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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (June 30, 1905)
1 JUDGE BENNETT MAKES A PATHETIC PLEA FOR MITCHELL" such as you: I nave lived among; you all my life, almost. I came to this country from the old Hawkeye State from -which I notice a number of you came, when 1 -was a boy. and I have lived here among you and known you for nearly AO years, and I know' your loyal hearts and I know how you feel. I think, about things of this kind, and about things that come before you generally. And you know me, not personally perhaps, hut you know such as me, and knowing me you will not expect much from me; and knowing me and because I have been, as It were, a neighbor of yours here in Oregon for all these years, you will bear with me with kindness, ana with all my crudities, and you win listen to me. perhaps, as you woujd to some neighbor who wasn't very smart, didn't claim to be very smart, but who was trying to tell you, as best he could, a story of great interest to him or to his friends. Terms Heney's Spcecli Unfair. Now. Gentlemen, you have listened for five hours to what has seemed to me one of the most unfair and disingenuous speeches that I have ever heard in a court of justice in a criminal case. Bit ter, abusive, vituperative and withal full cf unfairness. Now. there arc two kinds of unfairness in this world, gentlemen. One Is the Impetuous unfairness of a person who honestly can't see but one side of the case, and that Is his side, and" generally that unfairness Is the unfair ness of an honest, though a narrow man. But there Is anotner kind of unfairness cunning, careful, ingenuous, deliberately planned unfairness, and it is far more dangerous than the first. 1 think I shall show you before I get through, gentle men, that the argument you have Just listened to belongs to that latter class. Now. gentlemen, a few words. If 1 may. since the matter has been broached, about the importance of this case. It has been said to you that the case is one of vast Importance, and It is. It has been said to you -that the State of Oregon was on trial, and it is. But, gentlemen, when the learned attorney attempted to make you believe that you could adjudicate the honor of the State of Oregon by disgrac ing all Us foremost citizens and pulling them down, he took upon himself a pretty hard task. He wants you he doesn t siy so-but it is the necessity of his logic, otherwise why did he say anything about It at all: he wants you to convict the de fendant in this case whether he is inno cent or whether he Is guilty. In order that vou may show to the world that a Jury here In Oregon are ready to pull down your foremost statesmen. Makes Appeal to Jurors. Gentlemen. If these men. Senator Mitchell, and the evidence shows that Mr. Williamson is also under Indictment. I don't think it goes to far as to show that Mr. Hermann Is under Indictment, as far as the evidence shows if these men are the kind of men that Mr. Heney paints Senator Mitchell to be; If they are the kind of men that he paints Senator Mitchell to be: if they are men without anv honest instinct, if they are all-around grafters; if thev are ran eaten up with their own selfishness, then, gentlemen, cne of two things Is true. Jilther the people of Oregon elect these to their high est offices because they like them, or It is true that we are such Infernal dolts and donkeys that we can't tell an honest man when we sec him. although we live bv his side and h Is In the blare of the public light for years until some one from California shall come to us and open our eyes and how us things that we. as neighbors, never could have discovered for ourselves. I say to you. I appeal to you. gentlemen, that the honor of the state and the honor of every one of us is. Indeed, involved in this case. Besides all that, gentlemen, besides all that, the honor and the liberty of the old mun who ha6 lived among you for all these S years, and who nas won for himself and for .you. honor, not only in his own state hut In the public halls of the Nation hi honor as well as his liberty, and the honor is the greater of the tn o. Is on trial before you. Therefore. I agree, gentle men, that there never lias been -and never will be. perhaps. In Oregon, a more Im portant case than the one that you are called upon to try. Case at Ifssue. Now, Gentlemen, having said this much in a preliminary' way, 1 pass to a more careful consideration of the facts in this case, and in the first place, it is well, gen tlemen, at the outset to find out Just what It is that we are trying. This is of the utmost importance; to find out Jut what It is that we are trying. Now. the learned gentleman has talked to you for five hours, ai.d he has talked to you about everything tha,. Is all around and all about the case, and I venture, gentlemen, that after hearing him talk these live hours. If there is any one of you knows exactly what we are trying in this case, vcu haven't got it from anything he has s-'ld. You might think, gentlemen, that v were trying the matter of wheth er or not money was received from Ben son in violation of the law; and therefore whether the .defendant was guilty of that offence: no. no. tlwt matter is not in this ca6e, except In a remote collateral way. Then vou might think we were trying the matter of whether or not money came from Burke; but that is not in this case; then again you might think, gentlemen, the learned gentleman devoted himself to more than an hour to the question of whether or not Senator Mitchell was re sponsible for the changing of that con inaet. whether