The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1919-08-15
FORD WINS SUIT;
6-CENT VERDICT
O.K.DBY TRIBUNE
Both Sides Claim Victory
in Bitterly Fought
Libel Action.

Sl,OOO,OOO libel suit The verdict OF
the jury was returned in court at s
o'clock last night, after ten hours
elaboration.
The attitude Of the Tribune was
plainly indicated by Attorney wey-
mouth kirkland, chief counsel for the
newspaper, who said after the verdict
was returned:
"If a six-cent verdict had been ask
ed for in this case, ii would not have
lasted three months 1t was not what
Mr.. Lucking Cords attorney in
sisted upon. He said q small verdict
would be a defeat. We are satisfied
II he is"
Tribune Not to FIght.
This statement and the fact that no
motions or appeals for q new trial
were made after the verdict are taken
as an Indication that the Tribune will
settle the case in accordance with the
| jury's verdict, and avoid q fight in
the higher courts.
Ford and his attorneys, however,
looked upon the verdict Of the jury as
q complete vindicatiOn. The charge
that Ford is an anarchist, contained
in the Tribune editorial, which
brought the suit, has been .disproved,
the Ford cohorts contend, BY the
jury's action.
The close Of the great suit. which
began three months ago, came when
lawyers and spectators had about
made up their minds they were in fo7
a night OF waiting, with a mistrfal ae
the probable outcome.
The Jury had been out ten hours
when q resounding knock was heard
on the high, old-fashioned door of
the jury room.
orvy Hulett, foreman of the jury.
stated he was ready to report a YER
dict, and the bailiR hurriedly sum-
moned Judge Tucker and the absent
lawyers.
Mr.. Hulett first gave the directed
verdict of mo case" against the Solo
mon News Company, which distrib-
uted copies of the Tribune OF June %,
! 1915, containing the alleged libel.
The award against the Tribune was
then given. It fixed the damages to
| Ford as cents over and above his
costs Of the suit.
The whole proceedings were over
with astonishing brevity. The con
| clusion Of the famous case did not
require more than Ave minutes The
jurors hurriedIy left their seats
brushed past reporters and down the
stairs, whore they were soon followed
by the lawyers, Judge Tucker, the
| handful Of spectators who had re-
NAMED and the court attaches.
One Juror stated that for six hours
| the ballots stood s to ( to give the
plaintiff an award. Then two Of the
| four Joined the majority. The re-
naming two held out until q late
hour, when they surrendered, and the
| knock sounded on the door.
Ford was not in court He IL seek
| ing rest on a camping trip with
Thomas A. Edison and John Bur-
roughs, naturalist.
The Tribune was represented by
Capt Joseph Medil Patterson, one OF
the publishers.
Editorial in 1919.
It was on June %, 1916, after Next
can bandits had raided Columbus, N.
NJ, and military preparedness was a
burning issue, not only because OF
the Mexican menace, but because of
the conhagration In Europe, that the
Chicago Tribune printed its famous
editorial headed. Ford Is An Anar-
chiSt"
Editorial writers Of the Tribune
testified that they had followed Ford's
pacihstie propaganda, but had not rec
ognized IL as q real danger to the
country until q news item was re-
ceived from Detroit that Ford was
trying to discourage the recruiting of
the guard which had been ordered to
the Rio Grande. The item. authentic
ity of which was denied by Ford wit
nesses. stated that the Ford company
| ~ L. -
ployes who went to the border, hold
their places, nor care for their de-
pendents.
1t was then that the editorial was
written It called Ford an Ignorant
idealist," and remarked that his
views on disarmament might be diff
ferent il his factories were on the Rio
Grande instead OF the peaceful Cana
dian border.
Trial Began May L.
Counsel for the manufacturer at
FIRST filed suit in the Federal court at
Chicago, but later withdrew it and in
stituted proceedings in the State
court at Detroit. Here the Tribune
applied for a change Of venue, and
Judge James G. Tucker, Of the circuit
court of Macomb county, at Mt. Glenn
ems, was agreed upon to hear the case.
Selection Of a jury began May II. It
consisted Of eleven farmers and one
shipbuilder.
A feature OF the case was the pro-
duction by the defendant of more than
twenty witnesses from the Mexican
border to testify to raids. murders,
and other acts which to the mind of
the Tribune counsel established the
fact that there was q condition of
anarchy along the border
PrO-GermnnIsm Charged.
Counsel for Ford attempted to prove
that the editorial was written
in malice-specific malice-as we'll as
the malice assumed in the mere publ
cation of the editorial. To this end
they charged that the Tribune was
pro-German and that it's advocacy OF
Intervention in Mexico was a mask to
hide friendship for Germany. The
theory advanced was that by inter
vention American munitions would be
diverted from the enemies of Ger
many.
Ford personally, as a witness and
by other means, insisted that by an
archist the Tribune meant the old
fashioned bomb thrower OF the Hay
market square variety. That, his law
yers asserted, was the impression that
the Tribune readers would get from
the editorial.
The hearing was one of the longest
on record, according to counsel.