The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 23, 1900, Page 13

NORSubE SEONSG BON 1068 e e es prove ] PRICE FIVE CENTS. 0 “_02u ?0& Gaeranen s | SAN FRANCISCO, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1900—THIRTY-TWO PAGES. 3 | | E VOLUM LX BARON YON SCHROEDER CRINGES UNDER THE LASH OF EXCORIATION AND LOSES HIS SUIT FOR LIBEL DAMAGES AGAINST THE CALL By a Unanimous Vote the Jury Finds e Te gy a Verdict for Defendant and Justi= fies an Act of Public Policy Per= formed by The San Francisco Call. In the Closing Argument for the Defense D. M. Delmas Contributes a Masterpiece of Eloquence Which Creates a Semsation in Court. rying out these lofty afd commendable purposes so well expressed in this article? Or was It, on the other hand, as my learned irlend has stated in your pres- ence, ‘conceived in prejudice and born in malice for the purpose of venting the spleen of one individual against another in such manner as might do him the most harm? If you find that it was the firet, then I repeat the article is not only blameless but commendable. If you find T 'l i fl“' i .\.. 3 5 e il * | ks i i | T £ D. McClure, Wil | public gratitude has attended thelr sug«| :F 5 ) ‘ " | cess; public munificence has attested thets' + Owen Casey, P. 8. Wilson, | | public spirit. No man. gentleman. could: > W. F. Bassett, % | !hlve conducted enterprises of that mag T Peter Vrang, P. Ross, | nitude to success; no man could haw :{- E L. Gallagher, Joseph Burns, 3 Ihandled 1o a prosperous macner such & ; H T. Daly, J. J. Gallagher. 44 varfety of things, or walked without - | which which fael last night and heard the dread words of a jury condemned him to moral death. In the suit for libel he instituted against The Call the jury unanimously ren- ON J. H. VON SCHROEDER sat in court at San Ra- i in favor of The Call, and in that verdict declared that I d a ver he man who had lived the life of a debauchee, who had violated the 4 sacredness of homes, who had deceived men and dishonorea women, [ who ostituted to the désires of semsuality the most cherished, acred icals of American life, did not deserve a single cent in | pensation for a reputation which he believed to have been injured | of a quarter of a million dollars by the exposure of his q . . . . 1 prosy which this paper, in its duty to the people-of Califor- [ 3s pelled to make. | er ore w a court of justice in this State, perhay ther J : g fi - pe ps nowhere - |4 D. M. DELMAS ADDRESSING HIMSELF TO THE PLAINTIFF, BARON JOHN HENRY VON SCHROEDER, IN as a more drama#ic, tragic scene enacted. Baron von Schroe- - | THE PERORATION OF HIS CLOSING ARGUMENT FOR THE DEFENDANT, WHILE THE AUDITORS THAT . . CROWDED THE COURTROOM LISTENED BREATHLESSLY TO HIS ELOQUENT WORDS. d s the agony of personal interest and saw the mental | % of himself as he was described despicable, dish able, cow- | \ s e was S pic , dishonorable, cow- that it was the second, If you find that! ” worst cowardice of which a being above 1 I thjs_artlcle stirans, it the Biers grei- | | : f a g a brute can be diced imagination of the owner of this | himself the despoiler, the drunken, sensual thief of l paper, if you find that malice presided at | bect . - 3 its birth and that It was given voice | st gem a woman possesses. He saw himself the enemy DELM AS E mierely for the purpese of injuring the | | ~»inod - o feelings and destroying the peacé of the | | H inom ' y o Gt | ging n fear of the vengeance of outraged husbands, 7 | home and of the family of the plaintiff, | Stung until his face flushed blood red, until | A .| ¥ou have my full liberty and the full Itb- } ] 1 L . 3 6 | erty of justice in this case to visit with| | hied and trembled before the menacing, castigating finger of | UPHBU upns B UFGB U lS | punishment one who would thus P""?“} I s 2o 3 | his powers. nd denunciation, he heard th wor . % : ¢ heard the solemn words of admonition to 3 | “What, then, were the motives of this | %" . a mail. J elf before the wife zhos: ~pes ) B A T []glc Ha]ns B ap[]n | article? Is the first question which you | destroy a rival establishment here in San | stumbling through so many diversified e vhose da‘fmi thoughts he had dis- ' | have tG address to yourselves. These mo- | Rafael by blasting the reputation of its | paths. of business if the guiding star p Crimson-faced he heard the terrifying command to icavé / | gentlemen, the learned counsel has | owner, because, forsooth, it might affect | which led him on had been that of malice, ple among whom he had be bl . D. M. Deimas began the closing Speech ; surable, deserves the respect and com- | been pleased to state in his opening, which | an