he was to blame for the perjury of Tanner, and whether he was censurable or not in relation to that mat ter and you might well think, from the long time that was devoted to that Ques tion, you might well come to the conclu sion, gentlemen, that that was the ques tion, or at least one of the questions. t.pon which the defendant was on trial; tut no, thut isn't the question; he is not on trial for that. Then you might say later, come down. then, to the Kribs mat ter and he Is on trial, perhaps, for re ceiving money from Krlbs. for receiving his half of 13200 in four years from Mr. Krlbs for work in relation to land mat ters. The Offense Charged. No, gentlemen, he isn't on trial for that. That might be no offense, and if it was an offense, it isn't the offense charged in this indictment. The offense charged in this Indictment, and we want you to fast en this in your minds, gentlemen, and keep it with you as we go along, through the case all the time, the thing that is charged in this indictment, and upon which we are on trial le, that at the time stated in the indictment, the Krlbs money was received by the defendant for serv ices rendered In ipparing before rihd per suading Dinger Hermann to do certain things. Now, this, gentlemen, is the charge in the. Indictment. The state in this case, or the Government, an in all criminal cases, cuts its pound of flesh; It marks it out. and it cuts it. and by that pound of flesh it must stick: it can not take one drop of Mood; it cannot take one fraction of an ounce more than that that Is marked out in this indictment, and the crime that is charged in this in dictment is not taking money for work that Tanner may have done in the Land Department here in Oregon, before the land officers, or in getting up title, or in Sreparing abstracts, or In getting affl avits ready; none of these things, per haps, were unlawful; certainly none of them were charged in this Indictment, and the question for you is whether or not the Government has proved, and proved beyond a reasonable doubt, that that money was taken for the work that was done by Senator Mitchell before Bln ger Hermann in Washington, and that lie knew that it was for that when he took It not some other time; not some later time but that it was for work that he did in the department In Washington, be cause nobody else did anything there aot In any of the departments In Washing ten even, but for work that he did before Blnger Hermann in relation to these mat ters and that he knew that it was for that work at the time he took It. Hew it simplifies the case, gentlemen. How little of the argument that has been ad dressed to 70a by the learned attorney has been addressed to the principle. He didn't even tell you that that was the Issue Involved. Not a word has been devoted to show ing you that the money that was token from Kribs was for work done by the de fendant before Blnger Hermann, at any subsequent time, in appearing before hjm and persuading him to do certain things. And, gentlemen. 1 take it that you can see the reason why this real issue has been covered up in rive hours talk upon collateral matters; in vilification of the defendant In relation to the Roberts let ter, and in relation to the matter of the change of the contract: and in relation to Tanner's perjury; matters- that were en tirely collateral to the case because he knew, as I will show you presently, gen tlemen, he knew, acd you knew, if you HARRY MURPHY PICTURES JUDGE BENNETT, DELIVERING HIS ARGUMENT AT THE MITCHELL TRIAL, AND SOME , 'mry& '.waw. hmnxs iirr,vs. r vkvi , j.t.RiB iii n TnrfsTs nTiwr1 1 'syzxA. s 1 1 roallzod what the issue was. that when their one witness, aad their only wit ness in relation to that matter. Mr. Tan ner, came upon the stand and swore that that money was not received for what the defendant did at Washington, but that It was received as a retaining fee by him for work that he was doing, out here in Oregon, when their own witness came upon the stand and testified to that fact, the case was at an end. Their case was at an end. and all he could do would be to drag in these other matters and talk about them, o.Rd "vilify the defendant, and If possible awaken a prejudice in your minds against him. by which he would supply the weakness In nis eviaence by tne strength in nis argu- ment. Now. gentlemen, keep that In mind j a U a runs uHiniku liic trat-. rwwp In mind that the charge tint you are try ing is the charge that the defendant took this money for work done before Blnger nermann, in appearing before and ter suading him to do certain things that and nothing else. And If they fait upon that, upon nothing else can they convict. Now keep that In mind, and let us ask for a consideration of the evidence; and we will come back to that proposition more par ticularly again later ia the case. The Original Contract. in the ilrst place, let us talk about the original contract, that has been offered In evidence and which wa perhaps the original source of all thfe trouble the comract entered into in 1PM. and which the attorney for the Government stated to you in the opening statement would show conclusively that they had delib erately planned that they should do this work, and that the defendant In the case should reap the profit of it. Now. what do we find In relation to the matter? Why. we find, gentleman of the Jury, that at a time previous to that, in when the defendant wasn't a Senator of the United States, when he was a private citizen, wnen ne nad a ngnt to appear other private citlren. and to charge for j it it, iAn-iiM tii dm a - oof Ahp ih. i prl- vate