The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1903-10-23
TILLAIAN N GOES FIR EE.
A Jury Of His .Peers. Declares Him
q % Ri '.Not Guilty. i5..ts !; .5I;s s;g;.

= sSsI -. = o'AsAAo A11
a 9 + 4'' Mot Guilty. !" i::s;jss. .f7.
SCENES IN THE COURT ROOM
When the averdiot Was Announced
and Col. TilIman Received.
the Congratulations OF
His Friends.
J. The trial sat Lexington Is over and
james III. Tlllman is free man. A
jury of his peers has pronounced him
Not guilty. OF the charge of murder.
Thus ends one of the greatest and
most important trials that has occur
red In South Carolina, certainly the
most Important and far-reaching with
In the last quarter OF century.
It is perhaps due and proper that
the verdict Of a jury should be final.
Under American law this ought to
end the matter. Whether or not
that verdict Of mot guilty" will be
satisfying 1t Is not for me to say It
is for me to record, as I have under
taken during the progress OF the
entire trial, what actually occurred,
and what was said, and 1t is left for
Others to draw conclusions.
twill not, however, be amiss for
me to suggest that this verdict Of
Not guilty" while entirely expected,
will not satisfy very many in this
State. The evldendce in the case has
all been pu blished, and a reading peo-
pie Will form it's own conclusions as
did that jury In Lexington Court
House.
Already I can hear the suggestion
that the trial was a simple farce, and
that nothing other titan what occur
red was to have been expected from a
jury composed as was the Tillman
panel. Already one can hear that
such a verdict was the result of poll
tics, and that the nephew of Senator
Tillman had nothing to fear in a
county that had always shown larg-
er proportionate vote In support Of
Senator Tillman than any other coun-
ty in the State.
1t is not, l judge, violating any
nddence for me to say now that
counsel for the prosecution, soon after
the jury had been drawn, said that
nothing but an acquittal would be the
result OF the trial. And then, AZ the
trial progressed, they hoped for a
mistrial, but never did the counsel for
the prosecution expect conviction.
1t may then be asked why the trialP
There had to be trial of the case
at some time; the testimony and story
OF the tragedy had to be presented to
the world, and 1t was Thought that 1t
was at least due. the memory of the
dead editor to make the strongest
presen TIA tiOn OF the facts in his defence.
not only to the jury but to fila .WIrla
II Is !Snlts
E rTifii,6an, nor 10 ~ iOr any one else TO
do SO now, as he. has been tried and
acquitted according to the laws and
forms of this great State.
HOW THE JURY STOOD.
When the jury retired to its room
Wednesday Afternoon. shnrtly before
2 o'cl ,ck. tile first ballot resulted ten
to two In favor OF III, acquiLtal. II is
tunderSt ,o.i Lt,aJ tile two jurors who
Insisted upon a conviction for man
slaughter held out for hours While,
OF course, it is nut definitely known
what occurred in The jury room, it is
SAID that The first Of the jurors to In
ti>t upon a verdict uf manslaughter,
who joined The MA jority, was Nir. j..
b. Jumper.
This then left Milton Sharpe as the
only juror VINO stIud between James
II. TlllInal an Ills acquittal For
huurs aud hours tile other jurors
argued With him SO as 10 secure his
consent u u verdict. at breakfast
time Mr.. Sharpe was alone and ms :
cnt upon ms position. at about h
past 0 O'clock he finally consented to
il verdict, and the foreman Of the j.1ry
Called Tor pen aud lux Win wnicn tt,
write the verdict, and knocked On the
door 10 aliilounce To the expecLant
crowd That Il verdict had been agreed
upun-Lwenty hours after the jury had
retired to frame It's verdict.
Early in the morning, when it was
understood that Juror Jumper, who Is
a paIe-iooklng young mill operative,
had acquiesced in the verdict OF ac-
quittal, the impression grew strong
and fast that IL would not be long be-
fore Not guilty" would be written
across The face OF the Indictment.
a TALK WITH THE JURYMEN.
have undertaken to find out from
the jurymen themselves what was the
prcdominating reason for the decision.
Several OF the jurors stated that there
was no 'predominating reason" but
others explained that the ten jurors
had come to their Conclusions for
various reasons, but that the minority,
after being convinced that Mr.. Con
zalcs made a demonstration when he
met Col. Tillman at the transfer cor
ncr, acqulesced In the verdict.
Mark you, this concurrence In the
view that Mr.. Gonzales did make a
demonstration is given as the reason
for the minority Joining the majority
view, although 1t may have been
simply an excuse for the juror. When
the foreman OF the jury knocked on
the door to announce that YER
dict had been agreed upon every one
knew as far as such thing could be
possible that it was verdict Of mot
guilty." because the first report that
came from the jury room was to the
effect that ten jurors favored III az
quiLtal.
Judge Gary promptly directed