The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-07-10
VERDICT IN TURNER CASE
 MAY BE RETURNED TODAY

lODAI made to. me was, wen, everybody else was doing it, That was an eye-opener to me-"
 At the conclusion of the reading Of the
 statement to the jury Colonel Wiley elicited the statement from MT. Purifoy
 that he had been summoned as gov-
 ernment witness, but had told Mr. Reese privately that he had made a mistake in
 his sworn statement and he was not used
 as witness by the government. John Parker Testifefls. John Parker. a negro. was the next witness. He told of how the negroes who were brought to Dadeville pleaded with him to. get some one to pay them out. He knew one of the negroes several years before. Heard one of the negroes tell Turner that they would be willing to work out the fine and costs. Heard Turner say that he did not want them
 The negroes pleaded with him to pay them out. saying that they would be will ing to work a year or two If he would only get them out. Heard Turner say that he only wanted them for four months, and finally Turner took them. Cross examined by Mir. Reese. Parker
 
 and hired negroes himself Dave John son told him his fine lTas N7.5o and asked Parker to pay 1t and let him work 1t out. Parker referred him to Turner whom he had known five or six years. The next witness for Turner was John Lassiter, a young white man of Dade- vile, who heard the conversation between
 Turner and the negroes.
 MT. Lassiter testified that Turner asked ta had A.A and one of them, which one he did not know. replied that they had. The negro said they had been fined $17.50 each and Turner said he could not use them over four months. Turner said he did not want such mo count negroesh and one of the boys said they would be glad if he would take them, that they could and would work Turner insisted that he did | not want them more than four months and one of the negroes replied that they were willing to work a year if he would pay them out.
 The witness swore that Dunbar told ] Turner the negroes were fined s17.60 in each case. Turner told the negroes if they went to his place they would be worked as convicts and they agreed to 1t.
 Cross examined by Mir. Reese. Mir,
 Lassiter said he was bill poster and
 knew Turner worked convicts as a sub contractor. The negroes were tied dur ing their conversation.
 Character Witnesses, Witnesses were then introduced to | testify to the good character of Turner
 Probate Judge J. J. Harlan, of Talla- poosa County, w.. O. Stone, a business l man of Dadeville, William Gray, a Dade- vile banker; Captain N. 8. Walker of l Alexander City and Hon. J. Thomas
 Heflin, Secretary of State of Alabama testified they had known Turner . num-
 Der of years and that his character was and always had been good.
 Mir. BulgeP said that the defense desired l to introdVce Associate Justice Dowdeil of
 fhe Alabama Supreme Court to testify Go | the good character of Turner. MT. Reese said the government would admit that Justice Dowdeli would testify
 to Turner's good character, MT. Bulger then introduced certain por- tions of the charter of Goodwater in evil dence to show that the City Council was authorized to lease it's prisoners to con tractors In Tallapoosa County. Charter of Goodwater. The act amending the charter of Good water authorizes the Mayor and Council to levy fines upon conviction and that where the fine and costs are not paid by the party convicted or judgment con fessed therefor with sufficient surety that the party so in default shall work out
 such fines and costs under Che direction or the street overseer or marshal or un- der the direction of any person or per- sons in Alabama to whom the Mayor and Aldermen may hire such defaulting con- vict; provided the time for such. work
 shall not exceed six months and the per-
 son so convicted shall be entitled to a credit of not less than a6 cents per day
 for each days labor"
 Mir. Pearson desired to offer in evidence Supreme Court decisions in the cases of peonage from New Mexico. Judge Jones refused to admit the decisions as evidence and Mir. Pearson reserved an exception
 At this point lawyers for Turner an- nounced that the defendant closed and
 the court at n:a0 o'clock recessed untii
 12:30.
 When the court reconvened it was an- nounced that the lawyers had agreed that
 each side should have three hours for argument.
 Sternfeld Argues Case.
 Julius Sternfeld. Assistant United States Attorney, made the opening argument for
 the government. He presented the gov-
 ernments case in a strong manner. He said that this was the first case. of this
 character that had ever been tried in Q
 court at the South, that the case Is Im- portant because 1t Is a crime not only
 against the laws of the United States, but also a crime against the law Of God AL mighty; that this law prohibiting peonage rests upon a higher plane than that con- structed by man; that 1t has u divine ba- sis which is to be found in the golden rule in the New Testament. Mir. Sternfeld argued that the law was constitutional not only because 1t did not conflict with the Constitution of the Uni ted States, but also because 1t was in line with the great principle of humanity and Christianity; that the lowiy and op- pressed shall not be mistreated by the high and powerful; that this was a great question of justice, right and charity. He
 said that the, dealing in human flesh and
 blood; that the barter and sale of men and women was in violation of all known civilized laws, human or divine. He ex- plained, at some length, what peonage was; that 1t was a holding by force and against the will of citizen to work out
 debt claimed to be due by such citizen
 to another.
 MT. Sternfeld then said that the govern nent was after the plain, unvarnished
 truth; that 1t was the duty of the fury to
 search out and find the truth of this
 transaction and when they had done so,
 they should embrace and declare 1t by
 their verdict.
 He described the difference between a
 voluntary and an involuntary contract of
 debt. He showed by the evidence that