The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1904-12-30

LAST STAND
upreme Court Keenly
Quizzes Attorney
Dillon.

Judge John F. Dillon of New York
occupied three hours before the United
States Supreme Court on November 80,
In the opening argument on behalf OF
Senator ]. r. Burton of Kansas. The
court manifested unusual interest In
the argument. and different justices
asked questions as 1t progressed, some
OF them being very pointed. Judge
Dillon emphasized the following points
according to telegraphed report in
the ST. Louis Globe-Democrat:
/ 1. There must be some matter be-
| fore a department, or actually pend
| ing therein, before there can be an Of
Tense committed against the govern
ment. under the section of the federal
statute under which Burton was in
dicted at st. Louis.
2. The United States must be par
ty interested in that matter.
3. The defendant must render, or
agree to render. services In that mat
ter for compensation received or agreed
to be received.
He dwelt upon the troubles of the late
Hugh c. Dennis, whom he character
lied as a man of high character and
Burton had in reality been retained as
counsel for Dennis. to defend him in
the event of the expected indictment
of Dennis, when Brooks, of the form
err Brooks brokerage company, was at
war with Dennis. and seeking to have
| him indicted. Judge Dillon said
Brooks attempted to blackmail Dennis
for $4,000, and, failing. sought to give
| him trouble through the courts and
! the post office department, by securing
| the issuance of n fraud order denying
the Rialto company the use of the
mails The five visits of Senator Bur-
ton to the post office department, 1t
was represented, We're for the purpose
OF simply making inquiries, and not
| to prevent the issuance of a fraud Or
der. He asked for the return OF
Brooks's books, which had been taken
by alleged postofiice inspectors, who
were, in reality, customers of the
Brooks concern, who took that method
Of getting back something for the
money they had invested through the
concern.
In closing, Judge Dillon again re-
ferred to the instructions of Judge
Adams maintaining that when the lat
ter used the words lin order to ex-
cuse Senator Burton from anything he
did in these five visits, you must find
he did not render these services for
compensation" he left the jury no al
tentative, but implied that he was
guilty under the government statute.
Justice Harlan asked If the United
States was not interested in protecting
its mails against fraud, to which
Judge Dillon replied that the United
States was no more party to such
cases than it was to all other govern
mental business, and that 1t was clear
ly the intent of the law that the Unit
ed States should be interested, as II
would be interested In case of a claim
against 1t.
Judge Dillon's law firm was engaged
by Secretary Carter as counsel in float
ing the first Territorial loan, receiving
a fee of $1,000 for it's services. Secre-
tary Atkinson, as shown by his cable
grams has renewed the relation in
floating the second million dollar loan.
Later news than the foregoing gives
the substance of the supplemental brief
filed by the Government in the Burton
case. 1t contends strongly for the guilt
of the defendant although admitting
that the Senator's course in support OF
the interest of his ckent, the Rialto
| Company was not always clear. Bur-
ton is represented to have held up the
investigation because he was a Sena-
tor, and not merely because he was n
general counsel of the Rialto Compa-
ny. If the judges charge complained
of by defendants counsel was not per-
fectly accurate and just, the brief
says, then the most dangerous evil in
the entire situation-that intangible.
subtle and insidious thing, Influence"
could never be reached even where
the recipient of compensations was
plainly shown.