Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-06-28
TRIAL NEARS CLOSE
Holmes Attorneys Announce
Completion Of Their Case.
COTTON LEAK INVESTIGATION
Defendant on Stand Today for Cross
Examination.
SUR-REBUTTAL MONDAY NEXT
William II. Moran of the Secret Serv-
ice Placed on Stand by the
Government.

! With the exception of certain sur-rebuttal
| evidence which will be offered by the gov
eminent Monday morning and the argu-
| ments upon prayers for instructions to be
given to the jury by the court, which will
be offered this afternoon, the trial of Edwin
| s. Holmes, jr., former associate statistician
of the Department of Agriculture. accused
of conspiracy in connection with the al
legged cotton leak" terminated at noon to-
1 day when Attorneys Worthington and Les
| ter, counsel for Holmes, announced the
completion of their case. Justice Stafford
specially cautioned the jury to hear nothing
| on the case the outside not to discuss
| 1t even among themselves, until after the
final arguments and the charge by the court,
| and to read nothing about it in the news
| papers. and ordered that they be excused
| until Monday morning at 10 o'clock.
When court convened this morning the de-
PENDANT was again called to the stand for
final cross-examination. Bank books show
| ing his accounts from December, 1904, to
March. 1895 were placed in evidence and
Holmes was required to answer several
questions about the amounts of money he
handled within that period
In redirect examination Attorney Worth
ington asked his client for further informa-
| ton concerning the signature of several
letters written by him to Louis c. Van
Ripper of New York. in August 1904. The
government had laid much stress upon the
fact that these missives were signed only
with the initial H and to queries by
Attorney Beach the defendant had stated
he had absolutely no recollection of the
| reason for using the initial instead of his
full name. One of his answers. however,
| he qualified by stating that the popularity
| OF the signatures might have had to do
with another mans domestic difficulties
which he felt he had no right to speak
hi r,D%,,x 1,A~
| this subject fully, but objection was made
| by the government.
Finally Allowed to Answer.
The witness was finally allowed to state
that Mr.. Peckham was having domestic
troubles at that time and he had been re-
quested by the latter to write under cover
to Mr.. Van Ripper. from whom Peckham
| could secure the letters'' He could not
| state positively, however that the subject
| matter of the letters referred to the Peck
| ham matter.
wife were living together at that timer
| asked Attorney Worthington.
| Objections made by District Attorney
Baker to this question were sustained by
| the court, and 1t was excluded.
| Questioned also about the "gift of an in
| terest in the brokerage firm of Peckham &
| Mercer, to which he had testified in cross
examination yesterday. Holmes said he un-
| Peckham and others connected with the
! enterprise at that time consisted merely of
] the purchase of Office furniture, and he did
not think it unusual that an equal share In
| the firm should be presented to him. He
said there was some understanding about
| him being assessed for proportion of the
| funds necessary to operate the firm.
Mr.. Moran a Witness.
After the attorneys had consulted with
| Justice Stafford at the bench and 1t had
| been agreed the defense should close it's
case, the government called William H. Mo-
| ran, chief clerk in the secret service divi-
sion, Treasury Department, to the stand
Assistant District Attorney Jesse Adkins
acted as examiner and he asked:
| Mr.. Moran, did Holmes, in conversation
with you in June, 1895, state that the sub
| ject matter of the letters signed with the
initial H. related to the purchase of his
gold mine by Louis c. Van Riper?"
| He did, the witness replied.
| And he acknowledged writing the let
ters?"
| Yes"
Referring particularly to one of the Van
| junction to get in heavy" Mr.. Moran
testified Holmes had said the handwriting
| looked like his; that he supposed any one
| would say it was his Handwriting but that
| he had never written anything like the
| contents of that communication.
Alleged Sale Of Gold Mine.
| TN another of his interviews with you,
| did he not say. in substance. that he had
sold his gold mine to Mr.. Van Ripper for
$4,000 cash. and when you asked him
| how he received the money, did he not
declare Van Ripper had paid him in two
instalLnents, one Of. SAC. 600 and the other
| of $33,OO0?" continued Attorney Adkins
! He did, answered Mr.. Moran, and in
concluding his testimony the witness de-
/ iyQS1
| been in the room and had heard all that
/ Holmes said.
w. s. Mayer. post Office inspector, testi-
| fled he had considerable experience as q
| handwriting expert. and he identified sew
eral of the disputed documents In the case
| as being In Holmes handwriting.
Recess was taken at 12:15 o'clock.
| Session This Afternoon.
| Attorney Worthington asked at the OPEN
ing of the afternoon session that the gov
I eminent be required to elect upon which
of the two counts in the indictment it Will
| choose to present the case to the jury.
Argument upon the prayers for instruc-
ton to the jury was then begun the pray
| ers offered by the government being in sub
stance as follows:
That as a matter of law it was Holmes
| duty to keep secret the Information which
| came into his hands in connection with the
preparation of crop reports in the bureau of
statistics;
I That If the jury find the allegations in
| the indictment to have been sustained, they
| return verdict of guilty;
| That 1t is not necessary the jury should
find the alleged conspiracy was fully put
in operation. but they must find some act
| done by the parties in furtherance of the
| conspiracy;
| That the jury need not find to convict the
| defendant. that the agreement between the
parties was entered into in the District of
| Columbia but that some one of the acts
| alleged was committed in the District Of
Columbia.
That to find conspiracy existed the jury
need not discover that two more per-
sons entered into formal or explicit agree
| ment for the unlawful scheme, but 1t Is
sufficient to find two or more persons open
| ~ or tacitly came to a mutual understand
| ing to accomplish the unlawful design;
| That the jury instructed that a par
| ticular conspiracy may not be susceptible
of proof by direct testimony.
| The prayers of the defense had not been
offered at the hour this report closed.
| READY IN THE FALL.
Trains to Be Run Into Union Station
| hu nrfol,or