The daily morning journal and courier., 1894-07-19
CL0Sh1 ARGUMENTS MADE
LAWYERte wIyIsH WORK OF THE
 sWAR c INVESTIGATION.

Attorneys ii liton. Asher and Ely
 Eloqnentiy Sum up EvIdenes-Execu-
 tive Action by tho Board of Health To-
 night.
 The arguments on the charges against
 Health Officer Wright and Clerk Bailey
 were heard by the board of health at
 the chamber of the board of councilmen last evemiug. Each of the attorneys
 were limited to half-hour arguments, Attorney Hamilton making the opening and closing arguments. The attorneys were through by II o'clock and the
 board adjourned until tonight at s:30, when they will go into executive session to consider what action shall be taken on the charges advanced.
 The arguments ir the main are as follows. Attorney Hamilton spoke first. He said
 May it please your honor and gentle men of the board if had followed my own inclination and yielded to the heat of the evening, should probably not have argued this case. But I feel that some more light should be shed on this case.
 Now, the issue Is what this board
 should do if these men are found guilty.
 The question is, Have these men been
 guilty of such conduct or done such
 h trcr ha hat ic
 servants has been injured because this evidence has come out? Men have been discharged hundreds, yes, thousands, of times, and the employers have given no reason. But they had a reasonable purpose in so doing, although they may not have made it public. You are not
 here to try these men or to sentence them as criminals. All you want to do is to investigate the question whether their usefulness as public servants has been destroyed. I think, however, 1t would be almost even chances whether a jury would convict these men on the evidence.
 Now, what is the evidence? One thing is sure-Bailey received the mon- ey. No one has ever appeared to claim it. It has been in his possession from the time 1t was given him until now. MT. Bailey was apparently doing no business with MT Swayne. How, then, did he get this money? Bailey tells story which, say, will not for one mo- ment bear investigation. He tells us of a mysterious Bridgeport creditor who was coming up here to attach MT. Swayne's pay. A most rem arkable thing 1t is that this man has never ap- peared. And another remarkable thing is that Bailey did not take enough in .terest in the matter to inquire thiscred- itor's first name-a simple, bare Will Hams, mythical man. It is very pecu- liar, too, that a creditor would have been'supposed to search out the clerk of the board of. heaAh-a man, with whom Swayne was doing no business whateyer-to attach his pay. All the circumstances surrounding this lease shows that there Is something wrong.
 will now speak of Dr. Wright.s case. There has been a good deal of evil dence introduced concerning his alibi. Now an alibi is always held to be the weakest kind of defence. How many of you gentlemen would presume to go back thirty days and tell just where you were and what you did at a certain time. This fact, however, stands out clear that on the morning that Swayne says he conversed with Dr. Wright on Orange street Dr. Wright was on that part of Orange street. MT. Swayne does not attempt to fix the matter definitely. But it is sure that the two men met between and 10 o'clock on Orange street on that day. do not think that the testimony of Dr. Wright's boy is to be taken into consideration at aN He cannot remember a thing that hap pened on the day before. or the day after. On the other hand we have MT. |, and Mrs. Swayne coming here and nak- ] ing most positive and certain, state ments as to that interview. Either they are both guilty of premeditated per- jury or this interview did take place as they stated. }r Attorney Asher then made the first ar gument for the defence. He said in part: T do not think that anything can say will change your minds. MT. Hamilton asks what MT. Swayne would gain by saying what he did about Dr. Wright. Do criminals ever gain any thing by doing deeds of violence and But I say that MT. Swayne did have a motive. He came here year ago stranger, a tramp, you might al- most say, as he himself testified that he had been in almost every kind of bus, mess in twenty different cities. He took the contract for $1, 300 less than the for mer contractor The figure was so low that it could not be done in compe- tent and business-like manner. Soon began to pour in. Swayne was talked about. The public journals were full of the matter. There was talk of withdrawing the contract from swayne and punishing with fine. What Swayne wanted to do was to de- tract the public attention from his in- efficiency. Another motive was re- venge. He wanted to get even with Dr. Wright for saying to Doran that "He would be d-n sight sicker man if he I did not come down and attend to busi- ness." MT. Hamilton has told you that an aIibi 1 Is the weakest kind of defence, Now this is absolutely false. The word of a 1 reputable citizen like pr. Wright, who has dwelt in your midst for long time 1 ought to have az much weight as that l ,f tramp like Swayne. MT. Bronson, of 1 Washburn & Co.'S. and the Janitor of l hall. each came here and testi- 1 led that Dr. Wright was in Warner hall l ,n the morning of May g. Swayne built ! ID his case right on this point or fact of 1 meeting of Dr. Wright on Orange 1