The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-09-30
DEMURRER SUSTAINED
ANOTHER BLOw FOR THE PACK
 FRS AT CHICAGO.
Flea tn Abatement fs Not Upheld by Federal Judge Humphrey and Government Scores Am
 other Point.


 Chicago, Sept 2s-Federal Judge Otis J. Humphrey today sustained the demurrer filed by United States DIS trict Attorney Morrison to the plea Tn abatement made by packers to have in- dictments for alleged restraint declared void. Judge Humphrey said he made his decision on broad grounds without taking into consideration technicalities which the Government advanced against the plea in abatement.
 It is likely that the jury for the trial will be drawn about the middle of October.
 After the decision had been given. the defending attorneys tried to amend the fourth plea by the insertion or the word flor" This met with resistance from the district attorney. but the court promised that if the law was clear on the point he would allow IL. The Government Is said to rear tricN in the insertion of the one word.
 It was announced that a demurrer IS to be filed by the packers, attacking the fact of the entire indictments as far as defects and insufficient a1iega- tions are concerned. The. defendants were ordered by the court to plead next Thursday morning, the pleadings 70 pc taken up in argument before Judse Humphrey by the following Monday
  which attracted considerable attention and which the court declared had given him some difficulty WIS in regard to the right of Judge s. H. Bethea to re- ceive the return of the indictment. It was urged by the defense that he was sitting in the Eastern division of the Northern District of Illinois. The dis trict attorney declared that if the law of March 8. 1905. was construed against r.f xzyoa n rnnFf no judge and no return of the indictment. The court surprised almost everyone when he read from President Roose- velt's message in the Congressional Record of last November in which 1t is declared that Judge Bethea was ap- pointed as a successor to Judge c. c. Kohlsaat. promoted of the district court of the Circuit Court, This promotion gave Bethea the right to accept the return of an indictment voted in the old district.
 The plea in abatement attacked the alleged secrecy maintained about the drawing of the grand jury. This plea was supplemented by the declaration that 1t is the constitutional right of every man to know beforehand who is to try a case in which he is interested. Another plea was that an unauthorized person. Assistant District Attorney 
 and took stenographic notes. Later these notes were transcribed and re- turred to the jury for its consideration. In this plea the defending attorneys failed to make proper sense, the fail ure being due to the elimination of the word for" The phrase In question, which the defendants wished to amend, follows:
 Aft said recess the said grand jury heard the testimony of a small number of witness, to wit: Twenty, and that during further deliberations of the said grand jury. said grand jury sent to said district attorney the alleged tran script or the testimony of some of wit nesses whom they had heard and there upon the said district attorney sent to said grand jury in response to said
 to be tran
 the said so-
 he defendants
 le word 'for'
 rand jury sent