Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1901-03-30

Salem. Mass. March 2S.-Mr. SlSk,
counsel for John {. Best, finished his
argument this morning, and Attorney
General I\nuWllon began to sum Np for
the government. The charge VIII be
given to the jury by Judge Fox. rl,r
case will probably be in the hands Of
the jury This afternoon, nnd it is pos
siblr that verdict may b. reached by
tonight.
The defense closed yesterday. the
prisoner having been on the sand Il
period of four hours in ALL over an hour
of " hich was under the ptilrSS cross
Knowlton. The prisoner WAS by turns
defiant and then he writhrd and showed
the effect of the barb. rakcn as Il
whole. however. the man stood the
ordeal very well.
Mr.. SiSk mad" his plea to the jury in
behalf of Best, carefully going over the
ease from its opening and attacking
every point made by the government,
analyHng the words of the many vii:
ncSseS. pointing out hat he conlcndrd
TO be the weakness OF the structure
built up by the district attorney, and
striving To impress upon the jury the
terrible nature of the crime charged
against the prisoner AT the bar. In
opening his plea. Mr.. Sisk Snid:
"'rhe charge in this case is he high,
est known to HE law. If you shall say
that this man is guilty of murder in the
first degree the court has no power but
to send the man 20 thc electric chair.
SO whatever your verdict. it will be al
most sentence of this man. lon have
almost the power OF the Creator. lou
can say live or you can say die
"No person can say that George T..
Bailey was not alive on oct. 10. no
person can say that lie was net MUIR
drrrd. if he WAS murdered nt all. in
MiddlescA county. Because Ir. Pink,
ham said that the man had not eaten
for three hours when death came to
him. did Not signify that he was not
alive ON oct. TO-"
Mr. SiSk then called attention to the
Stain and Cromwell case. remarkin-
That fortunately capital punishment
did not exist in Maine. In that cnSr
an influential newspaper with great r".
sources went back. picked ip thu
threads step by step. and If there was
ever Il case where fHirmldcd men
could say that an error had been mad"
that was one. Through the work of
that paper these Ilru had been liberated
by the governor and council. a%HinSt
the protest Of the attorney general. "lf
an error is made here" he said. "it will
be of 10 consequence to Best if it is
discovered 10 years hence. because Best
will he dead. such is the law in this
state"
Mr. Sisk cited another ease in which
n similar error had hcpn made. IN which
ease til" suspected and condemned man
had been hanged. and afterwards found
to have been innocent. He did not
want any such mistake made here.
The meaning of the grand jury in
dictmcnt WAS simply that the jurors
thought the man ought to he given a
trial. THAT man sitting there" he
said, 'iS presumed to be innocent until
you. by your verdict, say otherwise.
One juror in recent times assumed To br
Il part of the court. and had remarked
after the session: We'll. we convicted
every man this term with as much sat
islaction as though it were his sole bust
nrss to convict people," He told the
jurors that the Judgment Of the jurors
was the Judgment of each one, and
must be so.
Mr. Sisk claimed that no person had
testified that Best had said that he WAS
going to get rid Of Bailey, as the dis
trict attorney claimed would he shown.