Omaha daily bee., 1906-12-11
JURY HAS THE COAL CASE
Twelve Ven Now Deciding Whether Fuel
Trust Exists in Omaha.
LAWYERS FINISH ARGUMENT LAST MIGHT
j. A. Sunderland IL Next Member Oi
Alleged Combine 60 BE Tried,
Hearing Set for wednes-
day.

Inc question OF whether or not tno OIllaIa
Coal exchange is organized in violation Of
the antitrust laws Of the state was submit
ted to a jury Of twelve men at 1910 last
night at the close Of the trial Of Samuel e.
Howell, president Of the exchange, charged
with being a member of an unlawful COM
bination. The trial lasted seven full days,
including three night sessions, and has
been marked by clashes among the at
torneys and between the court and the at
torneys, so bitterly was the case fought
between the contending Sides
The jury filed out Of the court room after
listening for an hour and ten minutes to
the reading of the instructions of Judge
Sutton. The instructions are probably the
most voluminous ever read to jury in
Douglas county court. Judge Sutton com
menCed reading them at o'clock, and it
was just 1910 when he read the last SEN
tence and gave them over to the jury. The
latter retired at once in charge of Bailiffs
Kirkendall and Fields
This morning, by agreement OF counsel.
the court will take up the case of J. A.
Sunderland. charged on the same lndict-
ment with Mr. Howell
The arguments of the attorneys occupied
all Of the afternoon session and until
O'Clock at night. BY consent each Of the
four lawyers confined himself to an hour.
The only incident of unusual interest dur
ing the argument was final clash between
Attorney w. ]. ConneH and County At
torney Slabaugh Mr. Connell, in his re-
marks, pointed out the coal exchange had
been in existence since 1903.
"Why wait until just before a general
election" he started to say, but he was
stopped by the court and by County At
Cr,l
with his face lived with anger.
Final Clash of Counsel.
THAT statement is a reflection upon this
court which called the grand jury and upon
the sixteen good and true men who sat upon
the grand jury" he said.
Mr. Connell," said Judge Sutton, also
with some show of heat, "the court will
deal with you when this case is over"
The first section of the instructions relat-
ing to the nine counts of the indictment
required just a half hour to read. Then
the court launched into discussion of the
law of the case.
The jury was instructed to limit its con-
slderation Of the evidence to the period of
time between July l, 1905, and September
IA, 1906. This is because the Junkin law,
under which the indictment was brought,
went into effect on the first date and the
indictment names the second date as the
time when the offenses were committed
The jury was directed II is not necessary
for the. state to establish that the sole
and only purpose of the existence Of the
Omaha Coal exchange was to prevent COM
petition or to do business in restraint OF
trade and even though many lawful abuses
in the coal business were corrected this
would not excuse the defendant in vio-
lating the law in restraint of trade.
Instructions of Court.
The two instructions which bore most
, directly on the points at issue were the
, ones relating to the constitution and by.
laws, and were as follows:
, You are instructed that article xii ot
I the constitution of the Omaha Coal ex
change IS In itself a violation of the Law
p Of this state; and If you find from tn,
evidence, beyond reasonable doubt tina
article xii of said constitution of said eX
change was in force az any time betweeI
3 July l, 1905, and the 14th day of September
. 1906, and that during that periodh or a
r any time during that period, the defendan
, and one or more of the defendants I'm thi
case were members of said exchange, an
. that they unlawfully wilfuly, purposell
gether to carry out the terms OF said sec
ton Of the constitution in the city o
Omaha county of Douglas state of Ne
r braska, then you are Instructed that tn
defendant has been carrying on his bust
! ness In restraint of trade, and in Violation
of the laws of the state Of Nebraska, an
forth in the indictment.
You are instructed that the constitutio
and bylaws of the Omaha Coal exchange
( | taken as a whole, are in violation of tn
laws of the state of Nebraska, and If yo
lind from the evidence, beyond a reasonabl
doubt that the entire CONSTITUTION and hy
laws, which have been offered and read /
evidence in this case, was in force an
, effect so far as this defendant and on
u or more OF the members of said exchang
e was concerned, while acting together a
e any time between July /, 1906 and the lat
II day Of September, 1905, and that the dc
- fendant, at any time the constitution an
- bylaws Of said exchange was In force, wa
D member OF the exchange and there wer
one or more members Of said exchang,
while said constitution and bylaws WeI
e in force, confederatlng and agreeing L
e gether to enforce the entire constitutiO
II and bylaws OF the Omaha Coal exchang
~ while he was In the coal business, the
70 YOU are instructed that the defendant ha
% been conducting his business in RESTRAIN
ls Of trade and in violation of the law (
. this state and YOU should fnd tba dSfo,
~ dant guilty as charged I'm the indictmen
l. providing you further find that said e.
n other elements set forth in this instru
: ton existed and took place in the city
H. Omaha, county of Douglas, state OF NJ
le braska.
Article xii referred to in the instructic
r is the article relating to soliciting.
Howell Pleads Ignorance.
. Ignorance of some OF the acts OF u
, Coal exchange and the board OF director
OF which he was president. was set up I
a Samuel e. Howell rs a defense when
40 took the stand in his own behalf in Il
a. alleged Coal trust trial before Judge SUITE
,s Of the district court Monday.
40 Mr.. Howell testified he did not know al
,a fines had been assessed against membe
\, OF the exchange for violating the provisl,
against soliciting or maintaining su
agencies since April g. 1875, and that
n did not know anything about the issuii
y Of the two price lists which have been /
=, troduced In evidence until after they HI
been issued and sent to him. He e
plained the fact he had signed the chec
and vouchers which paid for the printii
OF the lists by saying he did not knC
=, what the vouchers related TO- Tn
- coupled with sweeping denials he had ev
a. done anything or aided IN doing anythi
with intent 20 hx prices or hamper cor
- petition, constituted the important part
- his evidence.
or COnneII Has New Complaint.
tie Before court convened in the morni
e. Attorney W. J. ConnelI presented Jud
m sutton with q marked copy Of an event
To- paper containing the statement alleged