establishment which he is interested | instead of good will to his fellow men. ¢ ®g whom he had become a blight, and in @ new (and | 1, tne getenaant immediately wpon the | mefidation of every right thinking man | I take it was made with that gare and | In in the southern part of the State, which | The conduct of e ks Aot b . of his shattered howor and remou. s “eastnrs. | opetithg o -thi adbrrtiis Ysaleion./of Ftha |- Sn WONIEL: | deliveration which his position a¥ the bar | establishment !s some 20 miles south of | that he has engaged in, the success whic e 2 c ove the menace ;p ¢ B (" X0 e tuita: | It remains for you, therefore, gentis- | and his standing in this State would ex-| here, | he has achleved, are an ample sefutation, self he had raised to the maids and matrons of his en- | o - arsume A ety | men. in this case In the discharge not | pect us to have him observe, in the fol-| “Does not the reputation, independent ‘ in addition to that which I have stated to s “If your Honor please, and gentlemen | on1. o¢ the duty which you owe to the | lowing words: of any other consideration. does not the | You drawn from the strift instructions e the ¢ the found a verdict fense of an act of pub piece of American forensic cloquence. beginning of the day to the moment when the sourd of led through the courtroom and announced that the fury t intense excitement reigned in the courtroom. The closing argument for The Call opened the day, and in this de- i policy D. M. Delmas contributed a master- He was forcefud, logical, of the jury: In the opening, gentlemen, of the very remarkable argument which has been presented by my learned friend who dwelt upon the great importance of | this case from the. standpotnt of his cli- | ent—told you of the quences that were involved in it to him. | momentous conse- There is another aspet of this matter, | gentlemen, which rerflers your verdiet | importance, be- cause by that verdict you will define as also one of paramount plaintiff in this case as an individual but in the discharge of that higher duty you owe to yourselves and to the com- munity whose mouthpiece and authorized representatives you are to-day, to deter- mine carefully what are the fa in this case, and then to decide upon those facts, whether they afford to the defendant as the owner of this paper that protection and that immunity which entitles him not hicn | | ropolitan paper owned by an i.nserupulous only to be exempt from punisiment and | i fine but entitles him to be looked upon as * 'We say the article was wanton, willful, mallelous, false and for the purncse, and ihe sole purpese, of using a powerful met- milliepaire to blast the reputation and fame of a' man against whom he enter- tained some feeling of personal enmity or batred." Is that true? If it is, gentle- men, the deferdant in this case has placed himself beyord the pale of the law. No punishment that you can mete would be severe enough to express your detesta- reputation which Mr, Spreckels enjoys in | this State, to the knowledge of every man, do not the methods upon which he and his family have conducted their business and their enterprises in this State for now half a century in themselves rebut such a preposterous and half-voiced ac- cusation as that? “In the second place, gentlemen, I call your attention to this fact: Three ye ago Mr. Spreckels became the owner and therefore editor of this great paper. He 4 | mity. ich he gave, to the charge that he was | actuated in any matter which he trans- | acted, by malice “In the third place, gentlemen, whem | my learned friend speaks of the malice of Mr. Spreckels .that he desired to ‘gratify his unscrugulous malice by the publica= | tion of this article’ to ‘blast the reputae | tion and fame of a man against whom he | entertained some feeling of personal en- does my learned friend overlook { the fact that at the time this article was brilliant. His invective possessed the deadly power of ‘conviction. |far as in your power lies the proper limit | benefactor of the public in the course | tion and abhorrence of such a character | o '\ o¢ hrought up as a newspaper man | 7St spoken of. from the very dawn of P 2 csdiicial. fei 4 * | of the liberty of the press in this State, | Which he has pursued and adopted. | us that. The owner of a sreat publie] o o o T e had been In other | Information which they had upon that = r 5 Teics By r By 2 5/ E B 8 f & prhig el fec t - thuie that it saw H calm, judicial, fair in his presentation of the testimony in ‘ and of {ts rights ard duties. You will de- | “Gentlemen, these sentiments and the | journal that travels not only all over this | go5¢ ¢ cnterprise and of business. But { SUPiect: RN the thw- At W :“nmo the ros 2 4 he inesrniable 1 . . termine by vour verdiet under a certain s Wi ofer- | St but all over the United States, us- 5 EFE > light in the edition of the h o oty the case and in the inevitable logical conclusions of that testimons igios : ; proper attitude of the press with refer- | State : 'S | his native sense of justice and of right | /&1¢ W (3¢ SCTUOR O L T e away ke 13 given state of facts, which we hope and | ence to matters of this kind, feebly volced | ing that great engine for the sole pUrpose. | o q 'bin 1av down at once, for the guid- B Pranelico. st (e valis Tielily His thought sparkled in wit, grew grave, severe masterfal §n | Teol confident we will be'ahis to. prove tor] byime fu whasIihave aire stated to | a5 Mr. Maguire says, the sole purpose of | . " ;o' the men under him, one funda- | "o, San Francisco, at 11'kr~ ‘w'alu . $ 4 J ; satisfaction, th i Gl 65 7 : { i e reputation ar of 2 b ; : in Salinas, having no personal knowlec your entire satisfaction, the question | you, are much better expressed In the | blastirg the reputation and the fame of a | o 5 0 o e, from which he »n in the of- denunciation. With the superb po er of the logician he presented an which T have asked you—most of you, at man against whom he entertained some whatever of what was going 3 : s carefully prepared editorlal which was | man agai : e veq 1o | has never departed, ome line of conduct | p "I C oy UL Chaiever of this is of th ras . least—in examining You as to your com- | published on the very next day after the | feeling of personal enmity or hatred. is 2 = A ce of Tt ail. alonss B ekl 2 ¥ > t : 3 from which he has never permitted that = sons Tocel o analysis of the testimo e case, lifting from the mass of hor- | petency to sit as jurors in this case, to | article in question, in order to apprise the | indesd or would be indeed.a character o Rl Ay e m"\f'p one maxim |20 that bad been tved from Sam the vit wit: Whether it is within the rights and | public, those who might be ignorant upon | compared with whom the malefactor who | PAPeT. . 2 Rafael or from General Warfield: only he accusations of The stern in their effort fo suppress emolion. d men in the courtroom were tn tears. Call. elements which gave character, meaning and And when he had fin- Men in the jury box were Baron von Schroeder’s crime against the purity of homes was understood in all its naked within the duties of a great public jour- nal in this State, whenever it shall ac quire rellable cognizance of conduct of in- dividuals which iz of such an open and | flagrant character or takes place under | such circumstances that it becomes a menace to the mo of the community, | the subject, of the attitude of the press in matters of this kind. That which has been put in evidence by the plaintiff here, reads as follows: EXPOSURE OF SCANDALS A journal devoted to the welfare of society @< weli as to the determination of news care- THE editorial, | | committing a burglary, ay steals your goods or enters into your house at dead midnight for the purpose of as Mr. Ma- Zuira b sald, the man who sheds hu- man bicod s not to be compared in point of depravity and malignity, and I ask you in the first place, gentlemen, what was which has been rigorously and undeviat- ingly enforced—and that is that nothing should be published in the paper without first having undergone the most minute examination as to its truth and accuracy: and, secondly, that if, notwithstanding a'l these precautions, in the hurry with which a daily newspaper is of necessity » San Frane day that the ng It in the Mr. | learning of it on .is way | eisco after noon of the very | article was published by read | paper? Is it pretended that els Inspired this article? N | tends. Is it pretended that | the information given from San Rafael? Spreck- | No one so pretends. Is it prete L whether, 1 say, under such circumstances, | vi is case for a denounce- horror. : fully abstains from the publication of s~andals Ehy “arm"} o 3 iven birth, some thing should ejude the | he knew of the interview w it is the right the duty of the press | .