The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-09-25

1T is charged here that our client
is an anarchist. a man who does not
believe in any law or in any form of
government And there are. so we are
told. other individuals who entertain
that opinion We feel that such doc
trines are dangerous. are criminal, are
doctrines that viii subvert our govern
ment in time of trial if allowed to pre-
vail.
Opposes Lynch Law.
Gentlemen of the jury. while 1 believe
firmly in that. 1 do not believe il ere
ltes a danger to this court equal to the
lslief becoming so common, that men
who are charged with crime shall not
be permitted to go through the form
of q trial in q court or Justice, that
lynch law shall take the place of the
calm and dignined administration Of
law by our courts of justice.
Whether that doctrine becomes suf-
iciently prevalent in this country, if
il ever does our Institutions viii be
set aside and OVerthrOWn and If we
are not misinformed as to the state OF
mind OF some people in some parts of
the country the time is fast approach
ing when men charged with crime viii
not be permitted to come into court and
submit to a calm and dignified trial,
but will be strung up to a tree on the
bare suspicion chat some one may hold
thc belief that they have committed
some crime.
1T is not long since read in a paper
that a colored man IN the south had
his life taken because he had insulted
a white man. Wha- it was, the paper
did not say. but he was strung up. I
suggest. gentlemen. that that class of
the community who are crying out in
our cities and are sending letters to
lawyers suggesting that the man who
is charged with the crime that this de-
fendaut should not be permitted to
e t..
are a more dangerous class to the COM
mUnity than the anarchists about
whom we read so rIuch.
Crime Must be Proved.
Now. it is the dirty of every Ameri-
can citizen, or every good man, to
stand firmly by the law and put his
voice against any idea that man
should be punished for any crime until
he is proven guilty in court, beyond
any reasonable doubt.
My associate and myself are here
to uphold the law. Some weak minded
people entertain the notion that the
lawyer who appears in defense OF
defendant is in court 10 Obstruct the
due process of the law. to balk justice,
to delay by technicalities. But every
man who knows the members Of the
bar ur derstands that ii is not so. My
associate and myself are here for the
sS.nle purpose that the learned district
attorney is here for to see that this
trial progresses in a legal. orderly and
proper manner. We must in every way
possible put down and suppress this
feeling that cases may be disposed OF
without the interventiL- Of courts Of
justice.
I remember. gentlel- ~ e. n I was
a young man living in Auburn, study
ing my profession. reading the news
that a cOlOred man had gone upon the
shores of Owasco lake and there had
murdered an entire family named Van
Ness. The news created intense eX-
element. The people gathered on the
streets to hear the news. In the course
of the afternoon it was learned that
the man Freemen had been arrested
and was being brought to the city to
be incarcerated-
The people upon the streets became
more and more excited. They began TO
talk about mobbing the colored man
when he arrived. William II. Seward.
who lived in that city. appeared upon
the street and cOunSeled moderation.
counseied the people TO wait and see
whether the man was really guilty of
the crime or not. and permit him to
have a legal trial. But the people pro-
tested He was guilty. they said. and
must be disposed of. Mr.. Seward in
sisted. and they put Freeman in jail.
1t soon became known that Mr.. Seward
had volunteered to defend the negro
when ne was put on trial. and indigna-
ton arose against him, but that far
seeing man. that statesman, saw that
then was an opportunity OF giving an
object legson to the world as to the
proper disposition &c that case. and for
two long months the, trial went on with
Seward defending the negro. II Occu-
pied some three weeks in obtaining a
jury, and I sat by almost during the
entire proceedings of that trial and
listened to the defense that Mr.. Sc ward
tnterposed. Not that he cared any
thing for the negro, but he wanted to
ma ntain the law. giving every man a
trial and &c put down mob violence
Trial an Object Lesson.
This trial here is a great object les
son 10 the world. Here is a case where
. man mas stricken down the beloved
president Of bis county. in broad day
light. in the presence of hundreds Of
tnousanas Of spectators. II ever there
was Use that would excite The anger.
the wsath Of those who saw It. this
was ene' and yet under the advice of