Daily Kennebec journal., 1897-03-15

ton Journal and he told these three dif-
fercnt stories which at once discfeditcd
nlm rsha ana wsehnx " sns ;s & s Z. i e sa
against Foster Nelson. to belteve that
Nelson's statement was probnbiy tPue.
In other. words the facts were such that
suspicion in our minds which y tie IsGaD
equivalent of probable cause, and havfnG
got mt all the possible sources Of lnfcrma~
tion and having been fairly cautious about
man, we had a right to say We VIM insert
1t as a. matter Of news. And they "a,
and / say that that was a justification.
i IL an essential part Of this great DE-
to newspapers the right to publish af1ouf
public officers facts which they have n
right to publish about private citizens. e
Is essential to show an absence Of actual
| take It. for the malice Of 1lcCone II hc
had any. II there was any actual malice
here upon this s. charge then our defence
would fall and We should have TO pay the
nominal damages Of "a dollar. Ny brother
will not argue for moment that there
was any malice on the part of any OF the
parties. ! apprehcnd from one piece OF
testimony that he will argue that there
was actual malice on the part OF McCon@.
This man McNally who stood there aNd
falsificd about his diary. directly stOp0
there and fnlsified to you nbout the AZ
legged confession Of guilt made behind the
edge of~the public. highly important as
II was during that trial In December; tiiis
man who certainly committed perjury.
and use the word not In the heat Of af-
gument but painfully and fairly, he cer-
tainly committed perjury when he told
you on direct examination and he llaltts1
and hesitated upon the question AZ to
whether Nelson was in custody or I,et.
this man without any standing; IN his own
town. this man who has By his sins lost
the good name and reputation that were
his original heritage In life. this man
here to say that he has a character 10
hurt. this man taking advantage Of tlle
fact. l say taking advantage OF the fact
that once In his life Jack McCone WIS
convicted Of a crime. deliberately, wicked
~. hellishly invented that statement on
the stand that Jack McCone said to him
there upon the station platform. You .whl
hear from me before die" Gentlemen. II
the statement Is true 1t would warrant
you in believing that Jack McCone had
wickedly and out of a spirit of hate iil-
serted these matters in the paper with
the sole purpose Of injuring McNaiiy.
Although. gentlemen. IL Jack McC0ne had
such Il thought. his thought would have
gone wayward because McNaliy his sup
Gentlemen. il was wicked: wondered up
to that point why II was that this old
conviction against Jack McCone had been
put into this case. for downsto the time
drop from his lips there had been no
sharp contradiction In this case between
McCone or any other witness that called
for the revival of that blot upon, his
been hung up. 1t was foul thing found &
in the nest. McNally whose character
has revelled In carrion and filth slept with
it and out of 1t was born the Legitimate
offspring and the bastard that comes by
connection between perjury and rotten
ness. Gentlemen, there are people In this
State that know Jack McCone. There are
men, g gentlemen. upon this jury that do
their neighb0rs. This man McNally has
lived to be about the same age as Jack
McCone. True. he never has been con-
victed of crime. True there Is no record
against him save the damnable record
that six of the best men of his town have
written across his mind today and he
said, II. George McNally. have no record
against me. am safe iD inventing this
malicious falsehood to pfake it the turn
ing point Of this case< for Jack McC0he
seven years ago served IL months In Au-
he did. He knew it when he faced you
on the stand. Governor Burieigh knew .it
when he employed him. The proprietors
of this newspaper knew it when they en-
not only with the responsibility Of gather
ing news items upon the streets. but also
with the handling of their money collec-
tions. amounting to from 5000 to $i0oo
him to make up his own expense accounts.
trusting him with the honor of this great
paper, trusting him with their money be-
cause they knew that all criminals do not
carry with them moral turpitude to their
grave. They know as did these witnesses
that have come here that Jack McCone
did not plead guilty" to the charge as
was shown by the records Of the court In
the plea .'nolo contendere." which every
lawyer knows while ii carries with II the
consequence Of a conviction has behind 1t
Latin scholars will translate 1t. .Nolo
contendere." l am unwilling to contend
against the government. which carries
with 1t a protest of innocence but says.
against me-" He went to jail. and.
whether guilty or not. served his time
like man. He came out and had the
courage to begin life anew, not to be dis-
couraged but to take up the thread OF Ike
and to weave it over again and ne mas
woven web of cloth as spotless for
seven years as yours or mine jack Mc-
Cone can go out of this court house carry
ing to his bed tonight, a sweetness Of con-
science and love of life born OF fsevenyeaEs
of moral courage. You are called on ~.
George McNally. a wicked per5urer. 20
measure the character OF those TWO men.
Aye. gentlemen. measure 1t. Measure them
as they sit there. l say gentlemen. II was
wicked. l say more than that. Il was
fortune in his life. / was not allowed; my ~
bfother objected: the rules OF law Gu.
me on the ruling Of the court was
right: my brother invoked It; l was
not allowed because the rules OF law
did not permit 1t to go into the iacts
as to how much moral turpitude or
whether there was really guilt or inno.
cence in Jacks conviction. He stan9s;
is true. seven years ago convicted OF be-
ing n thief My brother will tell you ne
is thief. Gentlemen. he is not tniei.
He was a thief. He lost his reputatlon
when that verdict for conviction WAS
made up. He lost his reputation py one
act of wrong doing-the only one N ms
life.. George McNally has lost his Dy an
of wrong doing that mas !.
made him such a stencil IN ING :
nostrils of the people OF Clinton that
no one there can be found VINO IS SO
wicked or SO weak as to come here anu
say that he has a good character. But
what of Jack McCone? Nine men out 0i
10, aye. 80 men out of 100, that enter yon-
der Jail or the black walls OF yonuer
prison at Thomaston. come out with the s.
mark of Cain upon their foreheads inden-
bly,, .outcasts. There is always some
ghoul; there Is always some harpy tn1s
would rather feed on carrion than smell
CONTINUED on page g.
H. u NIT " TTSns