Evening star., 1925-07-20
TENNESSEE FEELS
REGRET over CASE
Leaders in State Sorry Ex-
1; pertS Were Not Put
: on Stand.
BY ROBERT T. SMALL.

DAYTON, Tenn, July 20.-Min-
Cling over the week end with citizens
from many parts of the State, one Is
fndelibly impressed with the feeling
that there is a very general regret
in Tennessee over the turn of events
I in the evolution trial The ruling out
of all testimony designed to show
that evolution is not necessarily In
conflict with the teachings of the
Bible was a blow the Tennesseans
did not expect They had hoped that
all would be heard and that there
would be a general thrashing out of
the subject and that the State would
be accorded universal credit for its
fair play.
On trains, in hotel Hobbies, at
social gatherings, on the golf links
and at other places where persons
of more or less intelligence are wont
to gather you hear the expressions
of regret pass from mouth to mouth.
There is regret first of all that the
trial could not have been conducted
under different conditions and in a
different atmosphere. While 1t is
true the alleged crime was committed
here, in Rhea County, the issues
which became involved in the case
were of such moment that many of
the residents Of the State felt they
should have been heard in Knoxville,
Chattanooga, Nashville or Memphis
Regret Lack of Dignity.
Tennesseans felt that If this had
been the case the developments OF
the trial might have been surrounded
with a greater dignity and the Ma
ton and the world might have re-
f1ected a different view from that
which was possible here in this small
rural community. 1t is no reflection
hat re
ship is somewhat narrow. Every
rural community is the same, from
what the orators call the rocky coast
Of Maine to the sunkissed shores Of
the Pacific slope. The conditions
and the sentiments in this little
farming district are but little diff
ferent from those to be found in
communities of similar size and COM
narrative isolation elsewhere in the
United States.
Perhaps in a city the trial would
not have attracted the same amount
of attention as has been the case here.
Perhaps that would have been better
in the long run. Tennessee Is very
pround of her higher judiciary and
would have preferred that the case
from the beginning should have been
taken from the jurisdiction of rural
circuit court and jury to more I'M
tural environment.
Regret Personalities.
Secondly, the people of the State
have been rather shocked and sur
prised at the chickering's which have
gone on in the courtroom and out OF
il. The case, as a matter of fact, has
seemed to pass at times entirely out
of the hands Of Tennessee and the
Tennesseans and to resolve itself into
a personal conflict of war of words
between William Jennings Bryan OF
Coral Gables, on the one side, and the
group of foreign" defense lawyers,
beaded by Clarence Darrow Of Chi
cago, on the other.
The sharpest issues of the case have
been dealt with by both Mr.. Bryan
and Mr.. Darrow in statements issued
for publication in the newspapers. Mr..
BRYAN started the statements soon
after he arrived in Dayton. and when
Mr.. Darrow came along he undertook
the job of answering the Commoner.
The result has been a continuous fierce
exchange. When court has been re-
cessed over the week the state
ments have been given out at Iast
and furious pace.
Only this week end with many per
sons predicting that Mr.. Darrow would
be cited for contempt of court, Mr
Bryan issued for publication on the
Sabbath morning a bitter attack upon
his adversary. From the very begin
ming Mr.. Bryan has treated Darrow
as the all-impoortant defendant: he
has done this because Darrow is an
admitted agnostic, and Mr.. Bryan has
sought to make the point that since
Darrow represents evolution In the
trial all evolutionists must of neces-
sity be like Mr.. Darrow, agnostic, op-
posed to prayer, contemptuous of the
court capable of defending a Loeb
and Leopold and desirouS of robbing
Christianity of its faith in the Bible
as the revealed word of God. Darrow
is accused by Bryan of leading a con-
spiracy against Christianity.
May Be Appeal Basis.
II has been DarroW this and Darrow
that, until 1t is certain that when the
case is appealed one Of the grounds
will deal with prejudices aroused
against the defendant through the con-
slant attacks by the principal prose
cutor upon his defending counsel.
There has never been a case like this
in the annals Of Tennessee jurisprud-
ence, or of the world for that matter.
The case has been tried on the street
corners, in the pulpits in the court
house yard, before Judge Raulston-
everywhere except before the jury.
1t seems as something Of a surprise
to followers of the trial today to dis
cover that there still was a jury.
When the trial first was called 10 or
II days ago there was quite a rush for
jury duty. Nobody in Rhea County,
1t seemed, had any ideas for or against
evolution. In fact, evolution had
scarcely been heard Of. There was a
feeling that the prospective jurors
were exceedingly anxious to get a
front-row seat for the "big show" But
they have missed virtually all OF It.
They have been exiled from the court
room like a dozen paraiahs, and have
had to roam the streets, the byways
and the hedges. trying to keep from
knowing anything that was going on
in the courtroom, despite the fact that
loud speakers transmitting the pro-
ceedings had been erected all through
the courtyard and downtown on Main
street.
Sentiment toward the trial in the
nearest city to Dayton is reflected In
an editorial in the Chattanooga Times,
which says