The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-11-24
Jury Returns Unfavor- able Verdict. PLACED UNDER HEAVY
 BOND UNTIL SENTENCE Large Crowd in Court During Clos ing Arguments.
 ~-~-@-~~~- Counsel fer Gevsrnmsnts and nefen. aaat. Make Strong elsas In Noted ca.e--acmar Leas@r.
 German PubiiaAsr. De-
 neuzeeA.

Pensacola B1a-s NOV. Nds-~AEpAGzMls@ After consultation. lasting bmxaAY four hours. the jury in the case of Eha United States vs. W. S. Harlan et al. charged with conspiracy to commit peonage. late tonight returned ves- dict of guilty against W. s. Harian. c. c. Hilton ana S. E. Huggins. II the Jackson Lumber Company. with camps at Iockhart. Alabama. Harlan was placed under a bond a1 ss.000, and Hilton and Huggins und4k bond of $2.0Oe each. pending the pass. ing of sentence. 4he jury was than discharged.
 Chief CounseE Tourney for thA aek | fense, stated immediately after tAe trial. an appeal would be taken.
 The long drawn out triaT which hRN consumed nearly tan days. cana te conclusion tonight, and the jury, after hearing the charge of the court. gek l tired to consider a verdict. The sFta4 Is one which has attracted attenttom in all sections of the country.
 Throughout the day. ths UniteA States court room was crowded with those eager to hear the arguments u4 the eminent counsel engaged on both sides Not even standing room eouln be obtained. and early. in the day eha court gave instructions that nc nsora | be admitted.
 Following Assistant Reese. who con. ciuded hts argument yesterday afker- noon. W. A. BIount. IT,, opened for the defense this morning, in an axgup ment of thirty minutes duration. Ia which he went deep Into the case. ana showed the chaTaatar of the govern- .ment witnesses, "a few of whom,- h4 I said, to whom even a reference was
 an insult to an intelligent jury" F'leugney Es Eioauent. Following Mir. Bloainf Chief counsss
 Flournoy for the defense, Addressed I the jury. first citing numerous auEhof ities bearing upon like cases. ana toHh
 the stand that the government 8af
 prosecuting outside of its jurlsdiction
 He then went Into the merits of Che
 case and sifted the evidence presented
 by both the defense and prosecution
 concluding with an eloquent statemeut l Of the men against whom the charge
 had been made, and saying If God be with you. who can be against yong | The effort of United States District Attorney Sheppard was one of the most brilliant ever deiivered In the Ice cal court room. He pictured the poor Russian Lanlinger. striving t0 reach the land of liberty; of arriving fin New York with anticipation Of a Eew life ahead; of falling into the clutches Of labor agents and being sent to camp where no such thing as freedom ax- isted. when he attempted to free hiu,- self he was almost killed.
 Referring to Counsel Fiourney'e statement that God was with the defence he said 1t was blaHphemy to make use of such an expression, and 4f thie condition is allowed 10 continue Co exist, the Statue of Liberty should as l k. Aak NnwA& nA greet the foreigner entering with the promise of liberty and freedom.
 He severly arraisned Emil Lesser. the German editor, of Birmingham, stating that the editor had constitutad himself judge and jury. and inyesti- | gated cases which were already be- l ing investigated by federal court, and that it seemed to be his buBineNn to go about the country giving pea pie certificates of good character, but in this instance. his certificate to the Jackson Lumber Company. had proven Nf no value.
 Cmse Gees to Jury. Following Attorney Sheppard. caEne Scott M Loftin. for the defense, ana his argument was both able and ex- haustivo. He made a clear and concise statement, and argued that no evidenes had been adduced at the trial to sub- stantiate a charge of conspiracy % commit psonage. or that employees of the company were restrained in any manner from leaving the employe ot the company at any time they might see fit
 The closing argument was by Assia- tant Attorney General Charles W. Rus sell of Washington. who spoke for over an hour. and delivered one of the eloquent arguments of the day. Judge swayne then charged the jury. The charge was a lengthy one. very explicit. and took up separately the various points for the jury to eonsid- or. He then explained what eoneti- tuted peonaBe. and what constituted conspiracy. The charge was an able one, and was listened to attentiveiy hx the immense crowd and the jury. The latter retired at 6;4S o'clock to consid- or a verdict
 At II o'clock tonight the jury had reached a verdict and Judge Swayne, who had gone to his home. returned to the court room to receive it It wss read announcing the finding of VI. 8. Harlan, C. C. Hilton. and g. F.. Hug gins, guilty of conspiracy to commit peonage.