citizen. We find that at that time a ! contract was executed between these par ties which, for the first time, provided for the division of money earned in the departmentsexecuted at a time when Senator Mitchell bad a perfect right to make that contract. Then time goes oa, and Senator Mitchell was re-elected to the office of Senator of the United States, and it becomes nocestsary to readjust the relations of the firm. They had been practicing here together, and Senator Mitchell, by reason of his long experience and his reputation all over the Nation, as has been raid by the learned attorney, was the man that could be expected to bring the vast body of clients. Probably you know bow hard St is for a compara tively young man, as Mr. Tanner wa? In 1EP7. unless he In very brilliant in some way. to ret ahead in a city like this, and a man who has a reputation like Senator Mitchell had would bring probably twenty clients where Mr. Tanner would bring one. Ordinarily, in that sart of firm, gen- tie-men the youag man does the work, but j 55m1 m,a?w tvJtv, ! when we have worked actively for 3 or 30 years and built up our reputation, we can then lay on our oars and furnish the reputation, while the young man does the work. Oftentimes- our reputation It without any Just foundation. So it was In this case, because of Senator Mitchell's reputation and because of his experience and because he would be expected largely to bring the clientage to the firm. It was provided -that he should have two-thirds of the fees. That Chance In Contract. Now. then, when Senator Mitchell was re-elected to the United States Senate, it was still expected that his name and his reputation would be a very valuable a-Htet to the firm the most valuable as setbecause It would still bring In all lines of business" clientage to the firm; but becaupe he would not be here. Mr. Tanner thought that the proportion of the fees he had been getting under the old system, when Mitchell was here, would not be right, and Mitchell agreed that it would not be right. So at Mr. Tanner's suggestion, they redrew the rontract so as to provide for those fees. Now do you .suppose for a moment, gen tlemen, that either one of them ever thought about this clause in relation to department work? They were Just sim ply making the one change la their con tract. Senator Mitchell wasn't present when it wan drawn- Tanner sat down there, when Mitchell had gone to Wash ington, and dictated the agreement, and it was changed and tent oa to Wash ington. I doa't doubt that Senator Mitchell looked over that contract: I don't Question that he looked nv- that contract at all But what did he look over It in relation to? He looked over It in relation to the matter that 'Sad been changed, la relation to the matter that was under consideration, and n?r thought for a moment about the other daure It Is unreasonable to suppose that I he did and left that clause la there. I Then, agalrv gentlemen, it Is perfectly j dear that neither of the parties ever I acted on thl. hypetbcsU. or acted upoa i the hypothesis that this money was j earned under that clause in this contract neither one of them because, gentle- men of the Jury, that contract didn't pro- i vide that work such as should be lnlti- i a ted in Washington should belong to Sen- . ator Mitchell, or work that should be ' commenced there: but Iff provided In fo i many words that for any services that S should be rendered before the department 1 In Washington Mitchell should have the I whole of it- I Now. then. If they were dividing under ioa.uz.uu Tin hi me lsyiie was. wai wnen I their one witness, aad their only wlt- tnar. contract ana any part or tne-s ser- vices; were, as comenoea ey tne uovern- j toerefore tnose fees taken b Tanner ment. for work done by Senator Mitchell I for work done before the Departments, before the department at Washington, or i if there had been any. would have been v!ore JL,nBer .E,erma.na- then he 'ou i a violation of the law. But. gentle have been entitled to something morn , n,ea of the Jurr. men are not so eon- inan nan; ne would nave neen entitled , out here and htTVoitid hive hTen" ?r, ' tUled to" a$ I that was chaed for" the to Uar fnr- .-V. . V. . , T-...... jj ' wo-k that ta did tart ihm nearJ t''al ,aw reatL H"" mny f rho were leVm ffif'cSSeU I reeb er Just exactly w u Whv wasn't It divided that xrav" Whv ' was- . wm venture that if taere was smttPlhmtX5 ' ar al ?"T,ont,,wnn N, ,Ioaor because, as Mr. Tanner said, neither one j ''f,8.1"" ectton read one hun of them dreamed or thought or Intended ' drf,a tlm'.' .ma-'bc anJ reffld 11 rt,m that any single dime of that money i f,e,,f ,f ,:nere waJ5 a?y cloe au; aSnuM k. fnr. ,rr .,. c.n.M- i tlofi upon Its construction, he wauM Mitchell had done la Washlngtoa'or be- ! fore Blnger Hermann. t Now. gentlemen, before I pass to some 5 of these letters that have been Intro- i duced in evidence, and from which so ' much is claimed, let me say to you what ' seems to me to have been the theory ' upon wnicn Judge Tanner and Mr. Mitchell were acting. They were acting upon mis tneory: iney were acting upon the theory that It was perfectly lawful for Judge Tanner to do aay land work that might come to him. to attend to It himself, whether It was In the local land offices here or before the department at Washington, and charge for that and carry' it into the firm aet?. That was tne tneory upon which he was acting: that was the theory upoa which Senator MltchHl was acting. Now. gentlemen. tnat may nave been a mistaken theory. Indeed. I think that In Dart It was a mistaken theory". I think the court