The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-06-25
Plaintiffs Offer a Flea Charging Deltrd-
ants With Conspiracy.
WHICH IS OYERRULED BY The COURT.
Amusing Answers Made by venir'men-
Governor O'FerrslI, ht'ornev-Gen'r
Scott and Other Pronirc Nitr'ss-
es to -Testify-Intense IDtete,tin
the Gaze ury No Yet secured.

! Massey brought MS SUIT ''N0'
room. .,
People jostled each other for seats ana
standlng-rOCm. and had the place heeh
[ ten times hotter, and the air iar nor
I Gisagreeable. the people Woui1 nv
crowded together and suffered ana en-
| dure1 so great was the curiosity 20 near
the opening OF the case, the result y!
which Will damn the superintendent OF
| Public Instruction in the estimation o.
| the people Of Virginia. or elevate MN 10
| a higher rung I'm the ladder OF fame IMAM
| he ever attained before. and make MN
l. popular idol.
\ Judge Prentis entered the room PROMPT
| " at IL O'Clock elbOWcd his way 70 th'
| bench. and took his seat with quiet dis-
nitv. He surveyed the crowd TOT
moment. and in a quiet voice directed tnc
| sheriff to open court. His next move "ds
| to direct the clerk 10 READ ne Ntn''e - ~,
| th.rty-two citizens the sheriff hah I-th
| directed to summon from which the jury
| would De selected.
The clerk read the followins, embrae-
| ing some OF the most prominent clllIc"9
| and business men of Norfolk
NJ i. T. Davis, W. T. y. Slaush'ti'
| Sam. W. Hodges. NJ Umstadter. j.. -.
| Lowenberg, W W. Tunis, George lal'
| Walter f. Irvine. John ~ Vaughan Deo'
G. Pamplin y. ". Osborne y. a. Mars
| den. J. G. Womblc W. ". Vicar j.. J..
| royal. NJ l.. Eure. 9. +. jenkins. j. j.
| LawleT. George W. Deg, ID. G. i.iss 49,
IT,.
| ter Sanduskv DOzier. Fred. GreenN9ou'
| y Henry Jones. ". r. Mayo. Il. O.. Pol
! ard, William r.. Taylor, and i. +. hos-
| ers. 1900.
b. p. Loyail was excused because ne
was a praciicing lawyer az the bar.
NJ Umstadter was an honorary member
Of a military company and was toid 10
r. strudcwiclx ana George c. Rcd plead
ed illness and We're excused, as were
J. i. Lowenberg and B. \. Marsden.
PLEA or 'ossi IsAcY.
The first gun in the contest was fired
by Mr. James +. Heath, Jr., for the ae-
| fence who fled plea of conspiracy. THIS
] plea alleged the truth Of the allegations
| made by defendants, and charged thal
| the American Book Company. ). W. NO-
mack and John H.. Massey, Superlntehi-
ent of Public instruction. had COnSplfcd
and combined to obtain contract lot
| furnishing books used I'm the public sho1is
! Of virginia, for the benefit OF the Amer
| iCau Book Company. and that I'D puI-
suance Of this conspiracy the company
ala pay 10 plaintiff money. The defend
| ants were ready 10 verify this.
! Mr.. Richard Wake objected 10 the a'-
! mission OF this special plea, as u was ih
! effect plea OF justlhcauon. Inc hnei-
/ ious articles. on which the suit of plain
| iiff was based, charged bribery, not IL one
| instance, but IN several. one in particu-
| lar was bundles OF money another thc
| specific amount Of $3.50. with which the
| plaintiff is alleged 20 have purchased
| house and lot Ia Charlottesville The di-
| rectors Of the defendant company hac en-
| tered a plea of not guilty, whereas cir.
