The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-10-19

was the supreme test of a mans re-
spect for the law. If such q thing had
been written about me my first inn
pulse, + confess it here, would have
been to hunt out the man who wrote
that article and throttle him. But this
prosecutor, with the weight of years
and discretion on his shoulders, went,
as a good citizen ought, and invoked
the aid of the law and he Is here to-
day asking this jury to vindicate his
action"
DASTARDLY EFFORTS.
Mr. O'Brien then referred to the das-
tardly efforts of the defense to steal
away Colonel Ripple's reputation while
protesting-to save themselves-tha
his private life is spotless.
IF Colonel Ripple was guilty Of
bribery, as they said he was, why be-
fore this article was published did they
not have him arrested for that Of
fense?" asked Mr.. O'Brien "All they
had to do was to lay the information
before the district attorney, or swear
out information before a magistrate,
and then thev would have all the op-
portunity in the world to prove their
case If they could. But they did not.
The Scrantonian constituted itself
judge, jury and the law and proceeded
to try and convict Colonel Ripple"
Mr.. OBrien referred to the delibera-
tion with which the editorial was writ
ten and published. Little thought about
the matter for several days before the
article was printed. There was such
deliberation and such palpable evidence
OF malice that there is no palliation for
his offense. The speaker said that
Wheh man has a good honest law
suit he always has a good. honest de-
tense, but we find the defendants with
four or five defenses. a new one every
tlme they find the old one will not do.
they have urged" Mr.. OBrien con-
tinued. that this is a political matter
ana vet nine-tenths of the libelous
matter in this paper-yes will for
TINS occasion dignity it by calling il
q paper-about Colonel Ripple, says not
a ward about politics. Not a word was
Sald about his record as public office
holder and If anything to his disadvan-
tage could have been dug up you can
rest assured that Little. the libeller
would have unearthed it. Not a sin
gle fact could they get to show that he
had not been true to every public trust
and yet they say they are attacking
him in his public capacity and for his
conduct in public life
TORN TO sHREDs.
| Mr.. O'Brien tore to shreds the argu-
ment of the defense that the libel was
/ printed for the public good and he
/ cause it was a public matter. The de-
fcnse made to "A Card from a Work
ingman" Mr.. O'Brien described as bald,
silly and foolish. The language he
/ contended was the same as in the ed
torials. That shows" said Mr..
. O'Brien that the vile pen of Richard
. Little penned both articles. If YOU
! fail TO give the stamp of your con-
! demnation to these infamous attempts
to wreck mans reputation, if instead
| of sending this prosecutor out Of this
court room vindicated you send him
forth with a tarnished reputation,
what is there left for this man, or any
! other man who is thus grossly libeled
in this paper, but to take the law into
his own hands. So 1 speak to you to-
day not in this case alone but in the
interest of law and order in this COM
| munity'
The next step in Mr. O'Brien's ar
! Cument was a consideration of the
! libeS printed in the issue of August G.
| These, Independent of what was said
in the article OF July 80, proved the
malicious intent, Mr.. O'Brien contend
ed. He also referred to the abuse OF
| Judge Edwards and of the private
counsel for the commonwealth con-
tanned in the same issue. Mr. Holgate
| nhipptD1 n N Of RI
Judge Edwards sustained it. He would
prefer, he said, that his name be moi
mentioned in the discussion OF the case
FOR THE PUBLIC VEAL
They say these publications were
for the public veal" Mr.. O'Brien con.
tinued. I'VE say they were born o
malice that could only come from hel
or the bosoms OF Richard j. Little ant
NJ. j. O'Toole. If there was one miss
ing link in the commemorative cas-,
it was furnished when Little was OF
the stand. You remember how he hes
itated and tried to evade question:
and how malice was written across
his face and was manifest in his ever,
utterances. Let me submit to you tha
when a man, who occupies "A puhli
place in this community such as Littl
does, and is here for nine years anc
yet has not made application for citi
zenship, it comes with bad grace from
him to discuss politics and attempt t
reform them. On his own admission
he is a man who has not interes
enough in this country to become on
of her citizens"
Next Mr.. O'Brien considered the cas-
inc i4I nal al
"O'ToOle left a position on tn
Times. a clean, decent paper, where h
received s17 and accepted a posi-
ton 81 week less on the Scrantoniar
He did this because the Times woul
not print the foul articles he penne
and he turned to the Scrantonan a
naturally as a duck to water and 500
he came under the wing of proud Rich
) ard himself. Water seeks it's level :
: stick together boys, a pretty pair 70
make.
"O'Toole is a pretty bright fellow an
l yet he went on the stand and swor
= that he does not know who the owne
- of the Scrantonian is although he ha
worked on it for over six months. Littl
t was braver than O'Toole. The latte
not only wanted to swear himself ou
e of it, but wanted to get Little out q
It, too. Just think of thI
proposition, gentlemen of the jury As
sociate editor of the paper for 81
= months and did not know the names c
: the owners of the paper. Do you be
| lleve that"
ELLMANs TESTIMONY.
| An extended reference was the