will instruct you tnat Tanner had a perfect., rtgnt to do any preliminary work In re- laiinn in inna lami mtti-a wv miV nr MTi hKt..t rrvin un -VoiUZ t. . ---- a -r ''r charge for it. and to carry the money into thn nrm anti Ama i. -n-itu Into the firm assets, and divide It with Mitchell, and that in so doing, as long as they "had confined themselves to that, tney would have been guilty of no viola tion of the law whatever. But It Is preb nWy true, gentlemen, that thev erred In their construction of the law In relation to this matter. "Where the Ijiw Stands. It is probably tnie that if Mr. Tanner bad gone Into the local I.and Office and appeared before the local MMe or' that if he went before the Secre tary of the Interior, or that If he went before the Commissioner ef the General Land Office, or if he appeared before atiy officer of the Government and there performed services, that is the limitation of the law. It must be a matter in whlcn the Called States I officer. As Ionic as Tanner didn't ap- pear before any officer, he was vlo-1 latlng no law. and Mitchell was vlo-! latin no law In taking; the fees; but If T?n.1cr a-5D,:ar,eJT bei" ,me pffcer "L"''"- " - iiciu e anio or tne ucncrai i-ana uniee and per-1 cer. he had no right to carry that Into toiuica c nix mete in3iureinc oui- the firm assets and to divide It up wiiii oennior juucaeij; and i think In that matter, gentlemen, they were mls- taxen as to their theory of the law. and that, if Tanner, as a matter of fact which it doesn't appear that he did if Tanner, as a matter ef fact, appeared before any of the Departments and did any work and charged it up. taey would have been guilty, unknowingly, ef a technical violation of the law in that matter. See, gentlemen, how hard j tB Jatr Is to construe. mat a inrorv inai t-i t- .i everyone knows the law; but it Is a wu mcuiy ana ii is bbi irue in prac- tice. When our learned Supreme Court, think that, under the law, the court will 1 .".l"? kar tell you. gentlemen of the Jury-although i ?,ut"lon. . "irn2l for one no construction of that law is entirely . ,ie knew .ln.at there was u . I. .v. . t- . , i utMin the statute bnaV. Tin i j"ic k- c sv i(,gc uwi laiincr una a ! .C . T. . -.v. . a -ii l. .v... j the reneral remenibrsniv if It constituted, ot tne greatest lawyers Xow this fee according tn Tanner-, of thlsr any other country. nne at:Zntl'or3Sta& them, differ upon questions of this , matters that he had done here, according kind, and four are oa one side and to his Idea he was to do the work, and five are on the other, how can you ex- they were In some sense his. and he was pect the common lawyers, or uncpm- t the man that was employed, but they mon lawyers even, shall always know J were to be divided between the two of the law. Why. you have seen an ex- ; them, and therefore, also. In some sense amplification of that, gentlemen of tne they were "our fee" and "the fees which Jury. In this very courtroom. Mr. . we are to have." And so. it Isn't sur Heney has brought these matters be- j prising. In view of these facts, that as foro the court the Gobbl matter; the time went along and these letters were matter of appearing la a contest be- written, that Tanner should refer to tween two parties and the matter of them sometimes in one way and some appearing for Chinese, where there i times In another way. was no matter pending before the De- i Now we come to the argument of the partment. and he stood here and Insist- i learned attorney In relation to these mat ed with the greatest earnestness that I ter5-. He says to you that Tanner was that was the Uw; but the Court says: ' Kitting educated: he says to you that "No. I cannot see It that way." Here' a,on.v' i ..flr,K wTaan.e" writing they are differing In construction i aa DUt ,tha a" th months i i. rftlr- honest, an.i th ot w one tivmc tnat. under this law f n.r art bk that under this law that act U IZJLiVii it tt ?iS Ji?J!Li?aL . J? kmis.f vrrx- vjl" . , " xhe bench, and the learned Judge, who sits acre. nai oeea in con-cress and bad. perchance, done the act that ne thiaKs is entirely innocent, he might have been standing here before Judge Heney. and Judge Heney would have adjudged that he was technically frailty of a violation of this law. - -T .v-""-- mi. Now. gentlemen. It Is true that If a person picked up that law and read It carefully, with a view to any par ticular thing, and read It very care fully, he would probably see that there was a litte clause in there, that for any services rendered before any De partment or officer of the Govern ment. "Tar himself or another," Con- , ' ' ' . pressmen must not take fees, and wMttv.i ,ua, ,,... ... .k- th,ns" ,n tMr. TOlnd or anyih'-iff more lnan .a Sencral 1Jea ot them. Vou hav - - - - V4.i. wiuoc i wani w n me iuw again into nisi want t tke the law again Into his and read It carefully wlta rela- "on 10 "al matter, uentiernen. there ,a tou ,aw" ,n the State of Oregon that s more familiar to lawyers than the Ia upon execution and the property liat Is exempt from execution. There Isn t a lawyer in the state, nerhnns. that aasn't aad to refer to It five hundred rimes; and I will venture to gentlemen, taat you can go to are within the limits of tne -state, there won't be one single one of them thut can tell you exactly wnat property is exempt from execution, without going to the statute books, from which he obtain his authority. this ataute book. It was passed forty ow, tnen. tills law that was unon vnrv .pr it .,"1.1 t-h f ver.. recent vr, ther ha nrVr hM.n i rr- enf jeara mere nad never Deen ' .occasion to enforce Senator i T 1 1 Oh oil