New-York tribune., 1911-12-03

move to end the trial it was learned to-
day would have been satisfied with the
confession of Jar;es Il. Mcnamara.
They thought that would be sufficient
vindication for the prosecution, but the
state officials thought otherwise.
The committee Of business men ar
gued and argued, but District Attorney
John ID. Fredericks was obdurate. 1t
was a plea Of guilty by both brothers at
this time that he contended for or a
continuation of the trials.
THAT was my ultimatum," said the
District Attorney to-day, "and the COM
mittee of business men, who were prac
t;cally> the go-betweens persuaded the
defence that it was the last straw"
Just zen days" explained Mr.. Darrow,
"we talked with the Mcnamara brothers
about plcc ding. but only in the last few
days did ;'e thing come 10 a climax
How 1id they feel about the natter
w Ell. they accepted their fate with
resignation, but felt glad, l think. that
they had avcrted a possible death penalty
for one u them"
Attorney Darrow declared that as the
parole laws covered these cases of the
McNamaras. John J. might be out after
serving a brief term. AS for James B,
with q life imprisonment sentence, tho
situation would be more difficult
"Fredericks's statement concerning
S;effens IS completely his own conject-
ure,' Darrow continued. ut is not true
Did sou pot SteGons on?" some one
asked.
Il di1 not" said Darrow. He acted
entirely on his own initiative and author
itv 80 f;r as the defence is concerned
We did DOT get him to do what he did
Never Told Gon1pers Men Were Innocent
Friends of lIr. Darrow fear that he is
on the verge of physical breakdown.
In the last few nights he has tossed
about rostlessly in his sleep and he has
eaten little. Never before. he admitted
TO-DAY. had he encountered so terrible a
strain. He was optimistic about his
health, however saying he had faith in
his strong constitution. once during the
day. when he vas reminded Of sthe at
tscks which he assumed to be aimed at
him in comments Of labor leaders, he
said:
| never told Samuel Gompers OF any one
else that J z. Mcnamara was innocent |
always have believed, however. that John
! had nothing to do with the Times
disaster, though 1 learned Of his connec-
ton with the Lleweiiyn explosion What
about the guilt or innocence Of the Nc
Namarss probably came from the accused
men Themselves.
Mn Oarrow declared, furthermore. that
he originally did not want to defend the
McNamaras. but had been persuaded 10
do so by labor leaders. Even on learn
ing of their guilt later he said, he felt
he was right in saving human life. Mr..
Darrow does not beliey- in capital pun
iehment.
Fredericks Says Defence Gave In.
District Attorney Fredericks gave
full account to-day OF the negotiations
leading up to. the pleas Of guilty en-
tered in the Mcnamara murder trial
He declared that in making the agree
ment whereby James &. Mcnamara
pleaded guilty TO murder and John J.
McNamara pleaded guilty TO dynamit-
ing tho Llewcllyn Iron Works. counsel
icr the defence came 10 his terms and
that outside influence did not not pre-
vail upon him.
Men of standing in the community,
he said had been "up against him"
with pleas that in the interests of peace
and society James Is. Mcnamara be al
lowed to plead guilty and that the case
against his brother. John j. be
dropped. These pleas, he declared, he
steadfastly rejected Il told them l
was not running society" he said.
some Of the men, after talking it over,
expressed their willingness to let me
handle the matter in my own way
Frcdcricks declared that since July
he had had an offer from the defence
to let James y. Mcnamara plead guilty
to save John J. Mcnamara. lie added:
4 month ago Darrow and were talking
IN court half seriously about It. The court
stopped proceedings. so we quit That
afternoon Darrow came 30 me and made
virtually the same offer and ! refused TO
ri YOU ever change your mind let me
know" Darrow said as he left
I never will ] replied. Then pdrrow
and Lincoln Steffens got together and Stef-
fsns vent downtown TO get men 70 come
20 me 10 urge me 20 agree 10 DarroWs
proposal The matter was put 10 me, but
7 refused 10 consider Il and they Old not
urge me Two days later some of them
gave me a typewriter statement aud IL
was practically the same thing.
II was at this juncture District At
torney Fredericks says he told them he
was not running society" He con-
Unued
I said l knew 7 had the goods and | did
not propose to lie down J asked two or
three others. also Of the same crowd, if
they thought Ia made a mistake, and they
told me they thought the case was per-
fectly safe in my hands. Meanwhile ! had
talks with Darrow and Davis, and stood
pat that both men must plead guilty. The
matter OF punishment did not interest me-
but I knew and counsel for the defence
knew, that IL J. !. Mcnamara wanted to
save the life Of his brother he could help
by coming through.
On Wednesday night tho citizens had an
other meeting. knew all along that the
proposals were Darrows and I knew that
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