Omaha daily bee., 1889-10-25
Formal Beginning of the Case
Against Cronin Suspects.
CROWDS THRoNe THE COURT
State Attorney Longcnecker Makes
the Opening Address to the Jury
and Outlines What He Eek.
poets to Prove.
The Croutn Case Begun.

spectators assembled in Judge McConnelPs
court were raped to order, and as the de-
PENDANTS filed in and the attorneys took their
seats the clerk called the roll Of jurors.
Every man responded to his name aud the
Cronin trial formally began.
State Attorney Longenecker at once began
his opening address to the jury. He reviewed
briefly the long-continued sitting of venire-
men, which had resulted IN the selection OF
the twelve before him. He then defined the
duties of juryman, defined the meaning of
of innocence as applied in trials
of persons charged with crime, telling the
Jury that the presumption of innocence was
not IA matter to be weighed against evidence.
1t was, he said, mere negative which stood
in the way of conviction in the absence OF
evidence, but must not be allowed to weaken
the force of evidence given.
Longenecker next took up and defined the
meaning Of n reasonable doubt as applied to
such cases. On this he said: when you
stated that YOU would not convict the men
except as thew were proved guilty beyond q
reasonable doubt, you simply meant TINS:
That if, after hearing the evidence, you are
satisfied as men of the truth of the charge,
If you are satisfied as jurymen sworn to do
your duty, that the men on trial are guilty,
then you have no right to go looking around
for doubts. You have no right to hunt
around for an excuse to refrain from doing
A reasonable doubt means doubt that Is
reasonable.'
Forrest, of counsel for the defense, inter-
rupted the speaker on this point, claiming
that the definition of a reasonable doubt has
no place in the opening address and should
be used only in the closing address. Inc
court overruled the point and Forrest noted
an exception.
The state attorney then proceeded to de-
fine murder, and set forth what were the
material allegations in the Indictment which
it would be necessary for the state to prove
In order TO justify conviction. They were:
That DIR. Cronin was killed; that the killing
was done IN this state; that it was done
without adequate provocation, and that the
three defendants did it. The speaker then
defined direct and circumstantial evidence.
He then spoke of the disappearance OF Dr.
Cronin and the finding of his body eighteen
days afterward, and said that the state pro-
posed to prove it murder as the result OF
conspiracy.
The state attorney then proceeded to speak
on the motive of the crime and said that, IN
order to show what the motive was, 1t be-
came necessary to examine into the history
in this country of the organization known as
the United Brotherhood, commonly called
the Clan-na-Gael. But before doing this he
reminded the jury they were not trying the
Clan-na-G Gael, but the prisoners at the bar.
Longenecker then proceeded to sketch q his
tory of the Clan-na-Gael. He said that the
triangle was supreme; that the oaths OF
members made their commands superior to
the laws of the nation.
Forrest objected to this line of statement
as inadmissible in advance of proof. Judge
Mcconnell said he did not know what would
be proved, but warned the state attorney
that he was making these statements at his
own peril.
The state attorney said he would prove
what he had said and he accepted the res
possibility. He proceeded to say that when
Sullivan. Feeley and Boland got control
of the executive board, they changed
the plan of work of the organza-
tion and inaugurated dynamite
policy and implanted in the constitution
clause commanding perfect and unquestion-
ing obedience to the commands of the board.
The defense again prayed for an exception
to this line of statement
The states attorney then went on to say
that the memberships did not know who
constituted the triangle SO secret was it, but
nevertheless they obeyed the orders ana
were sent on various missions to England in
the way of active work, and under assumed
names. Notwithstanding this secrecy these
men were betrayed by the board to the Eng
lish authorities, and twenty OF them ne SAID
are now in prison. This was. he declared,
10 enable the board to steal the funds, and
when the last showing was made the board
claimed that the order owed them $4,000
when there was s25O,00O in the treasury
when they took charge. AT this point the
state attorney introduced DIR. Cronn in con-
nectiOn with the order, and proceeded to
sketch the history of his fight against the
triangle. He told of Cronin's expulsion, the
subsequent union convention, the trial or
Sullivan, Feeley and Boland by secret
committee of which DR.. Cronin was a mein-
ber. in Buffalo year ago last August The
states attorney went on to say that tho COM
| mittee was in session three days hearing
evidence which he stated would be intro
duced during the trial. He declared
denuncatiop of DIR. Cronin wss sent
| out over Alexander Sullivan's signature and
| that it was sent out after DR.. Cronin had dis
appeared and in the belief that his body
would never be found. 1t was not sufficient
| to make away with DIR. Cron;n, but the same
| unseen hand that regulated the conspiracy
| from its inception had 10 make it appear also
| that Cronin was traitor.
"If DIR. Cronin had published his evidence
| against the triangle, as he was about 10 do, II
meant the ruin of the triangle with the Irish
| people. and to have it published to all their
| camps was to convict these men OF embez-
| zling these funds that had been accommodating
| for years. 1t would have proved them
| traitors to the Irish cause, proved them not
only 10 be embezzlers, but violators OF the laws
| of two countries traitors to the cause In
which these people had enlisted, and instead
| of doing that which was to benefit poor old
| Ireland it would brand them the worst men
| on earth among the Irish people, That was
| the object"
| The state attorney then went on to show
how Coughlin had begun denounclng Cronir
as a spy way back in February, how Beggs
| at certain meeting of Camp 20 had said DR..
| Cronin's denunciation Of Sullivan and the
triangle had to be stopped If II took blood.
At the afternoon session Judge Longe-
| necker concluded his address. Then all the
lawyers of the defense waived the right tc
address the jury, and ex-Captain Villers, OF
| Lake View, was put on the stand TO tell
| what he knew of the tragedy.
The state attorney then went on to tel
| about the charges made against Cronin il
| Camp 20 and that on the 10th of February
Senior Guardian Beggs wrote to Dlstric
Officer Spellman, of Peoria, that he was di
rected to investigate tho matter and wanted
the district officer 10 do so. The latter on tn,
18th of February wrote TO Beggs that he
knew OF no law or provision of the constitu-
tion recurring him to investigate ana that b.
could not investigate unless the charge
were made directly TO him. Beggs, on th
18th, wrote back that while there was n
written law for this there was law, and tn
matter mad TO be investigated or there woul'
be trouble. On the following day man Civ
ing the name OF Simonds rented q fiat at IL
Clark street, opposite DIR, Cronin's office
bought furniture and large trunk am
moved in.
On the Goth Of March Martin Burke az
| peared at the Carlson cottage under tn
name OF Frank Williams, rented the cottag
and then, after talking with O'Sullivan, wen
to III Clark street and moved the furnitur
| to the cottage.