The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1907-1917, 1915-12-16
THE JEFFERSONIAN

vent, VINO said she was a mother of sew
eral children, and so forth. Then she
finally escaped, and this was exactly the
same kind of case as the above, two
Methodist Preachers had reported to me.
They described the facts. The defendant
was putting before the community the
danger of locking up thousands of young
women who, in the heat of enthusiasm,
agree to live single in converts. Lock-
Ing them up in a place where it is
not accessible to the outside world and
only priests are allowed to enter l
pointed out the dangers, but they say that
the words written are obscene, lewd, las
ciViOus and filthy. Well, then the man
who made the dictionary studied indecency
too. You will find that word in the die
tionary, the word "rut' is the one I al
Jude to. Every word I used is legitimate.
The words are in the dictionary, and you
can use every word in the dictionary with
out violating any law.
Why, you can take the Bible and find
the same kind of words; whoremonger,
whore, etc. You will find the same
thing in other literature. In the Bible
you will find Joseph, where the wife
of Potiphar had a passion for him and
went after Joseph. She followed him
to a place of privacy. He had only one
garment on and she was so anxious for him
she reached out and caught him by it's
tail, and he ran out of it, and left it in
her hands. In the Bible I could show
you one hundred to two hundred and
fifty passages of the same kind, and no.
body has ever contended that they are
obscene, leWd, nasty Or filthy: but the
word which the Assistant District At
torney used here yesterday is not to be
found in the Bible, is not to be found in
any book, is not to be found in any die
tionary or lexicon, yet that word was
thrown out here yesterday, flung in your
faces, insulted your ears and you were
asked to put this defendant on the same
plane.
Now, gentlemen, let me say this in con-
cluSion.
have had to hurry along a great deal.
The Court: You have seven more
minutes, Mr.. Watson
Mr.. Watson: Gentlemen, the District
Attorney facing juror, put upon us in this
case, asked the question, "You are a
friend to defendant, are you not?"
Mr. Russell: We don't think the
answers of jurors is in evidence in this
case, we think that was matter that
addresses itself to the Court, and when
the court acts the incident is closed.
The Court: Proceed with your argu-
ment.
Mr.. Watson: The defendant merely
made the point that he could not have a
fair and impartial trial, if the panel was
filled with his enemies. / trust I have
not single enemy on the panel, but I
say this to you now, that this question is
Of grave importance, to me as well as to
you, it will carry veal or woe, not only to
this defendant, but to millions of Others
verdict such as the Governments at
torney here asked for yesterday would
virtually carry out the threat, to put Wat
son out Of business, and would carry re-
joicing into the Vatican itself. 1t would
carry feasting and rejoicing into the palaces
of Cardinal Gibbons, and Cardinal OCon-
nell, and Bishop Kelly, who threatened
with the penalty Of Catholic vindictiveness,
President Woodrow Wilson, because, as an
Executive act he recognized General Car
rama in Mexico.
If you find this defendant guilty, it will
penalize the work of all who have been
writing upon the same subject. They don't
care about The Jeffersonian papers or per-
iodicals, but it is to penalize the person
of Watson. That's what they want to do.
On the other hand, verdict that vindi-
Gates and eXOnerateS this defendants