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Show ACQUITS I Jury Finds Chicago I Men Not Guilty I of Crime I Chicago, March 26. Not guilty was ' IH the verdict which the jury Teturned H today ln the trial of the ten Chicago H packers accused by the government H of violation ot the criminal sections H of the Sherman anti-trust act H The verdict was returned before United States District Judge Carpcn- M tcr after tho jury had deliberated fon M more than 19 hours. H The ten defendants accused by the? M government and acqi'ted are: M Swift Group. H Louis F. Swift, president of Swift H & Co. H Edward V. Swift, vice president ot' fl Swift & Co. H Charles H. Swift, director of Swift H & Co. H Francis A. Fowler, manager dressed beef department, Swift & Co. H Armour Group. fl J. O. Armour, prcsidont Armour &' H Arthur Meeker, director and gen- M eral manager Armour & Co. M Thomas J. Connors, director and, jH general superintendent Armour & Co. M Morris Group. J Edward Morris, president Morris & mM M Louis II. Heyman, manager beuf; H dopartment Morris & Co. H Edward Tilden, president of the Na- H Uonal Packing company. H Three Ballots. H Thomas J. Connors and Edward Til- H den were the only defendants in court when the verdict -was read. They were' soon after joined by Edward F. M Swift, Charles IL Swift. Francis A. H Fowler and J. Ogden Armour, who IH hurried to the court room on recelv- IH Ing notice that the jury had reached H a verdict Edward Mo'rris, Louis H. H Heyman, Arthur Mjeckcr and Louis F. IH Swift did not-reach the federal IH building until after the proceeding) H in the court were completed. M Three ballots were taken today on' H the question of guilty or not guilty. jH The first ballot resulted oight for ac- H quittal and four for conviction The jH second ballot showed eleven for ac- quittal and one for convictin. M The third ballt was unanimous fon. acquittal. IH j. Lie uiny uciwuL laKen last mgnt jppj was on the question whether if ono IH was guilty all wero guilty This bal- H lot stood ten to two in favor of tho H proposition. IH The verdict was handed t the clerk. pH of tho court by Juror J. E. Harvey, H who was selected foreman. It read: pH "We, the jury, find the defendants H not guilty." pH United States District Attorney H James H Wilkorson was deoply af- IpH "fected by the verdict. He Jumped .lo IpH his feet as the words sounded through jpH the court room and tears filled his IpH "I have nothing to sky." was his H only comment as he walked from the pH court room. M The court session lasted less than pH ten minutes. . H J H. Edwards of Strcatoi, one of s pH the jurors, discussing the proceedings pH in the jury room said- , H Reason for Acquittal. . H "The reason on which tho acquittal ' pp was based was that wo gave the de- ' jpH fendants the benefit of the doubt. Wq pH did not believe that the government: H had made out a strong case. The ftH people had not suffered and wc could ' H not see our way clear to convict tho pH defendants under the ovidence pre- C . sentcd. We did not attempt to analyzes' ' the figures presented by the govern-1 i rnent and decided the' case on tho j J broad lines of the arguments and tho j testimony which we remembered. Wn-j were all nervous and anxious to get pH home and avoided any unpleasant dc- i iH hate in the mtorvals between tho ' pH ballots" Counsel for the defendants were . H jubilant over the verdict George T. ' Buckingham, who throughout tho trial PH represented tho Swift interests, said: " iliH "Tho verdict was what I expected. 'liH The government failed to make out' p a case and, for that reason we dc- (H clincd to offer any evidence." John S- Miller of counsel for the" t H packers said: H (Continued on Pago Sovon.) ) H (Continued from Page One ) , "We are extremely grateful. The government ought to be satisfied also and this should put an end to the long drawn out attack on the beet industry. T could see no other verdict ver-dict possible, under the evidence presented, pre-sented, although, of course, the deliberations de-liberations of any jury are uncertain." uncer-tain." Tho instructions of Judge Carpenter Carpen-ter laid stress on tho question of reasonable rea-sonable doubt and the Jurors woro Instructed that If thoy had such a doubt of tho guilt of tho defendants as would Justify them to pause In any Important affair, they could not return a verdict of guilty. As the jurors filed into tho box they showed tho effect of the strain of the trial Foreman Harvey and Charles H, Nare, the first Jurors to take their seats, walked briskly, but some of the others were apparently much tired, particularly H. I. Bucklln of Dundee, who recently suffered an attack of pleurisy. Two minutes after reading the verdict, ver-dict, the Jury was discharged by the congratulations of the packers and their counsel, the jurors hurried to the clerk's office and received the vouchers for tho fees due them. "Just what I have always looked forward to,'' said Thomas J. Connors, ono of the defendants. "Too much suspicion, no facts aud no violation ore not good Ingrddients for a successful suc-cessful prosecution " "Suits mo to a T," said Edward TU-dcn. TU-dcn. "Excuse me now, but I must hurry to a tolophono and let my wlfo know about this," The jurors wore jubilant as thoy filed into tho marshal's office and diew their pay. Then thoy hurried to the hotel, packed their baggage and took tho first train home, Sonio of them, drawn on the first panel, had been thero sixteen weeks. At least one Juror, Jacob Glolm, or Ottawa, Ills., was well satisfied with his experience here Ho had gained 22 pounds in 1'j weeks. |
