Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1918-03-21

After celebrating exactly II hours the
Jury in the trial Of the Rev. Clarence H.
Waldron. the Baptist minister Of Wind
sor. on trial for the second time under
the espionage act. brought in a verdict of
guilty on the second count Of the indict-
ment at 11:15 o'clock Tuesday night. Mr..
Waldron received the verdict calmly. as
did his wife, who has remained constantly
by his side during the entire trial of more
than a week. They. with the court off,
Gals and lawyers were almost the only
persons in the room with the exception
Of a group of about 20 Pentecostals who
have been constant attendants at the trial
and who came to the city from Windsor
to be near their pastor. and many Of them
to testify in his behalf. The Pentecostals
who remained in the court room prayed
most Of the time, and all held copies Of
the Bible In their hands.
The second count. under which Waldron
Is convicted. charged him with wilfully
attempting to cause characterization. dis
loyalty and refusal Of duty in the military
forces Of the United States. The third
count. on which he was acquitted. charged
the defendant with wilfully obstructing
the recruiting and enlistment services of
the United States. The first count was
withdrawn from the jury's consideration.
The trial has awakened more interest
than any case which has been tried In
Vermont in years, because Of the promi-
nence of the defendant and from the ma
ture Of the charge. He was tried in Brat
tleboro last January on the same charge
when the jury disagreed. At that time
the defendant apparently had no money
and asked that counsel be assigned him
by the United States court. This was
done and Robert c. Bacon was assigned
to the case. In the second trial Wald-
ron seemed to have plenty of money.
which is supposed to have been raised
by the Pentecostals. He was out on .
thousand dollars bail. which was fur
nished by a member Of his parish, and
had four lawyers as his attorneys.
They were r. q. Brown and M G.
Leary of this city, Fred Bicknell of
Windsor and c. e. Williams of Utica.
N. Y. District Attorney v. A. Billiard.
customs Office Of the United States.
had charge Of the prosecution.
This has been a long trial for the
United States court and more than "a
witnesses have been examined. 1t ID
the FIRST case Of q conviction under the
espionage act in this section and one
of the few in the country. The act
was passed by Congress- last May. The
| maximum sentence Is 20 years impris-
onment or a thousand dollars hne, OF
both.
The jury was as follows:
e. e. Morgan. Burlington.
J. H. Dolan, Burlington.
| F. 8. Lanou, Burlington.
| r. b. Lamson. Burlington.
H. H. Parker. Montgomery.
| F. c. Jackson. Swanton.
J Walter Hutchins. Alburgh.
| Clayton B. Boyce Montpelier.
| A. !. Cheney. Morffsville.
| C. 8. Howard. Fairfax.
| N. ]. Roberts. Barre.
| w. 8. Rublee. East Shelburne.
| THE LAST DAY.
| Court convened at nine o'clock yes.
terday morning for the concluding ar
guments and the charge to tho jury.
The court room was crowded with many
of those who have attended the tria
throughout. the majority being women
although there was good sprinkling Of
men. The women knitted industriousl,
throughout and showed . nimblenesl
achieved of late In their fingers. for ever
when the most interesting phases OF thu
case were taken up and all eyes were
fastened on the speakers, there was moi
d pause In the knitting.
The concluding argument for the de-
Tense was made by r. e. Brown and ther
District Attorney Billiard closed the cas'
for the government.
Judge Howe then delivered the charge 4
the Jury.
JUDGE HOWE TO THE JURY.
Gentlemen Of the Jury:
Tho: tact that TIE -dafsndant has bss'