The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-05-04
Day Report of Proceedings.

Greensboro, N. c., May 3.-The
speeches made i'm the whiskey frauds
trial have been in keeping with the
magnitude of the case. On the part
of the defendants, Col. CT. S. Brad
shaw made the opening argument. He
contended that the government had
not made out a case against the de-
PENDANTS, and there was no necessity
of their giving any testimony, until
something had been produced by the
prosecution, fixing direct responsible
ity for the frauds upon the govern
ment on them. He reviewed the evi-
dence offered by the government to
show that aside from that of the eX-
pert on handwriting, there was not a
particle of evidence against them.
The evidence adduced showed frauds
against the government, but that they
were committed by III. c. and j. It.
Sprinkle, in collusion with officers of
the government, neither one of whom
were on trial.. The records introduced,
he said, only proved the guilt of these
absent defendants, and unindicted
government officials. Great stress was
made by him on the contradictory evil
dence of the handwriting experts, and
the failure of the prosecution to in
troduce evidence showing the least
direct connection of the defendants
on trial with the frauds, admitted to
have been committed by the records,
and by government officials, either
through ignorance, negligence, or tur-
pitude.
Price and Reids Argument.
Assistant District Attorney Price fol-
lowed in short argument, outlining
the various circumstances surrounding
the case, all of which he claimed,
gathered from all points of the United
States, pointed with irresistible con-
clusion to the parties on trial as in
completely with the most colossal
frauds that had ever been perpetrated
against the government. Taking up
the records, reports made, and ingen-
ius ramification of the scheme, he in
sisted that it could only have been sue
cessfully organized by brainy men,
and several of them, and that young
j. 7. Sprinkle and III. G. Sprinkle, who
had run away, were only figure heads
in the whole transaction.
Reuben d. Reid next followed for
defendants. He closely analyzed the
evidence offered, contending that
while frauds had evidently been COM
mitted, there had been no connection
made by legal evidence of his clients
with them. The only evidence to that
effect was that given in by experts on
handwriting, and that evidence had
been overthrown by the admissions of
the expert himself, of glaring mistakes
he had made in his testimony, attri-
buting to B. F. Sprinkle the writing OF
names one day, correcting himself the
next, and being confronted by the evil
dence of an officer in the collectors
office who admitted that the name
had been written by Deputy Collector
King himself.
The most sensational and dramatic
speech yet made was by M. L. Mott to-
day for the defendants. He also made
prominent the weakness of the hand
writing expert evidence, stating that
when that was eliminated every par
ticle of evidence against the parties on
trial fell to the ground On that evil
dence he said the jury could not con-
vict defendants and sleep an hour in
peace, if each one of them lived q
thousand years. He ridiculed the con-
tention of the government and state
ments in newspapers of colossal
frauds against the government and
said the prosecution had not proved
the loss of a single dollar by means of
the stamps procured in the various
Western States. Frauds had unques-
tionably been committed against the
government, bat aside from j. T.
Sprinkle and II. G. Sprinkle, who were
on trial the only parties the records
introduced showed We're guilty, were
officers of the government.
Officials are Guilty, Cries Mott.
At this point he turned to the Dis
trct Attorney and asked why in the
name of God, with records innumer-
able, showing absolute guilt on the
part of officials of the government, he
had not first prosecuted them, instead
of duplicating private humble citi-
zens, against whom the most import
Continued on Page Five.)