Viim that taere was such a We don't; uiuiucni. uch a law had oaly that men BH in relation to those things, , only nad the general rfmpmbniH He i ?my naa tne general remembrance of J ) and from that general remembrance ! U seems to hnve escaped his atten- tlon. as well as Mr. Tanner's, that those worus or another were In there. Now. those words "or another" didn't apply to preliminary matters In 'rela tion to land matters, to advice and . consultation and taking a reiuinlng . fee. It didn't apply to work don. In . "'nir "P abstracts of title; it didn't ! LK t0 n'ffldvits l,' Sidn?" "Vthese"' things at 'lffi but it applied when the party "or an other appeared before some officer. or uepartment. the Idea of tne law be ing to prevent the influencing of these officers or departments in their decis ion by the appearance, either directly or Indirectly, of n Congressman wno ! wal apP.arinV there for a fee! theory that Is perfectly evident uoon Tanner's part pirtlr ritht nd mS? mistaken-right hTsd ? far a TannerhaS ; tiihl unto nUlMtSiyh and charge pay for It and carry It Into .Now keen In mind nl nnn the firm account, but wrong upon their i nan in so tar as itwouid nave authorized i Tanner to do work before the deoart J merits at Washington and charge for it. Question of J-'cch. Now. consider these letters in the light of this theory, which they evidently had in mind at that time, and where is there one of them? Where Is there one of those letters; show me the letter that la incon sistent with that theory. Here is a large number of letters coverlnc the four vears- There are some 13 or 30 letters, and some times Tanner refers In those letters to i W4"CJ aimer racti in inoj icucrs lo uir itru an aiy ices, letrs mat l am . i . j . f .mv ."VVi,! "i sa letters he rtrm to thm .., j fn? N J j a two yearsas the months and years went by. ; lfiat Tanner was getting educated. It : took about two. years to educate him. and by that time he got so that he didn't write "we" and "our" any longer, but that he wrote "I" and "me then- ' Talks of th Letters. ' Gentlemen of the Jury, as a matter of j ct. among those letters, you know that J the buUc 11 wa written la relation to ' the Krlbs, matter along in February. March and April of 1S02. Gentlemen, I i cave exasainea tnese letters carefully. and unless I have made a mistake, and I donf think I have, although they haven't been Introduced in any order, and there fore you can't be sure, there are so many of them unless I mistake, there was a single Utter prior to May. In which these matters were referred to as "we" and "our." mad that was the Benson let ter of October . 1M, which isn't Included in this case at alL Now, la that letter. n tl irver in thla tn-inrmn- nn.l ' a-an trnA v.-. ask him what property is exempt from J that work either way. gentlemen of the had la the matter? It Is an uimii uuu tune nuu i uc one J"i i. -wnra you nave goi an aeuie. snarp. i taing. rvobody WOU!d ever do it- lucra in an me mouni. nernans. mat ciever raina lummr mem tnai wav lor i Tart tt-.at h nna.i the fees were referred to as "our fees." and we are going to have a fee.' but from that time en durinr all the cor respondence In relation to the Kribs mat ter up to May. there was no reference to we or "our.' but it was always I" end "mm - Th.n in thr. 1. . other letter, again about the Benson mat- j ter. and that refers to It as -w" and ----- ... . . .,.. a tiuiu nm. muc uu, uicm are two or three letters, there wasn't very much correspondence after that time in relation to these matetr. but from that time on. there were two or three idiers in wnicn 11 was rererred to as "we" and "our,' and. as a matter of fact, gentlemen. Instead of the letters that referred to It as "we" and "our" -iB .v.- i.. j..- .,,, -.1 ; " 1"" ' thl i with one exception, they were the last letters that were wrUtn In relation to wiai raaner. ana so. insieau or oeiag ine basis of an argument that Tanner was getting educated, the learned gentleman might turn it the other way; he might turn it the other way with equal and mure wm; anu say iaai ixnner com ay that Tanner com- In the matter but got W 5 n menced an rixnt i careless toward the nurnoae. course, if vdu are huntlnr gentlemen; if you are after Senator Mitchell. If you are huntlnp for something on which you can run him down, as this learned gentleman Is hunting for some thing, wny you can find something In tnese letters tnat you can twist ana turn ! aad mfti aPPr that way; but. ah. there w nothing in words In all the human i language, no act In human life that can't ! i. l . i I Kivcn a nsu consiruciioii u you an I uau u 4W iskins for Copy of Books Again, gentlemen of the Jury, th learned attorney talks to you about tho fact that Senator Mitchell asked for a copy of these books In May or June of 1S02. He goes on. with a great, long argu ment, to show you that a number of these fees had been collected during the Inter vening six months since Senator Mitchell had seen his books, and. therefore. h says to you. gentlemen, aon't you Know that the reason wny Senator Mitchell wanted to see these books was because he knew that those unlawful caarges were i In there? Because be knew that these unlawful charges were in there, and ha wanted to see whether he had got credit for his unlawful charges or not. Gen tlemen, did yon ever sets such an argu ment? It Is based upon a proposition that a man never wants to see his own books unless they are dishonest. Is there anything In It. whatever? Suppose those entries had not been In there at all; is It anything strange that he had not seen the book for the first six