STAR-ROUTE TRIAL. 



761 



nation that I was almost ready to advise the jurymen 

 to shoot the men on the spot. That is the way I felt 

 about it, but I gave no opinion. But villainy of this 

 kind, scoundrehsm of this degree, deserves no mercy. 

 I do not say in what interest these suggestions have 

 been made I do not want to convey any information 

 on that subject but J want to advise this jury to re- 

 pel with scorn and indignation any base attempt of 

 this character on their virtue and integrity. The in- 

 sult is of the last intensity, and I do hope that when 

 we get through this trial fairly you may have infor- 

 mation enougli to enable the Court to lay its hands on 

 men of this kind on these men who have approached 

 you in this way. I have called your attention to this 

 subject with another view to give a warning to men 

 of this kind of what they are about, and that the offi- 

 cers of the law will do their duty. If it is possible to 

 ferret out these scoundrels, it shall be done. Give 

 them no quarter. Spurn them with the end of your 

 toes. No baser vermin infest the earth than men en- 

 gaged in this kind of business, and the insult to you is 

 that they suppose that you are just as base, just as 

 low, as they are themselves. No man should allow a 

 whisper of this kind to be made to him without spurn-: 

 ing it with the utmost scorn and contempt, if he goes 

 no further. I do not advise violence at any time. Of 

 course I do not. But next to the insult that is given 

 to a man's wife is an insult of this kind to a juror. 

 His honor should be as sacred and as carefully guarded 

 as he would guard the honor of his wife. Having said 

 this much collaterally at this point, we can now take 

 a recess. 



Protests were made by counsel of a desire to 

 have the subject thoroughly looked into. The 

 case was submitted to the jury on the 8th of 

 September. In his charge to the jury, Judge 

 Wylie spoke as follows regarding the features 

 of the indictment and the necessities of proof 

 under it : 



This indictment may be said to have five features. 

 The first is the historical part of the indictment. The 

 second charges a conspiracy. The third describes the 

 overt acts alleged to have been committed in pursu- 

 ance of the conspiracy. The fourth alleges the overt 

 acts. The fifth charges the partition of money alleged 

 to have been fraudulently taken from the Government 

 of the United States. As to the historical part, we 

 know all about that, because it is found in the acts of 

 Congress establishing the Post-Office Department. 

 You need trouble yourself in no respect in regard to 

 that. As to the means used in carrying out the con- 

 spiracy, you need trouble yourselves nothing about 

 them. Whether they are properly described or not 

 in the indictment, is of no consequence in this trial. 

 As to the distribution of the money, that is a matter 

 that will be determined by your finding on the ques- 

 tion of conspiracy and the overt act. If you find the 

 conspiracy, the distribution of the money follows. 

 You can not find the existence of this conspiracy as 

 charged in this indictment without finding that the 

 conspiracy was for the purpose of dividing the money 

 among themselves and of defrauding the United States. 

 So, if you find the conspiracy, you find the truth of 

 this part of the indictment. In fact, the only con- 

 sideration about which the jury need concern them- 

 selves in their deliberations is whether there was a 

 conspiracy, followed by overt acts. It has never been 

 held on the trial of an indictment for conspiracy, that 

 the Government was bound to prove the exact means 

 described in the indictment. So, when the indict- 

 ment declares that there are several contractors having 

 nineteen different contracts, and that they were mu- 

 tually interested in the contracts, that is a matter of 

 historical detail or description, or means not entering 

 at all into the charge of conspiracy. Whether these 

 parties were mutually interested in the several con- 

 tracts or not, is of, no consequence. The conspiracy 

 did not give them a common interest in those con- 



tracts, but it was a conspiracy in regard to those aev- . 

 eral contracts. The parties remain several owners 

 in their own contracts, but bound together by the tie 

 of the conspiracy, and it was in that view that the 

 Court held that an overt act, done under one of those 

 contracts, was an overt act as to them all, because 

 they were all a common subject of conspiracy. ... It 

 is in your power to acquit every man of these de- 

 fendants, except two, and find them guilty. It fur- 

 ther follows that if you should acquit one of these 

 conspirators, and the overt act was his, and there 

 were no other overt acts in the case, you can not 

 convict any of them. The defense claims that the 

 conspiracy must be made out as to all these con- 

 tracts, and that unless the conspiracy is established 

 under each of the contracts there must be an acquittal 

 of all of the defendants. That is not so. If you should 

 be of opinion that there was a conspiracy between the 

 defendants, though relating to but one of the contracts, 

 that will sustain the indictment. These matters are 

 the means and instruments of making out the charge 

 of conspiracy, and if there is enough left in the evi- 

 dence showing that there was a conspiracy as to one 

 of the routes, followed by an overt act, the conspiracy 

 is established. Surplusage in an indictment will not 

 vitiate it. If it did, bad luck to many indictments. 

 This indictment is one, and charges one offense. 

 Though long, it contains but one count. The in- 

 struction of the Court is asked on the question wheth- 

 er, if there be two conspiracies proved, there can be a 

 conviction. I am of opinion that there can not be. 

 You may acquit part of the defendants wholly and 

 convict others, but if you be of opinion that the proof 

 shows two conspiracies, that will not do, and the in 

 dictment fails. 



Now, as to the proof of the indictment. The peo- 

 ple who commit crimes avoid the light, and all crimes 

 are more or less difficult to establish for that reason. 

 But as to conspiracies, they are peculiarly products of 

 darkness. They are very seldom reduced to writing. 

 They are entered into generally in an informal way. 

 The parties may not come together at all. They may 

 live in different parts of the country. But if by any 

 means they come to a mutual understanding for the 

 purpose of committing a crime against the Govern- 

 ment, that is a conspiracy, provided it be followed by 

 an overt act. It is said that you ought not to convict 

 a man upon circumstantial evidence, unless it be of 

 the clearest and most convincing character. The rule 

 is that you should be satisfied in your own minds be- 

 yond a reasonable doubt. But the reasonable doubt 

 ought to arise out of the evidence in the case; it 

 ought not to be a conjecture. It ought to be a doubt 

 supported by a reason. The jury ought to be careful 

 to see that the doubt is right, and arises from evidence. 



The Court then proceeded to recall and com- 

 ment upon the facts in the case of one small 

 route in Dakota which had been originally let 

 to J. W. Dorsey at $398, which was afterward 

 consigned to Vaile, contrary to law, through 

 the device of a sub-contract, and upon which 

 expedition and increase had been ordered until 

 the compensation was $6,133.50. The revenue 

 of the route for the year ending June 30, 1881, 

 was $240. There had been petitions for in- 

 crease backed by a request of the delegates of 

 Dakota in Congress ; but there had also been 

 petitions of postmasters, supported by similar 

 influence, asking for a restoration of the old 

 schedule of time, which had been disregarded. 

 Having recalled these facts, the judge expressed 

 himself as satisfied that the law of Congress 

 permitting the Postmaster-General to place 

 service upon the Star Routes was drawn in a 

 liberal way in order to allow him to exercise 



