The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-10-12
LIBEL CASE BEGINS
PANAMA SCANDAL GETS AIRING
 IN COURT.
Government Alleges stoffes of Graft Were Printed MalicioHsly, While Newspaper Men Deay Such
 Wna the Canx.

Indianapolis. Ind. Oct II -.-That the so-cailed Panama libel case" was more or less of a political matter" was the comment of Judge A. B. An- derson. of the United States Court of this district. at the close of. the ar- gument today in the hearing of Charles R Williams and Delevan Smith, pro- prietors of The Indianapolis News, whom the Government is seeking to remove to the District of Columbia for trial on the charge of criminal libel.
 The court said that it wished not to give an impression that 1t has formed an opinion in the merits of the case but that 1t wished to point out the trend or the argument toward its further enlightenment as to whether or not this was probably the cause for the indict- ment Of Messrs. Williams and Smith by the Federal grand jury of the Dis- trict of Columbia for criminal libel in their having published articles inti- mating that there was .graft"' of y2S,000.000 in the sale of the Panama Canal Zone to the United States by the French Company. e
 What Is the guilty intent to ,. be shown on the part Of these defendants?" the court asked Stuart McNamara. ,spe- cial attorney of the Department ofJus- tice. In charge of the proceedings. The judge went on to explain that he was
 
 the defendants had malicious fore thought to libel former President Roosevelt. President Taft, Charles P. Taft, William Nelson Cromwell. J. Pier pont Morgan, Douglas Robinson and others.
 A Political Project.
 The whole Panama Canal project Is great political project" said the court. ''and there has been and is much honest expression of divergent opinion as to the advisability of having chosen the Panama route in preference to the Nicaragua route, and now, since the cost of building the canal is so much larger than at first estimated, there is doubt as to whether or not the United States should own any Atlanti- to Pacific canal.
 The press has public duty to per- form, and in political discussions 1t seems to me that the conception of the libel should be greatly different from the conception that should apply to a case of libel on a persons private char acter. I am not seeking to prejudice the case at this time, I am only seek ing for light on the question as to whether the criminal libel may be pos sible in this matter. Criminal libel Is crime against society"
 The court was not satisfied, Judge Anderson said. that the public articles CohpidthSu OI charged cTlfie dBdtnSt the persons alleged to have been in- jured. If a set of Americans, the court continued. went to France and bought up the securities of the French Panama Canal Company for s12.000,000, as al- legged, and sold them to the United States for $40.000. 900, it should be re- garded as "a nasty piece of business" but in no sense a crime.
 MT. McNamara said in his opinion that crime was charged for 1t was alleged that the syndicate" used its influence on the administration at Washington to put the deal through" and if the charge was true. Theodore Roosevelt. Elihu Root, and w. H. Taft. persons in authority. were in criminal complicity with the syndicate" to swindle the people of this country.
 Tt Is my personal opinion" said the court. that liberty is best preserved by passing over some aspects of an alleged libel of the nature now under consideration. which should not be passed over in libel case of personal or private character"
 MT. McNamara, in his argument dur- ing the day, maintained that The In- dianapolis News, though printed at Indianapolis. was published in Wash- ington as well as in many other sec