The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1902-11-14

lect one of the political powers OF this de-
| fendant to prosecute. Rather would have
allowed crimes to go by .unnot!ced. as 9th
ers have done. but / would prefer the ap-
proval Of my own conscience in doing nv
| duty than the plaudits of those who wol!d
( profit by my failure 10 do so.
I WOULD PROSECUTE At
SACRIFICE OF SELF.
| Il would prosecute this case II It meant a
political grave for every hope and every
to be guilty. / would rather retire to pri-
vate life, conscious of having done my
best. than by neglecting my duty. hold the
| highest office in the land. There is more
| honor in honest private life than in high
| official position gained by the sacrifice of
| principle. My only idea in this case Is to
| discharge my duty under my oath Of office
| to my State and to my God. When 1t is
| over 1 can say have done my duty, and
| have done no more.
Judge Krur states to you that 1t is an
outrage to bring one of the prominence of
| this defendant to trial for bribery. Is the
! law above Edward Butler. or is Edward
! Butler above the law? If he violates the
| law he must suffer the penalty the same as
would fail to prosecute violator of law
because of his prominence would not deserve
the confidence of the people who put him in
Office. Even though the one who commits
a crime be his friend. ne must enforce the
law against him.
Every official has certain powers given
him in trust and he must use these powers
for tie public good. not for private gain. An
official has no more right to exercise his
Official functions to pay private obligations
than he would have to put his hand into the
public treasury to pay his private debts.
"A man who violates the law is not a
Democrat. he,is not a Republican: he Is q
criminal. The strouble has always been
that men Of the prominence OF this defend
ant have escaped the meshes of the law by
reason of pull or influence with the
prosecuting officers. 1t IL a sad comment
ary as to the manner in which our laws
have been enforced that people have grown
accustomed to seeing only the poor and
friendless prosecuted. not the great and
powerful
..'IS MAN ABOVE LAW
OR LAW ABOVE MANI"
s"Yet so deep has this idea been engrafted
by custom, that the attorneys for this de-
fendant Characterize this prosecution as an
outrage. They do not say he is innocent;
they do not claim he has not violated the
law. but merely because he is Ed Butler he
should not be prosecuted. believe the law
is above all. and that no man is so great
as to violate the law with impunity.
Ills own deeds have been his dooms-
men.
Let US consider the facts in this case
without bias In favor Of the defendant and
without prejudice against him. You have
heard the Witnesses you have seen Their
demeanor on the stand; you have looked in
their faces; you have read there the his
tory OF their past.
( God has SO ordained that nothing a man
does can be hid from his fellow-man. Every
crime done in secret leaves its mark upon
mis- countenance. Every evil deed, every
wrongful act. leaves its impression until
you can look into mans face and see
what he has been. If his life has been one
OF debauchery and crime his countenance
shows 1t. Look upon the clear. frank and
open countenance of Doctor Chapman, Doc
tor Merrell and the other witnesses for tho
state, and then gaze upon the features Of
this defendant and the witnesses who ap-
peared in his behalf"
After reviewing the evidence briefly, Mr..
Folk continued:
There you have the evidence Of bribery
plain and clear. Bribery is not between
private parties. Whatever moral turpitude
there may be In one private person paying
another to do that which he ought not to
do. fhe law takes no cognizance of that. II
there be in the category Of crimes one that
is greater than all others. 1t is the offense
OF him In whom such sacred trust has
been reposed, who prostitutes for his own
gain and enrichment. The man who tempts
an official with gold to betray his trust is
the most Infamous of all men.
"DRIBERY FATAL TO
CIVIC LIFE. -
Bribery is fatal to the civic life Of any
people. No nation can long exist when 1t is
tolerated. The bribe offer Is the incertion
of bribery. Put stop to the Offering OF
,brbes. and bribery itself must end.
Here we have an offerer Of bribes who
tingled his gold before, the eyes Of officials
to seduce them from the paths OF honest
effort and honest endeavor. That he did not
succeed is not his fault He did his best.
and IL they had accepted his money the
bribery would have been completed Moth |
ing remained on his part to be done. 1t |
was only because the officials were too hon |
est to accept his money IN return for on1cfal
favor that the city and State did not have |
two officials corrupted.
''I want to- teach the legislator that he |
holds his Office as a sacred trust and not |
as private gain: that the ofncial powers |
he possesses do not belong to him person |
ally. but to the people. want to make It |
impossible for man to hold public once |
merely as means OF earning livelihood.
easier than In private life. II
Failure to punish means Its ,cohtinua-
tion In greater volume than ever. They
ask for mercy for this defendant becaase
of his age. His age makes his crime AL the /
worse, because he should have known bet
ter. and did know better.
Mercy IS the plea Of the guilty: the IN
nocent only want justice. He has no fight
now to ask for mercy. for in Offering these
br.bes he showed no mercy 70 the peopiees