The menace., 1916-01-29


sarily corrupt the morals Of the
reader, he reiterated the oft re-
pcated contention Of the prosccu-
ton that the district attorneys Of
fee, and not the Catholics, was re-
sponsible for the prosecution.
Argument was limited 10 three
hours BY the court which allowed
but forty-iye minutes for each Of
the counsel.
John l.. McNatt, Of Aurora, No,
opened for the defense and delivered
an eloquent eulo0 Of The MTS-
ACE and pointed out that while the
district attorney was not forced 20
act, vet Roman Catholic influence
had been heavy as shown by Roman
Catholic witnesses. The three Wit
ncsses who testified to having re-
ceived THE MENACE and having
kept a file were the only ones shown
to have moved, either directly or
indirectly, in an effort TO have THE
MENACE prosecuted.
NONE OF THE OTHER MIL
LION AND A HALF OF READ
Frs WERE on THE STAND TO
TESTIFY AGAINST THE MEN
ACE. A SIGNIFICANT FACT
WHICH HAD ITS EFFECT UP
on THE TWELVE MEN WHO
STOOD AS APOSTLES OF LIB
ERTY IN THIS MOST IMP0R-
TANT CASE.
Mr.. McNatt stated in his address
that he was proud Of the fact that
''he lived within the shadow Of the
building in which THE MENACE j:
published" and declared that "in-
stead Of corrupting the morals the
articles on which the indictment
was based would instill in the mind
Of every reader a desire to see JUS
tice meted out TO those charged
with wrongdoing."
"The policy Of THE MENACE was
outlined in articles read TO the jury,
| ask you twelve men to consider
well the things therein contained
and then decide If it has not, in the
articles brought into this case, lived
up TO that policy. The very nature
of the subjects dealt with made il
necessary for the writers TO be
| plain"
Mr.. j. l. Sheppard, of Fort Scott,
Kans., chief counsel for the defense,
followed with the closing argument
for the defense in a stirring tribute
TO Mr.. Frances NJ. Wilson as to his
integrity and honesty of purpose, anC
declared that the government wal
without a case. After almost foul
years Of publication during whicl
time Roman Catholic influence haC
industriously sought to find some
thing within its columns which woul,
justify a prosecution, seven article
were dragged out from among tn
! mass of matter published in tn
: MENACE. From the millions O
: tons of papers mailed only fiy
copies were found to contain mat
: ter upon which charge NIGH
= BE BASED.
{ After lauding Mr.. Wilson as
friend and establishing his intes
Y rity, Mr.. Sheppard mentioned II
Z prosecutor as a possible candidat
for governor, no doubt with q qui,
1 inward smile, and stated: "Bl
D lawyers can't make cases, and in Il
{ ultimate deciding Of a case Il
I jurors turn back to their conscience
: The fact Of the matter is the go
( eminent has no case against I'll
q MENACE"
q Mr.. Sheppard then asked Il
: jury to call to mind, in their col
i sideration Of this case, certa
l. standard works-the Bible, Shak
speare's volumes-and from the
Is calculate what effect the alleged o
> scene articles complained of wou
\ have.
'e Haven't you read in the no
X writ verses that, standing alor
d would not sound very wen to es
It polite?"
Mr.. Wilson objected, and 4
}. court ruled that the jurors mig
le draw upon their memory TO establi
le a degree of morality for writn
le and that under such instructio
le the defense might continue to d
X cuss books that the jurors may ha
re read.
le Mr.. Sheppard's address was me
ID eloquent and dramatic througho
r and the jurors were seen to be ma