The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1915-05-26
Jury FINDS FOR
COL. ROOSEVELT
After AZ Hours Consideration Twelve
Men Decide Barnes Was Not
Libelled
PLAINTIFF TO PAY COSTS
Colonel Declares Conclusion Of Jury
to be "Typically American"
The News and Courier.

Inc news anu COurief.
Syracuse, N. Y, May 22.-Twelve
men chosen as jury to determine
whether Theodore Roosevelt libelled
William Barnes when he charged that
he worked through a corrupt alli-
ance between crooked business and
crooked politics" and that he was
"corruptly allied with Charles w.
Murphy, of Tamnlany Hail." to-day,
returned verdict in favor of the
former President. In the belief of
the jury everything Col. Roosevelt
said about the former chairman of
the Republican State committee was
true and, therefore, Mr.. Barnes was
not libelled..
The verdict was returned after
forty ballots had been taken and the
jury had considered for AZ hours the
evidence which was presented during
five weeks of the trial. Nineteen
hours were consumed before eleven
of the jurymen, who since the second
ballot had stood together, persuaded
Juror No. 11-Edward Burns, a Sy-
racuse motorman, and q Republican
to join with them i'm returning
verdict which Col. Roosevelt later de-
clared to be "typically American"
For eleven of this nineteen hours
the jurors in favor of an uncondi-
tional verdict for the defendant talk
ed to the one who, while himself fav-
oring a similar verdict, insisted that
the Court costs and disbursements
should be divided between the two
principals.
In Jail Dormitory
The verdict was reached in the
dormitory of the Jail attached to the
Onondaga County Court House and
not in the jury room. Juror Burns
agreed to vote with his companions
soon after the twelve arose this
morning, following their second
night in custody.
Mr.. Barnes was not in Court and
neither was his chief counsel, VIM.
M. Twins, when the verdict was re-
turned. The Colonel was there,
however, with his staff of counsel
sometime before Justice Andrews as
cended the Bench and opened Court.
Immediately thereafter Henry
Wolff, one of Mr.. Barnes attorneys,
entered an objection to the verdict
being received as the jury had once
been polled in open Court. That OBJ
lection as well as similar one en-
tered after the verdict had been 1e-
ported, was over,uled.
When the jury had been called in
from its room and it's members had
seated themselves, the foreman,
Warren w. Sommers, announced al
most in awhisper that the verdict was
for the defendant. In'resr,rse to
a request from Mr.. Wolff. the Jury
then was polled.
Cheered Juror Burns
A crowd at the Court House door
cheered Juror Burns as he left the
building. Col. Roosevelt's attorney,
John M. Bowers, issued IA statement,
saying:
"The victory that Mr.. Roosevelt
has won is a victory for good govern
ment. The issue put to the jury
was whether machine government or
government by the people should pre-
vail.
"The verdict certainly assures US
that the Anglo Saxon system of de-
termining questions between liti-
gants is rightly lodged in the hands
of jury of twelve men. Moreover,
it determines that jurors holding po-
litical views opposed to those held by
a party will not be swayed thereby in
determining the questions submitted
to them"
The foreman of the jury in a
statement said:
"After the first ballot we stood
eleven to one in favor of the defen-
dant. These figures were never
Continued en- page six.