The menace. [volume] (Aurora, Mo.) 1911-1920, 1916-02-12

ETF the court please, gentlemen Of
Ill the jury; am glad Of the op-
IIs portunity to represent these de-
IllOl PENDANTS In case of this kind,
for it means much 20 them, a.
my friends and neighbors, whose liberty
is here placed in jeopardy; but il means
still more 20 you as citizens Of this eoun-
Try TO be right IN your verdict in thi
ease, for the principles involved In this
prosecution are Of the grayest and great
est Importance, 10 every citizen that lives
under tho American flag. Therefore /
am glad 10 talk 10 you in my weak way
about what | conceive, under the rulings
Of the court, is your duty as jurors, tO
reason together and discuss this testi.
nCny, with n view Of assisting you in
arriving at a righteous verdict.
l trust, gentlemen, that certain propo-
sitions have been thoroughly established
In your mind, for you have heard them
threshed out here pro and con, and one
OF them is, a. His Honor has 10 strictly
indicated, that the truth or falsity Of the
charges contained in these counts, OF,
rather the facts that were printed in
THE MENACE newspapers and in the book
called "The Pope eondemning the
Catholic priesthood, upon which this In.
dictment is founded, the truth OF falsity
of them, l say, as far as you are con.
cerned, should not in any way influence
your Judgment in this case. While we
were ready 10 prove tho truth of pub
lications, His Honor ruled il was i'm
material.
That being granted then, am going
90 ask you as reasonable men, in con
sidering this testimony, to be as chari
table as the circumstances now demand
that you should be, and so far as any sus
pieion that you may have as TO thesC
articles, disclosing such a horrible condi.
tion in the priesthood, being untrue, be
removed from your minds; and while IL
Is true we don't like TO believe such
things do and can exist, in this civilize
age, yet for the purpose of this case
you should look at these articles tha
are charged TO be obscene in the ligh
aud in the way you would look at them
If you personally knew them to be every
word the truth.
Context Necessary TO Judge Effect
Now, then, am not going to take up
my time and yours in a detailed read
ing Of what the court admitted in testi
mOny. IL was not only what the dis
tinguished gentleman representing the
government has read to you from this in
dictment. You know that many things
were introduced and read to you beside
the excerpts contained in the indictment; !;
they were presented TO you for the pur
pose of enlightening you men as TO what
was meant by these articles charged t.
be obscene, and what the object and pur
pose and the general effect these article
would have upon the person that read
them. Anything is obscene or not, accord
ing 10 its object and understanding. Now,
bear that in mind; for that is one thing,
and in fact the controlling thing, tha
You are bound TO consider; and you
should take into consideration all the
testimony before you, in determining
what the probable effect the reading OF
these articles would have upon a person
of ordinary intelligence.
Therefore, starting in with the PROPOSE.
tion that these artiel are telling the
truth, and that you a., to consider not
only what is set out in the Indictment
but all the evidence and extraneous mat
ters that the court has admitted 10 come
20 you from the witness stand, so you
may judge the meaning Of the article
and their object and effect upon person,
reading them, then let rs see
II viii adopt the definition govern
|nent's counsel has given the words lob
|seane, lewd and laseivious.'' for the
putposs Of my nrgumeps I'D believe