The evening world., 1894-04-13
A PLEA FOR REDRESS.
E1-Jrdge Wilson's Last Words
for Madeline Pollard.
Sharp Retorts to the Assertions Of
the Opposing Counsel.
Breckenridge Fo-gets Himself and
Speaks Out in Court.
(By Associated Press.)

M. llSDl was SollllilllltlllNd lo-iiy ny
the presence of a large audience of his
colleagues of the legal profession and of
members of Congress to hear his reply
to the attacks OF Col. Phil Thompson
upon his client. Miss Pollard, and to the
eloquent appeal of Major. Ben Butter
worth for Breckenridge.
Mr.. Wilson's voice was low and i'm
pressive as he told the jury that 1t was
his duty to reply to all the defendant
had said as a witness, and through his
counsel. A startling thing had been
urged on the defendants behalf, viz:
that this case, with all its revelations
should not have been brought.
He thinks" began the attorney,
"speaking through counsel, this case
never should nave been brought, that it
L is spreading pollution through the coun-
try, and | do not wonder. | am sorry
that my friend, len Butterworth, is not
here. He has said that we are to blame
for spreading this pollution through this
country If what this defendant has
confessed OH the stand he true, is it pos
sible that such things are not to be re-
dressed? Is ii possible that in the sun
1 light of our civilization there Is no re-
dress? You Cannot tie a milestone
around his neck and sink him In the sea
for the fishes to feed upon him. You
cannot shut him in a cage and double
lock it to keep him from pollutinS the
women Of the country. You cannot do
that, but YOU can secure the redress
that the laws OF the land have pro-
vided."
Major Butterworth had spoken of the
revulsion OF feeling abroad against this
case. But he had forgotten that in Great
Britain, when such things became ii
stencil in the Anglo-Saxon ~nostrils,
peers and mobiles had had their black
skeletons dragged from closets and had
been condemned, had been bunlshed.
Aye! Bright stars. as had been said,
had been dragged from the armament.
Even if this were the first case" hun
dered Mr.. Wilson. II would be proud of
my part in condcmning such conduct.
.spOnsibility and we take 1t willingly,
y even proudly. [ suppose my friend But,
terworth would say that If the third
Danish the woman and send the man
to Congress. ] stand here for Il higher
w~omanhood. I stand here to demand the
same standard from woman and man.
i stand against such sentiments as this
defendant has uttered. that such base
ness Injuries the man, but destroys the
Would the jury say that this defend
ant was to be admitted to their parlors
and the outer gates locked and barred
Iiutterworth to declaim, pyrotechnicaliy,
That the w~,manhood of the land was ar
rayei In behalf OF tine defendant. Nc;
that the girls Of the country did not
need chaperoncs,, and he CMr; WILSON,
had expected to hear II said thai gray
haired men of forty-seven needed body
guards.
Mr.. Wilson said that the jury had
rom one of the defendants chosen
'r!ends. Col. Phil Thompson. 1t was in
substance that as all men were bad.
49,. III ,~1 .a,. 4. ,,,,- "a,
should the defendant be condemned?
He was no worse than the rest.
Mr.. Wilson spoke of the high character
OF Mrs. Blackburn and of how Col.
Thompson had slurred her. lie next lie
ferTed to the filings OF Col. Thompson at
tn female doctors; There had been "a
drudgea of men,, but they were fast
working to the front, and the higher
they came the better for the world. II
there was any sphere which, fitted them
II was the profession of which Mrs. Mary
Parsons was an ornament.
The case was one FOR a breach of prom
being daily brought into the courts @.
the country, ana rightly brought. The
defendant replied to 1t with what was a
y general denial that such a contract ex-
'hatever he could detrimental 20 the
laracter of the plaintiff.
Interested party. SO was the defend
Her testimony was entitled TO as
n weight as his, concerning, thai
In August, 1882. when she said that
met her in Il carriage and proposed
'riage: hat meeting was probable.
al, the testimony IN the S2s5 had
at that lamb was sure to so.
MI. Wilson Went on 10 analy2e the evil
ence regarding the marriage contract,
nd there was a slight clash when he
sserted that the Colonel had taken Miss
'ollard from the house Of Mrs. Thomas
} visit his Kentucky friends. At this
statement tho h4nHG Of th.. lpar u -
~contingent began to shake in negation.
III there Is to be any shaking Of
Esnd s,I 2v vG,r this" said 10 NIX f.. Mii5"n, ] ]
OF, Mr.. Francis and will remind you that
% S,h asked the defendant about it, he
,".Oh, but I did deny it," spoke up the
defendant and his counsel seconded him.
Thereupon Judge Bradley raped on his
desk, saving corrections must be made
After reviewing the testimony of
Trancis, and recalltns how the engage
Mrs, Thomas's house, how the Colonel
had called three or four times a day
with flowers, the attorney passed on to "a
review of Mrs. Blackburn'S testimony,
and then discussed the secret marriage.
He thought that the defendant had in
Tended to set up that marriage as IA bar
unfortunately for them the law was
a6ainst them, for not only did the secret
marriage constitute n breach of the con-
ENSN iN'Sll' u u was III itlfllSt lSilIlsl
the promises made thereafter. Ii was
peculiar that the certificate of marriage.
which had been withheld from record at
the request OF the defendant, had also
been filed at a particular point in the
case at the defendants request.
Of pSSs e the two scenes In the Office
beside the plaintiff on the sofa, Mr.. Will
son remarked: Where he ought to be
to-dhy, gentlemen. He ought TO be her
! guardian, rather than her defamer." If
= that statement before Major Moore had
neen made in the State of New York or
NJ many jurisdictions, 1t would have
nnade the woman the defendants legal
MIC and had another marriage a few
bbaSs neiore been proved he would have
pteh guilty OF an offense which would
hgNe put him behind barred doors.
lie attorney commented on the cir
SunistanceS that no witnesses had been
thought from Kentucky to testify re-
fIruihG the general character of Col,
,hlnrldSe as a man who kept his
r'I'ctS and was chaste. on the other
NaHu' every ona from kentucky or