The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-06-03
Government Wins Point in the Hearing of Case Against
 Newspaper Men
IMPORTANT WITNESSES
 WILL BE BROUGHT IN
Frank Hitchcock and Norman E. Mack Will Be Summoned By the Prose cution to Prove That Graft
 Charges Are Baseless.

Indiana polls, Ind. June 2.-After a sharp controversy in which the court took a prominent part over the merits of tha so-called Panama scandal" the govern ment won a point today in it's prosecu- ton of Charles R. Williams and Delavan Smith, owners of the Indianapolis News. indicted by a grand jury in the District of Columbia on the charge of criminal libel in publishing intimations that there was an enormous graft in the purchase of the Panama canal by the United States This was the second day of the hearing before Judge Anderson in the United States court of this district on the governments application for an order re- moving the defendants to the District of Columbia for trial.
 At the request of the United States attorneys, Stuart McNamara of the de- partment of justice at Washington and Charles W. Miller of this district. Judge Anderson continued the case until Oc- tober Il next to permit the prosecution to introduce as witnesses Frank H.. Hitchcock. former chairman of the repub- lican national committee; Norman E. Mack, chairman of the democratic na-
 
 tain members of the office staff of J. P. Morgan X Co.,. and certain officials of various departments of the government at Washington. The defense protested against a continuance. saying the govern ment should have been prepared at this time to submit all it's evidence and the court at first seemed to approve, but on statement of the opposing counsel as to what 1t is expected to prove by the new witnesses. the court decided to hear the further evidence.
 MT. McNamara declared it was impos- sible to anticipate the wide scope that the case had taken on. He purposed to prove by Messrs. Hitchcock and Mack, he said, that they both had made public announcements that the story was offered to both of them for a consideration, that there was corruption in the Panama transfer was fake" originated by blackmailers who at first hoped to get money from William Nelson Cromwell but failed.
 The story was published in the New York World and the same journal printed MT. Cromwells denial of it on October 3 MT. McNamara said he expected to prove that the defendants had knowl- edge of this denial when they prepared their editorial articles published later ia the Indianapolis News. By members of J. Pierpont Morgans staff, he said he expected to prove that the $40 000.0O0 the United States paid for the Panama canal was paid directly to the two old French companies and al once distributed to about 220000 holders of their stock In France and that no go-between got a cent of profit. The allegations of Amer ican corruption in the deal were not only malicious but absurd, he said.
 Judge Anderson had expressed doubt as to the relevancy of further evidence for the reason. he said, that he himself was impressed by the fact that MT. Cromwell had refused to tell the Senate investigat- ing committee the names of his clients who composed a syndicate for "Ameri- canizing" the canal. plan that after ward was abandoned.
 The public might justly infer. the court said. that there was something wrong somewhere in the transaction in which $40. .010OG1 of it's money was expended.
 MT. McNamara combatted the court on this point, saying that the fact that Mir Cromwell subsequently, decalred that no American received a cent of profit from the sale and that prominent men and newspapers had dissolved Mir. Crom- well, Charles P. Taft, Douglass Robin son and J. Pierpont Morgan from sus- piclon of corruption in the matter should have caused the owners of the lndianap- ollie News not to publish the charges in the alleged libelous manner in which it did publish them.