The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-03-20

Government Is Not After Corpora
tons, but the Living Men
Who Violate the Law.
M00DYS GREAT ARGUMENT
ATTORNEY GENERAL APPEARS
IN PACKERS CASE.

closing arguments for the government
today in the hearing OF the immunity
pleas advanced by the packers. The
court room was packed TO the doors
with local attorneys anxious to hear
the argument of the attornov general,
In opening his argument, he declared
that the eyes of the whole people of
the United States were directed to the
court room In which the present hear
ing is being held, and asserted that
the government of the United States
is far too much in earnest in the pres
ent case to pursue, as the attorneys
for the packers have intimated 1t is
pursuing, a senseless creation of the
law. He declared that if wrong had
been committed the government was
seeking the punishment, not of a cor
poration, but of the living, breathing
human beings who committed the
wrong, The government and people
of the United States, he declared will
be satisfied with nothing less than
that.
Has Right to Appear.
He declared that his appearance at
the bar of the court was unusual and
almost unprecedented, but the law
gave him the right to appear. and
after much elaboration he believed it
TO be his duty to appear, The justi-
hcation for his action, he said, would
be found not only I'm the Importance
of the present case. but in the fact
that if immunity be conferred upon
the defendants on the ground upon
which it has been claimed, il would
overthrow the legal interpretations Of
the government for almost twenty
years and would especially cripple the
government in it's attempts to enforce
the laws of the land.
Deep Personal Feeling.
Mr.. Moody said in part: Il speak un-
der a deep sense of personal feeling
because of these prosecutions all over
the country. Not long ago a certain
newspaper in New York furnished
data concerning the offering OF re-
bates in the sugar refining business. /
Out of this charges have grown
against the railroads and some 9TH /
ers. They are now being heard by
grand jury and so I am not at lib
erty to say whether they are true or /
not. Rebates, 1t is charged. amount |
ing 20 AL0dreds of thousands of dol /
las, were giVoH. The sugar men went /
To the railroads and got a club with /
which they dubbed the farmer of this I
country into submission, so that the /
sugar trust may take their property, /
If the contentious in this case are true,
Il
Irhese defendants seem to have a (
Strange aversion TO the hearing of my /
evidence OF any testimony of their /
guilt. They plead that they are not |
guilty, in answer to the indictment.
Claim of Pardon.
They do not say there that they
are not guilty but they do say. guilty /
or not, each OF them has received |
no X oil i'm of
of these defendants separately that he
IS TO have pardon and upon each /
one of them rests the burden of proof.
They cannot dump all of the evidences
and all Of their names into a bas-
ket and then claim immunity for every
one"
After reciting the facts in the fling
of the pleas of immunity and decIar-
ing that they are plainly an after
thought on the part of the defend
ants, the attorney general continued:
Interpretation of the Law,
Each one of these defendants must
show that he was compelled to give /
evidence against himself with regard /
10 the Offense charged against him in
this Indictment 1t is my understand
ing that the privilege of the witness
and the immunity of the witness is
personal to himself. He is protected
frcm producing any evidence or Civ
ing any testimony which might in
criminate him. He can take advan-
1age of the privilege of no other per- q
son, whether that be an individual or I
a corporation. Ii is not a question OF
whose property the discriminating evil
dence may be il IL is evidence con-
sisting of books or documents. If II
have in my possession a book contain !
ing an entry verified by my initials,
which incriminates me, all the powers
of the government cannot take il from
my possession, because IL is my per-
sonal risht under the constitution not
10 be compelled 10 give evidence
against myself"
Could Not BE Compelled.
Attorney Miller. representing Ar :
mouF q Co, asked.
They could compel you TO give it !
UP, couldn't they. if they did not put !
you under oath2" '
'Of course they couldn't" replied
Attorney General Moody. because
give it up. 1 don't claim :
or au immunity statute '
If / have got il; ] hold on TO il until I
l am brought by process Of law into I
court. and then I rely. as I have a
right to rely, upon the protection OF
the constitution. II Mr.. Armour or
any one pl tQf'Sks QtIellQdElIS was SUD !
poenaed to appear before the grand I
Jury and produce these books of theirs !
the answer that they ought to make :
Is that they were not IN their pos I
session. If the books were In their [
possession or if they produced them :
they could not obtain immunity un- |
less the books they brought in con- :
Lained evidence relating 10 some Of .
tense OF which the person who brought f
n the books WIS guilty" {
The attorney general then went on
% claim that the pleas ia immunity
lad not standing because of the alb
,ence of the slightest Vestige of any G.
process of the law. He said =
1e regarded this absence as decisive =
# the present case as a matter of II
aw. Il
Attorney General Moody viii prob it
.bIy speak all of tomorrow. n
lust think IL over. All Salt Lake
sounty Real Estate is a safe invest