Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-05-06

tenants, revealing the boundless power Of a
| man to overcome and defv the majesty OF the
law in criminal and civil proceedings through
| the operations of an unscrupuious private de-
tective agency. ssrt
Hard to Esta blish Conspiracy.
! Truly, it may be said that the greater the
| freedom of action and the removal OF restraint
under the liberal privileges accorded all mer in
our country, the bolder becomes the unlawful
practices the greater the Fillainy OF such a
combination of designing and unscrupulous
! malefactors. It is well known to the Court. and
Will be quickly realized by every tn6ugntLu, ,t
| existence of a conspiracy by adequate PROOF
| are almost insurm mountable Such plottngs are
| done In secret places, and their workings often
| guarded by the advice of counsel well yersed In
criminal law. Secrecy is an essential element
! on the successful execution OF the designs OF
conspiracy. Seldom does it happen that any
one of the participants will reveal the Vlllalny,
| either before or after its execution.
In the attempts to influence the talesmen Of
the Hennessey case, no visible act was COM
nitted, and we fully realize the difference
between q crime committed by words only and
what are known as visible.actS. which might be
witnessed by other persons and tell the tale Of
crime In attempts to inf uence talesmen and
the successful part of 1t, whispered words con-
veyed the insinuation or directly offered the
money influence. This reference will serve to
show the barriers this inquest has encountered
in securing evidence, but sufficient was offered
by voluntary and reliable witnesses to justify
the indictment of six men. as follows:
Thomas McCrystol and James Cooney, with
c. O'Maley, for attempting to bribe tales.
man. and Bernard Glaudi, Charles Granger
and Ferneard Armant, for attempt by each, to
bribe three different talesmen.
All Intimate With O'Malley.
These parties are closely shown to have been
intimate with O'Malley. often at his Office, in
formed of all doings, and were active workmen
in the jury-fixing business generally. We are
prompted to express ourselves in depreciation
of the hesitation of many of our citizens to be
connected with criminal prosecution by seek
ing relief from jury duty. The intelligent and
law-abding, with those engaged in the various
enterprises of business and trade, must recog-
nize the obligation without which the guilty
too often go unpunished We urge them
to cast off this repugnance, to rise superior to
the annoyances attendant upon trials, standing
up with the great majority of their fellow men
in the condemnation of detestable practices
brought to a high degree Of perfection by their
frequency, practices which threaten to deaden
ana destroy the virtues of the criminal code, to
debase the temple OF justice for ignoble ends,
and degrade the cherished right of "trial by
jury" from Its high position as the exponent of
truth. justice and right.
Taking into account the volume of testimony
admitted by the numerous witnesses before
this grand jury. and considering that evidence
not only in the abstract relation to each party.
but in its aggregate and collective bearing, we
O'Malley is chargeable with a knowledge of,
and participation in most if not all, of the un-
lawful acts in connection with that celebrated
case. With his skill as acquired by years of
experience the most cunning laid sche mes
were planned and executed for defeating the
legitimate course of Justice, the chief aim and
object being to place unworthy men upon the
jury in the trial of the nine accused. Without
his assiduous and corrupting influence. we be-
lieve the verdict would have been radically
different and as a natural consequence the
tragic occurrences of the 18th Of March last
never would have been recorded.
Their View Upon Immigration.
Then follows great mass of matter as to the
criminal record of O'Malley and his associates.
The subject of immigration is also treated by
the grand Jury at great length The report then
continues:
In the presentation OF the main features
given to US as evidence, condensed as far as
possible by the selection of the most important
portions of the inquiry, We have referred
mainly to the evidence bearing upon the trial
of the nine accused in section B of this Hon.
orable Court; but directly connected with all
those circumstances are the terrible events
transpirIng on the 18th day of March last
events which in themselves may be charged as
directly traceable to the miscarriage of Justice
as developed in the verdict rendered on March
IL. We are deeply impressed with the serious
charge delivered by Your Honor to this body
on the subject. and at no time since have we
lost sight of the necessity for thorough inves-
tigaton of all the conditions antecedent to it.
We have engaged ourselves most assiduousy
with the examination of . large number of
witnesses, embracing those who were present
at the meeting on Canal street in the vicinity
of the parish prison, as well as several hundred
OF our fellow citizens taken from every rank and
class of society. 1t is shown in the evidence
that the gathering on Saturday morning,
March A. embraced several thousand of the
first. best, and even the most law-abiding citi-
zeDs of this city, assembled as is the right of
American citizens. to discuss in public meeting
questions of grave import We find general
sentiment among these witnesses and also in
dict as rendered by the jury was contrary to
tine law and the evidence, and secured mainly
through the designing and INSCRIPTIONS agents
employed for the special purpose of defeating
the ends of Justice; also at that meeting the
was shown that the people would
not submit to the surrender of their rights into
the hands of midnight assassins and their pow.
erful allies.
The Justification of the Lynching.
The assassination of the late Chief of Police
shows the conspiracy. His death was deemed
necessary to prevent the exposure and punish
ment of criminals whose guilt was being fast
established by his diligent pursuit. The condi-
tion of affairs in this community as to a certain
class Of violators of the law had reached such
a state that the law itself was powerless TO deal
with them, so far-reaching was their power and
in the trial of criminal cases. Good
citizens were profoundly impressed by the re.
peated and signal failures of justice. The arts
of the perjurer and briber seemed to dominate
in the courts, paralyzing and rendering power
less the ends of justice. Certainly this was a
desperate situation. In the public meeting
above referred to-general and spontaneous In
character as truly indicating an uprising of the
masses-we doubt If any power at the command
of the authorities would have been sufficient to
overcome its intentions.
Evidence is before us from official souices
that IL persons were killed in the attack on The
parish prison. In the careful examination as
TO citizenship OF those men, we fnd that eight
of them were beyond question American citi-
zens, and another had declared his intention"
in this court, which act carries with it the re-
lunciation of allegiance in his native country. |
1t IS a noteworthy fact in connection with
the uprising that no injury was done to either
person or properly beyond the persons pre- |
suned to have been the object of the as |
semblage at the parish prison. We have re-
ferred to the large number of citizens par |
ticipating in this demonstration, estimated by !
judges at from 600 to 8. 900, and regarded as a
spontaneous uprising of the people. The mag |
nitude of this affair makes it difficult task to
fix the guilt upon any number of the par |
fact the act seemed to involve the
entire people of the parish and city of New |
Orleans, so profuse is their sympathy and ex- |
tended their connection with the affair.
examination of the subject has failed to dis |
Jury in presenting indictments.
Respectfully submitted.