! sam w Small and Richard T. Byrd came
| forward with double plea, denying that
| they had libellcd plainti, ana ainrWlh-
| that they published the charges, that they
! are true, and they. arc ready 10 Veriiy
| them
The object Of the plea Of Mr. Heath Is
| TO allego conspiracy. and prove II. At one
| time they charge bril- cry. and at another
| conspiracy Of c0rrupting influences. Inc
| plea is Inconsistent. and radical depart
| IRE from the declaration. They come here
! and take hold Of a portion OF the decidf-
| alton which they have held 10 De lnsls-
| nifC1nt. yet they now make the insishlh-
| cant matter the basis for a charge OF
| bribery There are but two grounds on de-
! fence-One "A plea OF not guilty, ~ when
| they simply deny doing the Things char-
! ged. and the other Of justification, lh
| which they admit making the charges,
! and declare they are true. Their plea was
not ore OF justification. according 10 the
| declaration OF the plalniim
Mr.. wist's oriNiSG.
Mr.. Heath replied at length TO Mr
! Wake. and was followed by Captain
! WISE who spoke az length, and cited
| numerous authOrlie-.
The Captain was slow in getting to ms
1 ifteen minutes, but gradually ne warmed
/ 10 his work, and commanded close al
| tentiOn from every man in the room. lie
was in good condition and fun OF nre.
lie denied the positions taken 10y Mr..
| Wake. y plea Of Jusunsauon involved
| a conspiracy. ne said. II Nr. Massey h44
| been brsted the Stdlc has the risht 10
! arIaign and punish him. y criminal con-
| spifacy Is The combination OF severai
persons TO commit criminal act or an
| unlawful act. IL was lawful to make a
| contract with the American Book Com
, pany, but IL was unlawful for Mr Mas
| sey TO bring 10 bear influences 10 secure
! the contract; 10 was known from the be-
! ginning thai Massey was the creature
of MIR Womack. tho agent OF the book
, company, and II Is known, and the u
| fence would prove. that he was phid
! money 10 foster the interests OF that
| company. II all this be true IL Is tile
| duty OF the Commonwealth Of Virginia
| 10 indict both Massey and Womack, ana
The American Book Company, too, II that
/ can be reached, and think II can, as
bribe-takors and Drlbe-givers.
The PLAINTIFFS PEoroHrIoS.
The proposition Of the plaintiff is that
We have made our bed, and we must
lie upon it-lcngthWise. crosswise. or any
other wise that may please them.
Captain Wise discussed the pleas in de-
tail and said: I'VE say that he was
hribed in 1850 and in 1871; tina. ne was
br.bed as 10 the Worcester Dictionary
and as 70 the Graphic C0py-E)Ok, and
also in 1890 and 1884," Each was an iso-
lated case
Captain Wise claimed that his clients
had complete justification for a defence,
and reiterated that they would prove by
testimony no matter what the result may
be as far as this case is concerned, thct
bribery had entered into -e contracts
with the American Book Company.
Judge Nicely. for the plaintiff. followed
Captain Wise.
THE MOTION oyERnULED.
Judge Prentis overru.ed the motion 10
admit the special plea, which he regard
ed as one Of Justification. and II was
admitted that that plea had been made.
CAPTAIN Wise excepted 10 the decision
of the Court, and Judge breniis directed
the clerk 10 take note OF IL.
Air Thorn: IL seems that ny friend
is not conten, with the Courts ruling?
Captain Wise: We are probably better
satisfied with il than You imagine but
we want an exception, just the same.
TIE AFTERNOON SESSION.
At the afternoon session OF The court
Jn6ge Prentis resumed his cf0rts 10 Sc
cure a Jury AT the request rf counsel
the following questions were PROFOUND
ed TO each Venlrcman as his name was
Are YOU aware that II is claimed that
this case has been made the subject o.
nol.tical discussion IN partisan news
napers and made a party question:
Are YOU related 10 either OF the de-
fcndants' ,-,.- ,.,
fa,r,es o., four mon catfal a,c,r.ro1