)
money that he might settle three suits that
were brought against him." Mr.. Morse here
read the letter of Mr.. Moen to Mr.. Wilson at
the time Wilson pretended to Mr.. Moen that
his brothers wife must be got out of the
way. Continuing he said: "Take the testi-
mony of the two daughters of Mrs. Eng1ee.
They both say that after they had been sum
as witnesses Wilson called at their
house to see them and talk with them, and
as he afterward said to tell them that if any
action was brought in regard to black
mail they would be implicated as much
as he would. He stated when he called
that if they would testify favorably for him
he would enable Hattie to get some money
that was held in trust for her in a bank for
deposit, provided that he would get some of
it. Do you, gentlemen of the jury, think
that these three ladies would concoct a story
about this that would agree with all the
main factsi Wilson claims that he went to
the house with two men and that the door
was shut in his face when he became known
to the inmates. But the two men with him
had never seen the house, they didn't know
that it was Mrs. Englee's house. Wilson
went to some other house and, according to
q preconcerted programme OF not, the door
was shut in his face.''