128 



tioiis, a grand jury was called, a complaint was laid, and 

 an indictment drawn, and without examining a single wit- 

 ness outside of the comlnnation, three of whom only were 

 examined, 93 indictments were returned. Not one guilty 

 man escaped, and then the 15 richest men were picked out 

 to be prosecuted, not the poorest but the richest, and they 

 retained ]\Ir. Jerome and other good capable lawyers to 

 defend them. The trial lasted 51 days, perhaps it would 

 have lasted longer had their money lasted longer; I never 

 asked Mr. Jerome, but I may the next time I see him 



However that may be, in each and every instance a 

 conviction was obtained and an appeal was taken and after 

 waiting for nearly two years, the Appellate Di\!sion of our 

 Court, five judges, reviewed the case and unanimously de- 

 cided that the lower court. Judge Rosolski and the jury of 

 twelve men were right, that these men were guilty and 

 should serve a term in the penitentiary, but they were not 

 satisfied, they appealed to the Court of Appeals, our highest 

 state court, and after another wait of 18 months, that court 

 passed upon it and they unanimously decided that both of 

 the lower courts were right and that these men should serve 

 a term in the penitentiary. 



They had numey and they had political power, but Mr. 

 Whitman now the Governor of New York State was at that 

 time the District Attorney. Those men served time in the 

 penitentiary this past summer. 



Now during this time an auction sale of live poultry 

 had been opened, a public auction where men and women 

 g'athercd in a room as you folks are gathered here, and 

 where after examining the poultry on the track in the cars, 

 a public price was made on this poultry. Now let us see 

 v,'hat the result of this open-auction sale was. 



The price to the consumer was lowered 25% to what it 

 had been the previous year when there were fifty-five cars 

 on an average per week received, and what were the results? 

 With an open market that year in New York City we sold 

 f500 cars of poultry, or an average of 150 carloads per 



