760 



STAR-EOUTE TRIAL. 



disgrace. Well, suppose that this policy was 

 right. Admit that it was right. We are not 

 trying a question of policy. We are trying a 

 question of crime. And suppose that the of- 

 fense charged in this indictment is neverthe- 

 less made out, what becomes of your policy ? 

 The policy passes for nothing, no more than 

 the correctness of Bacon's decisions could be a 

 shield against the charge of bribery. It is not 

 the policy we are inquiring about; it is the 

 charge of corrupt conspiracy for the purpose 

 of establishing those routes, or rather for the 

 purpose of expediting and increasing the ser- 

 vice." 



The only one of the accused placed upon the 

 witness-stand was Harvey M. Vaile, whose in- 

 terest in the contracts was first acquired in 

 August, 1878, and the testimony for the de- 

 fense closed on the 7th of August. One day 

 was occupied with rebutting testimony, at the 

 close of which Mr. Bliss presented an affidavit 

 with reference to the witness Spencer, cover- 

 ing a statement of the efforts to secure his at- 

 tendance, and the facts which it was expected 

 to prove by him. In this it was said that 

 Spencer could testify that on one occasion he 

 was present in the room of the defendant, S. 

 W. Dorsey, when the latter took from his 

 pocket and placed in an envelope six bills of 

 $1,000 each, and laid the envelope with the 

 bills in it on the table, telling him he expected 

 the defendant, Thomas J. Brady, to call in a 

 short time, and he wished to show him 

 (Spencer) what sort of a man Brady was, and 

 how he (Dorsey) did business , that in a short 

 time Brady called, and that, after a few mo- 

 ments of casual conversation, Dorsey told him 

 that some one had left an envelope for him, 

 and that Brady took the aforesaid envelope, 

 put it in his pocket without opening it, and 

 soon afterward left, carrying it with him ; that 

 prior to that time, and when speaking of 

 Brady's calling, the said Dorsey had stated 

 that Brady was a thief, and had further said 

 that he (Dorsey) was interested in mail con- 

 tracts; and it was further stated, on informa- 

 tion and belief, that Spencer could testify that, 

 at a time subsequent to the conversation, 

 Stephen W. Dorsey came to the room of said 

 Spencer, in the Everett House of New York, 

 in great trouble and despondency, and stated 

 to him (Spencer) that his clerk had " gone 

 back on him," and had "given away" the 

 whole story, and had betrayed the whole busi- 

 ness, with more to that effect ; and that some 

 days later the said Dorsey stated to said Spencer 

 that the matter had all been fixed up ; that Mr. 

 James W. Bosler had sat up with the said clerk 

 all night, and had finally succeeded in persuad- 

 ing him to make an affidavit denying his ori- 

 ginal statement. 



A counter affidavit was filed by Mr. Inger- 

 soll, denying the allegations of Mr. Bliss's 

 statement. A sworn denial was also made by 

 General Brady, and filed by the defense. The 

 summing up on the part of the prosecution 



was begun on the 9th of August, by Mr. Ker, 

 who occupied three days in addressing the 

 jury and bringing together the facts, as he 

 claimed they had been proved by the evidence 

 produced. The first address for the defendants 

 was made by Mr. R. B. Carpenter, who began 

 on the 14th and concluded on the 15th, and 

 was followed immediately by Mr. R. T. Mer- 

 rick for the Government. Mr. Merrick ad- 

 mitted that the case had not been proved as 

 to Turner, but claimed that all the other in- 

 dicted persons, save Peck, who was dead, had 

 been proved guilty of the crime charged. He 

 was followed by Mr. Chandler for the accused. 

 In the course of his address a colloquy oc- 

 curred between counsel and the Court as to 

 the necessity of convicting all or none of the 

 defendants. Judge Wylie stated, without mak- 

 ing any formal ruling, that " so long as there 

 are two to be convicted, the Government may 

 fail as to all the others. If the jury are satisfied 

 that two are conspirators, a conviction is prop- 

 er, though the charge in the indictment was 

 against them and many others." The address 

 of Mr. Chandler was completed on the 17th of 

 August, and the argument for the prosecution 

 was taken up by Mr. Bliss and continued for 

 the greater part of two days. On the 21st, 

 Mr. Williams and Mr. Totten addressed the 

 jury for the defense, and were followed the 

 next day by Mr. McSweeny on the same side. 

 He occupied two days, when Mr. Merrick again 

 took up the case on behalf of the prosecution, 

 and summed up the evidence in an address, 

 which covered three days of the sessions of 

 the court. He was followed by Mr. Wilson 

 and Mr. Henkle for the defense. The latter, 

 who was counsel specially for Mr. Vaile, oc- 

 cupied nearly three days, and concluded on 

 the 4th of September. On the last of these 

 days he was somewhat sternly checked by 

 the Court for persistently attempting to com- 

 ment upon what ex-Postmaster-General Key 

 might have testified to. Mr, Henkle was fol- 

 lowed by Mr. Ingersoll, who occupied part of 

 two days. The closing address for the Gov- 

 ernment was made by Attorney-General Brew- 

 ster, who began on the 6th and concluded on 

 the 7th of September. At the close of the 

 session on the latter day, Judge Wylie, after 

 arranging for the presentation of the prayers 

 of counsel as to the points of the charge to the 

 jury, made the following statement : 



Several of the members of the jury have come to 

 me with the information that they have been ap- 

 proached with propositions most manifestly of a cor- 

 rupt kind. The first intimation I had of this kind 



was several weeks ago. Several more 1 can not 



call them intimations, they are square and direct in- 

 formations given to me privately for the purpose of 

 asking me what they (the jurors) should do. My 

 advice was to say nothing about it. The Court did 

 not want to interrupt the progress of the arguments of 

 the case by any such side question as this. But I ad- 

 vised them to be careful. This thing has grown, and 

 within the last twenty-four hours it seems that these 

 wolves, which have been around this jury, have be- 

 come fiercer, more determined. I felt so much indig- 



