Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-01-20

rounded and delivered with oratorical en-
phasis, but whatever sting 1t was intended
to have for Senator Quay failed in its effort
and brought only faint smile to the face
of the prosecutor
attorney Daugherty Attempts 8 Joke.
Picking up the paper in which the al
legged libel was printed, Mr.. .Daugherty read
the first headline, "And Quay, too, was in
it" THAT is s,slang expression" said Mr..
Daughertv, ''and 1 don't know what it
means If any person was indicted for
using slang, they ought to be found guilty
on that evidence, but it is Senator Quav,
not the English language, that is suing for
libel
He spoke at length to prove there was no
malice, and said the defendants were not
negligent, because statements as published
were furnished blythe Chairman of the State
Committee, who was considered reliable
authority. To investigate, he stated that it
would have been necessary to have gone $50
miles to Philadelphia Concluding his
speech, Mr.. Daugherty startled judge, jury,
attorneys and spectators by saying:
eff any man should say that jury was
ever packed as this one has been, he would
be branded as an infamous liar
The attorneys for the prosecution jumped
to their feet and yelled '1ie''. in half
dozen different tones of voice. 1t was the
first real exciting incident of the trial, but
was quickly quelled by the Court.
Attorney W. H. Thomson, a Democrat,
argued for the prosecution. He defended
the right of the Commonwealth to select
jurors according to the law and said it was
not an unfair advantage. There were three
things he claimed necessary to justify any
publication. He defined them as proper
occasion, proper motive and reasonable or
probable cause. The motive of the Star in
publishing the charges against Quay, he
thought, were political, and he saw no rea-
sonable cause.
Judge Wiclham's Opinion on Libel.
Judge Wickham's charge to the jury oc-
cupied three-quarters of an hour. 1t was
clearly stated and was admitted by both at
tornevs for the defense and prosecution as
being impartial He defined the privileges
of the press and said whenever it over
reaches them it becomes foe to So
ciety a wolf in the fold, instead of
a watchdog at the door. The crit
icism of official conduct, as long as
it is not defamatory, he stated, is a priv
ileged communication, and even when the
communication is defamatory unless malice
or negligence can be shown, it is net a libel
Referring to the claim of the Star proprie-
tors that they were not the authors of the
alleged libel, His Honor stated that it was
the publishing, not the penning of COM
munication that constitutes libel Reading
the paper in which the publication was
made, Judge Wickham commented on the
line: "Unmistakable evidence that the
Lone Fisherman played an important part
in the gigantic Bardsley steal" "Who is
the lone fisherman?" the Judge asked.
eve have the statement that it was a nick
name applied to Senator Quay 1t
is not uncommon for public men to be desig-
mated in this way. A Congressman whom 1
knew in Michigan was known as The Roar
ing Lion Of the Saginaws' Andrew Jack
son was called old Hickory and you are
to decide whether or not the Lone Fisher
man referred to NJ. S. Quay"
The question to be decided by the jury,
Judge Wickham said, was whether there
was reasonable cause for believing that
Quay was implicated in the Bardsley steal
ings simply because his name was found on
a certificate in the broken down keystone
Bank; whether the statements made were
true, and if not, whether or not there was
malice or negligence in the publication.