months, when they were, beginning to do butness. and when he did not know what kind of a system was going to be adopted or anything of that kind. Is It anytnlng strange that even a careless man should want to see a statement of his boois once la tlx months? And yet, from that mere fact that he wanted to e his books or wanted a statement of them at this time, counroi asks you to say that be had some wicked motive in his heart. Couldn't vou tjy that he wanted to see the honest entries Just as well as the dis honest' ones? Is a man more Interested In dishonesty than In that which Is hon est? I yubmlt to you. gentlemen, that there Is no difference that can fairly be drawn in relation to this matter. You remember that when Shakespeare paints i la words the story or one wno nad mar ried a young. Innocent wife, spotless as the white of an angel's wings. Jealousy got Into hU heart, and every act of that wife, however innocent, was in nis mind innuix:iu nas in ma nusa .:-,,a a afiintHnn rlmm.fiino, i.ntn lr tooted tn him that th nroof renn .wi.--. . . -. . - - - - - - -: : ter Jealousies and misconstructions of in nocent acts, he struO her to death; and Shakespeare says. "In his Jaundiced mind proofs light as air were confirmation strong as holy writ, And to it is. in the Jaundiced mind of the Government attorney. From the most Innocent act can be drawn plausible conjecture, plaus ible Inference. Just Hunting for Suspicion, c As I said before. If you are hunting, like Othello for things -to sustain your suspicion, if you want to find things to make old Senator Mitchell look black and wrong. If you have got It In for him fer political reasons or any reasons, you can find In this correspondence this and that and the other thing that you can turn to his disadvantage. But I don't believe that you are approaching this case with a feeling of that kind But they say here Is a letter which Tanner writes to the department, a nice, dignified litter, for Mitchell to place be fore the department, and then In a sep arate letter he says to Senator Mitchell. "I wish you would punch this letter up. Senator." and counsel calls that undenia ble proof of guilt, because Mitchell did not file with the Honorable Secretary of the Interior that "puneh-blm-up" letter. 8upnose somebody wrote a letter to me tofile before His Honor here, and then In a separate letter he would say, "Bennett. I wish you would punch this matter, punch the Judge up. get hint to take hold of this matter. no you tainx i wouiu come here to a dignified Judge and file and !- that "punch-hun-up" letter? Not very much, gentlemen, and nobody else would. As a matter of fact. It was the most natural thing In the world that Tanner should write those two letters, oaa of them for the Senator and one for the de partment. There was absolutely aothlna OF HIS LISTENERS 1 1 j wrong and nothing unusual in relation I to it. There is another matter ef ih same kind, these little things that absotutetv amount to nothing at all. except la the ; Jaundiced Imagination and that- u t lttr In urM.ioh Tnnnr m-nto t dim : about the Krlbs matter aad about the ; Benson matter, and said something about tueir lees in retaiton tnereto. seaater Mitchell wrote back to him asking him t "Please write me the selection numbers contained in thi ?vum n9tr .mrat. ly from everything else"; and they say ha wanted to go before the department with, It, He says he wants it so an to ee everything by Itself and separate. But 1 j"rrrr .' "" suppose ne at a want it to go before tne , before the department in one matter ; with a letter referring to three or four , .? c waBC J other matters, nor would be In the nature of things 1 care not : how inaaceat It miht bST wmi nr oT tTLd. ing before the oJfleers of the Government private busln between him and Tin. nr or between them and their cHeats. nobody ever heard of such a thing. Who I SI5 . ! court .and paradedtters ,,LT--rJ.r unnearc-or. and the something that re ferred to the nubile business in the letter atone, which did not discuss their private matters, la nothing from which the Just mind could draw any Inference of wrong. Now. gentlemen, we come to another matter, the terms of ome of these let ters. Senator Mitchell has written fif teen or twentv letter, and they agree hat the .oihtn neV .SSfWa SS2 in bu tne letters tnat the Senator ever wrote a do ut inia matter himself for he Is not responsible directly for the letters Tanner wrote, ia any way from which they can claim anytnlng wrong- Is that In one of the letters to the department, la writing about the Kribs matter from Portland, which he would have done for any Individual, as the testimony fcews. either within or without the state that la writing one letter to the department he eays. "In the Interest of friends here"; and they jump onto him In relation to that matter. "Why didn't he name hl- friends, why didn't he set up the whole thing, why didn't he say that la the In terest of Mr. Tanner, who ia my law partner, or in the interest of Mr. Krlbs. wno u a. client or ours, and In the in- terest of 3.r. Plllsbury. who has an H- terest In these lands: and In th inuMt of Mr. Smith, who has an interest in them." and go Into the details of the whole transection? Why didn't he do that, instead ef making It brief because he was no doubt in a hurry, as he always was. and never studied his woran. net suppesia? thy would be misconstrued Va this kind of a way. He simply makes Ms letter short and mys. "In the interest of friends 1 write ia relation to this mat ter. "Wanted It "Understood. Senator MItehell wanted It entirely understood in the Department at