Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-04-22
F0RTY-THIRD DAY OF TRIAL
PROGRESS OF HEARING IN CASE
OF BIN0ER HERMANN.
Up Addresses to the Jury
Assertions Made by Assistant
United States Attorney.

LutctiH8 upOu Tie eltNtutu wien III ~
inal Court No. the trial of former Rep
resentative and former Land Commissioner
Binger Hermann. on the charge OF de-
stroyfng thfrty-five letter press copybooks
of the records Of the government, today APP
preached its conclusion. Assistant United
States Attorney Adkins. who began the
first of the closing arguments for the gov
eminent last Friday morning. expects to
finish today. MIR. Adkins argument Will
have consumed a total Of about ten hours,
or two full court days.
In addition to marking the beginning of
the eleventh week in the trial, today is the
forty-third day devoted to the Hermann
hearing. During its progress a total of 100
witnesses were heard. some OF them being
recalled two or three times. and few even
as many as eight and nine times. The fees
and mileage paid by the government has
been estimated at between $4,000 and 81
600. and the cost of the jury has been
nearly 1850. Including court costs, coun-
sci fees, stenographic record of the pro-
ceedings. and witness and jury fees. the
total cost of the trial since its beginning
February r. has been estimated variously
between $4,000 and $4,000.
Alleged Evidence of Fraud.
In his argument today Mr.. Adkins
touched particularly upon the alleged
evidence of fraud in connection with
the Blue mountain forest reserve.
brought out from the testimony of
George Sorrenson s. A. d. Puter and
others. and made many sarcastic refer
ences to the statements made on the
stand by the defendant
rs there any doubt Of the character
Of a man who would hold up a claim
like the Cathcart claim, that the
money due an individual from the gov
eminent might be held exclusively to
pay debt to Binger Hermanns SOM
Mr.. Adkins asked. What about a man
who would hold up a youthful session
clerk in Congress and take more than
half of each months pay?
There is no doubt i say. that a man
of such character knew all about the
frauds incident to the creation OF the
were put on the stand to prove the char
acter of the defendant. but, L ask you,
where does he stand in the face of ad-
missions made by himself on the stand?
The truth Of this case is that Her.
mann was in the conspiracy Take his
character. take his grasping disposition,
and 1 ask you whether it is not likely he
received his share out of the land ma
nipulations in Oregon.
when 1t came to destroying the let
ter books Hermann thought of the evil
dence they contained relative to these
Oregon cases; letters to F. p. Mays. to
Sorrenson, to Willard N. Jones and Fl.
A. Smith and others. who stand convicted
in Oregon for the parts they played in
the land conspiracies.'
Review Of Evidence.
At the opening of the afternoon session
Mr.. Adkins reviewed the evidence brought
into the case concerning the alleged Hyde
Benson Schneider Dmond land frauds, and
he claimed Mr.. Hermann took no &C
ton. as commissioner Of the general
land Office. to follow up the revelations of
the scope Of those transactions. 1t was
also argued that Hermann took no
tive steps to ascertain the identity OF a
clerk in the land Office who it was claimed
in the letters to ]. A. Zabriske of Tucson,
Ariz., was engaged in giving out advance
information to the coterie in California.
Hermann did send letter to Prof.
Roth, head of the forestry division, asking
him whether the name of John A. Benson
appeared in any land entries said Mr..
Adkins. But did he ask anything about
A. A. Hyde? he inquired, and then an
swered his own Interrogation by saying:
NO. He never mentioned +. A. Hyde or
F.. A. Hyde & Co. because he knew he
was expedting Hyde's selections himself