Evening star., 1915-06-13
FIFTY YEARS AGO
IN THE STAR

IN THE STAR
After the capture Of Jefferson Davis
and his indictment by the grand jury
here it was con-
Plan for Jeff fdently expected that
Davis Trial. ne, nc "uulu tra,, Je to w Wash.
ington to Hampton roads. where he
was confined on a monitor. In The Star
of June 6, 1865, is an account OF the
case:
The government authorities, or at
least most of the cabinet, are favorable
to delivering him to the civil authorl-
ties that he may be tried on the in
dictment for treason, and 1t is probable
that at the June term, which begins
the 18th inst, the case will be one
OF the first called. The indictment was
found the 26th ult., and the 31st of
May the clerk of our court Or. J.
Meigs) received letter dated May %
from r. H. Gillette. formerly of this
city but now of New Lebanon, Colum-
bia county. N. Y, stating that he had
been retained by some of the friends
OF the accused as counsel
THE judges of the Supreme Court of
the District of Columbia, who preside
In the circuit and criminal courts. are
Hon D. K. Cartier. chief Justice. for
mer1y of Ohio; Hon. A. B. Olin, for
merly of New York: Hon. g. P. Fisher,
formerly of Delaware. and Hon. Au-
gustus Wylfe, formerly Of Virginia, as
sociate justices, and 1t is probable that
on this trial the four judges will sit
haf Nv Tor
Clephane. the able and efficient re-
porter of the court, has retained as his
assistants Mr.. F. B. Lord. reporter of
the war committee and official re-
tives, and Mr.. F. H. Smith. reporter of
the committees of the House of Repre-
sentatives, In order that the fullest
and mos accurate report may be made
of this very important trial
'The place where Davis is to be con-
fined has not yet been made public, al
though 1t has been stated that he would
either occupy. a cell in the penitentiary
building or in the Old Capitol. Pos
sibly, however, he will be put Of the
footing Of ordinary criminals and con-
fined in the county jail
The conspiracy trial was drawing to q
close at this time fifty years ago. the
testimony being chief
Cipher Letter ly that of corroborative
rbo11.,~.d and Character" and
Ghallengeo. credibility impeacbine
witnesses During the session of June Z.
1855, reference was made by counsel for
the defense to the cipher letter alleged
to have been found in the water on the
North Carolina coast indicative Of a plot
to assassinate not only Lincoln and
III Inns
man as well. The Stars account of the
proceedings of that day says:
Mr.. Ewing moved that the cipher let
ter offered in evidence June be
stricken from the record. He stated that
he was no present when the letter was
offered or he would have objected at
the time. His reasons were twofold for
this motion: One was that he believed
1t to be fictitious. and the other that it
was wholly inadmtssable. as the hand
writing was not proved. nor that 1t was
addressed to any one of the prisoners
any one on trial.
Judge Brigham (of counsel for the
governmenD stated that the introduc-
ton Of the letter did not affect the
counsel. Mr.. Ewing. and he argued that
1t was admissible as connecting link.
Canada in October. 1864. plotting the
assassination; that Booth also was con-
spring in New York in November: that
the lot had fallen on one to go to Bal
timore and the other to Newbern, near
which place the letter was found.
Mr.. Cox (of the defense) stated that
the counsel thought when the letter was
that it related to the machi-
nations OF the rebel agents in Canada,
and they were taken by surprise when
marks of fabrication. not having been
blurred by the. water-perhaps 1T had
been dropped int the water that it might
be picked up by government official.
and be used as evidence. The counsel
for the defense further commented upon
the nature of the letter. contending that
there was internal evidence that it was
not written at the time or place it was
dated or by any of the prisoners.
Judge Bingham said that there was
no rule Of evidence by which this letter
was to be thrown out because the
no matter who wrote it. 1t was not a
very fine literary production, but it was
sufficient to show the purposes of the
parties concerned; and the fact of hav-
would be sufficient to implicate the
party as one of the conspfrators. Judge
Bingham proceeded to analyZe the let
ter. sentence by sentence, showing that
all the internal evidence sustained the
that it was a genuine let
II.
April Is. by one of the conspirators
THE court overruled the application
10 have the letter thrown out"
AS soon as hostilities ceased in Vfr-
ginia and the collapse Of the Confed-
crate organization
IN occurred visitors
Washington. began to come to
The south, to be on the ground in the
event of an early assumption by the
federal government of the task of re-
The Star of June -,
1865, said:
"There are just now in Washington
l considerabl number of persons from
the south who were we'll known habi-
tues of the federal metropolis before
he war. Most of them are of the class
who resisted secession with great ear
1estness before 1t was precipitated upon
their more active and violent oppo-
1ents. They came here generally in
he hope of being able to influence to a
greater or less extent the govern
nent's policy Of reconstruction. We
have to say to them In all sincerity
hat they must at once make up their
minds to acquiesce in and cheerfu1ly
sustain the new order OF things which
he rebellion has brought about The
of the several southern
states governments must necessarily |
oe exclusively intrusted to men who |
nave played no active part In the re-
originally, have at no time and in no I
no mar given 1T the Confidence NJ tbatr |