Wash ington always that he was not Inter est d hlmslf as a lawvr In. rlation to thse matters: It was his understanding that that was what was prohibited by law. It was his understanding: that it member of rnnm n-as me ineorv or tne law that If department and was Int..i.H iVT .... tins: a fee. that thev mlg-ht be disposed vo laror mm. ne naving some influence, far more than they would If he went there slmnly without any cersoaal In Jer.?a! .,n .the matter as a friend or an individual. And It was the veev nn. oearance- of evil that Senator. Mitchell ' tern and read them In this view it isn't was trying the beat he could, and as ! any wonder that at some time, not alto he did In all these matters, to avoid, j gether at first nor altogether at last, but at the same time that he helped Tan- t Indiscriminately along as It might come ner lust as he mixrht Mr. Stlllroan nr J Into hL head, sometime Tanner referred ... u , . , I .'' in reunion io mat- . i rrnni.H a IZn . V. I ! i.LI "L.:'.V-'""ci '"-. .n- . uiuci luaiicr ui&i. icpt twijve in in 1 tney twist In the same way: He writes afterward la re- . them as "my fee.- but under the clr lation to some matter, saying-. "Several 1 cumstance3 and conditions- there Is noth E?,r. .'I -ka L '"'i 1 em to me about this tag surprising that he should refer to matter. That was literally true, ac- : them sometimes in one way and sorae-cordln- to their own testimony for t times In the other way. It is only a dia haJ S!f2Jj T2k.JJ h'iv ?na Kr,bs . eased Imagination that could draw & had written to him, and that was sev-! rullty Inference from them, eral nartles. But they say. 'Why . didn't he name the parties In these let- ! Calls It Appeal to Prejudice, ters? "Several parties." very suspi-1 clous, zentlemen. that be should use j Gentlemen, there 13 one- more matter tho words, "several parties." Bur, rcea- la relation to this aad then I am througli tlemen. there Is another argument j with the letter??. The learned attorney along theso lines that baa been famous fer the Government reads one of these for a lone time, and I want to call your ' letter ta which It ls said "Go. before the attention to that argument, because it department and get these matters, expo l so nearlv the same tha,t I think Mr. dlted." and he grows eloquent ta relation, Heney a arcument la relation to-cneau I to that matter and appeals to your matters must have been copied from it i prejudice. There Is not a thing in thts iou- seatlemen, who are students ef i indictment about helping any one to ae Dlckens. our great English prose cure public lands, so far as Mitchell Is writer, remember the famous case of f concerned; they dare not charge him with Bardell. the Pickwick. Jt in the Indictment; they do say. as wa ti cit. i f shall prerentiy show you. that Kribs was He Cites Plclnvlck. gobbling the public Lanrfjr. they do say , ,k,- i. . : that Kribs was a thief and suborner of t.nfnH,.". m2.m-.ST'Uinfe.vMim.e . P3"y. they do aay that ia their Indlct h?rt 0lS?ijri iht. :2ftKWfitl Krt:t- hut they do not say one word in noutetertStCclsWheh jJS ! made her an offer of marriacre. and Zt f., rMoW tTY when, he would not carry out that of- ! SiJ? ,vr, o?r S .m,' fer. she sued him for breach of prom-; ii-BO if a HSJJ and there, as here, a-entlemen of tht Jurr. there were some letters in the case. There, as here, the letters were entirely Innocent In themselves. There. fn here, the attorney, with very little i foundation, was trying- to make a mla- (UUIUUI UUU Ul U1CU1. X ilt? LWO ICUV13 were note Pickwick trave to his house keetwr. in. one Instance lndicattac that he wanted mutton chops- for laacheaa. and In the other Instance he hud writ ten to her when delayed at a distance. Informing her that he would not be home as soon as ha expected, that thara was a slow coach, and telllax her not to be particular about the warming Dan, v err Innocent things, rcentiemert of the Jury, but here ia the- argument ot the learned attorney: "And. now 1 aentlemen. but one word more. Two letters have passed between these oar ties, letters welch are admitted to ha la the handwritinsr of the defendant, and which speak volumes indeed-' That, ia exactly the arcument here; these let ters are In the handwritinsr of the de fendant. "These letters, too. hesnealc the character ot the man-' "They are not onen, fervent, eloauent eDistles. breathlnsc nothlnrr but the laasruaate of affectionate attachment.' These let ters are not onen. fervent, eloauent eolstles. breathlns cothlnc but tha facts in, relation to the fees. "They ar covert, sir. underhanded communica tions." These letters are cpvert. sly underhanded cornmuntci Ions. "But fortunatelr. far more conclusive than if couched In the most rriowlnc laa Kua.ce and the most noetic Imasery." Keeps Up the Comparison. But fortunately, these letters- are nor conclusive than if they had been couched In the moat open language. "Letters thac must be viewed with a cautious and sus picious eye. Letters that must be viewed with a cautions and susolcious eve. savs .Mr. Heney. "Letters that were evidently k : Intended, at that time, by Pickwick, to t I mislead and delude anv third parties into whoso bands they might falL"" Letters. f says Mr. Heney. which, were Intended at uie ume to misieaa or aciuce any third parties into whose hands they might fall. Let me read the first: "Garroways 12 o'clock. Dear Mrs. B. Chops aad tomato sauce. Yours. Pickwick." Gentlemen, what does this mean? Chops and tomato sauce Yours Pickwick. Chops! Gra- t!n?l h m vpn. Anri tnmatn. rr nr v J era! parties; Interest of friends. Good ! gracious: "Gentlemen, is the haDnisess of a sensitive and confiding female to be trifled away by such shallow artifices as these? The next has not date, which in itself is suspicious, Oh, very! How 1 easy to make these things suspicious. "Dear Mrs. B.: I shall not be at home till tomorrow. Slew coach. Don't trouble yourself about the warming pan!" Why. gentlemen, who does trouble himself about a warming-pan? When was the peace of mlad o" man or woman broken, or disturbed by a warming-pan? Aad so on. Gentlemen, the result of that c-is was that the eloquent and urgent Ser geant Buzfuz obtained a very large Judg ment en the strength of those letters from Mr. Pickwick. Refers to Sergeant Bnzfaxz. I cannot but believe I know all tha learning the gentleman has displayed in. relation to ether matters, and that he Is very familiar with all sorts of Snglish, literature and I cannot doubt but that the gentleman Is familiar with the ' elo quent speeeh of Sergeant Busfuss. and I have no doubt that when he was prepar ing for thJa case he took that speech to his room, and made a careful study eC It. and modeled his argument h relation to the letters In this case as closely after it as he might. I submit to you that then is not a thin? In these letters from first to last that if -you approach them with out a Jaundiced imagination shew any evidences of guilt. There nsay ce things there that Tanner wrote which show that he was charging fees for the work he did. and It may be that Seaatnr Mitchell knew that, although It is net proven beyond a reasonable doubt, because with the- hun dreds of letters Tanner wrote that he all the time upon his mind, with the fact that he had to appear and perform hla duties In the United States Senate Cham ber, with the additional fact that he bad to attend the meetings of seven commit tees of one of which he was chairman, aad the additional farts that acceding to the testimony of their own witness h had at least live matters every dav which he bad to run around and look cp in tha departmeats for hi constituents in Ore gon; when you add to all these- things and to all these letters. I tell you. gen tlemen. It would take a mind better even than Mr. HeneVs mind, aided as he is bv all of his secretaries and detectives, ta ke., I?a"e? 8. ystenati2ed that h JlbavP.tlml.to prT consider the .v. , V .X. w " " ' than tolc them over and see what was la I tem that had to be answered, dictate th answer as speedily as he could, throw It aside and take another one; especially r afL tnSfS ,1. ' .Hti,31 ZiJSU'J? IZl I SVJJZ th 25-S wnen ne ana u letters to answer ixt ttreo i e&me ct here on the ISth. of October, he y,- .y.- xi-. ik -i vi t "rr T'.. .. r. ?r " ."it1:..'" pocket. Why. gentlemen, according t the.- own testimony, he had received SCO letters wnen ne was here. 50 letters a day for 12 days, after he had received the Benson letter: aad yet he wants you to believe that he kept the Benson letter under his eye all that time. Some of these letters perhaps, pertained to the vvneeiwrignt matt-r. wnere there was ZXJ perhaps In relation to the Arabia whero there was ECO.OCO involved; some of them perchance in relation to other Important matters which he was transacting- for different ocnstltuents. Has anybody a right to suppose that this particular let ter he picks out aad hugs, to hi bosom and carries with fcbn whereever he gees oa a .religious man carries bis Bible, or the young man the picture of his girl, nearest bis heart. Do yea suppose fer a moment that letter went anv different from other letters Senator Mitchell re ceived, which were glanced ever, answered speedily and tiled away? Mitchell and His Account Books. In the matter ef the account In th I books. I don't know whether Senator i Mitchell was that careful, or whether he- was not. The :ast anybody saw It, It was thrown upon the table: it was tho closing days of Congress, when Senator Mitchell was. busier, perhaps, than usual, even for him, when every minute of his time was taken up. Whether he ever saw those books to ko over them carefully X do not know. ery likely in the naturo of things, they would be thrown aside. Bat assume that he did. if you want to; assures that he knew what the books would show ki relation to those Items, what does it anew? It shows- rlmply that Tanner was doing work in land matters out here, charging for that work and carrying th fees into the firm account, but that was a thins he had a right to do. a thins: ho had a right to divide with MltchelL Keep that In mind all the time in constrains; the letters, and then there Is not ono of these letters that shows to a reaaonablo man beyond a reasonable doubt at all that Tanner was charging for the work '. that Mitchell did or putting upon tha books one cent for work Mitchell was doing before Blnger Hermann, which la the matter charged In this- Indictment, and according to their Idea the only thing which would have been wrong for them to do. When you take up the let- I I iT. : VI " l T.O uem as mr tees. ice xees i am i I .1 earning; ana sometime? re terrea io inea ' n -nm- ttta " ncnerallv- h rferr to hich. they say he was. he kept It carefully to himself Even Judge Tan ner says he- did cot know; he inquired into these claims, and Kribs assured hiss that they were entirely honest, aad ha told Krlbs If they were not honest he would have nothing to do with tcera. Kribs- assured him they were entirely hones, and the only thing about xhezo. was so much red tape la the Govern ment, and he wanted to get theia taken up as soon as poseiblei no quest! etc about the ultimate result. And Tanner hisaeelt aajrs that be csver said oss wae ft