\ . yveq of private individ e ok ment of this character, coming from the i Sl e et L B el pretends. Is it pr And the torney i o pse S ihis ¥ o = pr ndivic 4 as . il sulous t;ance = | Warfleld? No one so pretends. Is it pre- ind then Ao,m?u’_\ Magwire arose to answer one of the most to expose to public view this conduct with |y 1o oceivie to do so™without Wrong 14 ‘ihe | B8 of a man who would add to it his own b (he Gt b reignea from the room." The audience departed At 6:20 o'clock the jury was ordered again It had not reached a verdict, as one of the men insisted m finding Baron von Schroeder guilty. His sense of justice blind- 1is knowledge of the law. The jury wwas taken to supper and re- turned, and then in the silence of the courtroom there twas the sound of a bell. A verdict had been found. l Messengers were sc Eagerly, for Baron von Schroeder and his friends. astevied to the courtroom and were scated when the jury filed co earnestly, anxiously, Baron von Schrocder scan- i the faces of the men who held in their hands something which Fis attorney had declared was more sacred than life—his honor. “Gentlemen of the jury,” asked the Judge, “have you reached appropriate comments upon it, so as (o acter to the verdict which you are called upon to render in this case. 1 do net| question that this case is an !mportant one to the plaintiff. I hepe you will not | question that it i= one equally important | not only to the defendant as an individ- ual, but to the community and to the State of which he is a member. “Now. gentlemen, the duty of the press is sontetimes very much misunderstood. No one contends that the press has a right to invade the homes of individuals snd to Inquire into conduct which is strictly private, however depraved it may be. But whenever that conduct assumes a public or quasi-public character, when- ever it takes place under such circum- stances that the public of necessity must have cognizance of it, and when the pub- lic must of necessity be more or less af- fected by it, whenever such conduct takes community. When, however, the scandals be- evil fn order that the offender may bs known and soclety put on guard against him. - The contaminating effect of nnt:rluu- wrong- doers who rely on wealth and social position to enable them to practice a vielous course with impunity is far reaching. Persons thoroughly Innocent of wrong intent are not infrequently made the objects of unjust suspicion simply be- cause in their ignorance they assoclate with some unexposed rascal in soclety. When to seve fnnocent persons from that danger ft be- comes necessary to make public the scandalous life of the affender then the cxposure becomes a duty which the press owes to the publie, There are many personc of depraved tastes and appetites With a fondness for violating the e-tablished code of social ethies who can be restrained only by the fear that if they per- sist IR evil courses they Will be exposed and held up to public scorn. The existence of an independent press, ready to make the exposure without fear or favor, acts therefore as a safe- guard to the community. Even where it does standing as a lawyer, and as a public in- | has not one particle of foundagion to stand on, has not cne particle of testimony to | suppert it, and must have been itself | prompted in its utterance v the sugges- | tion of some malice, some personal ani- mosity not on his t but on the part of those whom he represents here? “Where s therc men, that Mr. Spreckels caused this arti- cle to be published for the sole purpose of using his paper to blast the reputation of this plaint{ff? Where is {t? Is there a particle of evidence to show that he en- tertained feelings of personal enmity or hatred against the plaintiff here? I am entitled to your mental answer, I hope and feel confident, gentlemen, to these questions, that there is no such testimony | that Mr. Spreckels ever entertained any animosity against this man: that this article was not published for the purpose any evidence, .gentle- employes which was not strictly accurate | fication should be printed in the paper ia a place as prominent and in type as larze and visible as the original article ftselr That testimony, gentlemen, you heard, and it is undisputed. This was the pirit with which Mr. Spreckels entered upon his new. though important, dutfes as owner and editor of th's paper, and in that spirit of fairness and justice that paper has been, ke tells you, so far as he knows, and so far as it has been in his power to make it so, steadily and undeviatingly cenducted, MALICE IS NOT GUIBING STAR Absence of It on the Part of the Defendant Conclusively have | | tended that he il enses ever miade in California. He talked at | shield public morality from its taint, and | o motorious and acs. commitiod 1 e [ dtvistarin iteriugi v bates iydn't | May | SR0 true Which. was;the-cause of any Ui | compoged _&nd' about to Je s g b to his first argument. Darkness | °Protect the purlty of the homes and | who by reason of their weaith and the“inf- | I 20t ask you right here, am I not en-| JUS% g S Y v g B T Tk cuieily eyt e - g : . | the characters of the Inhabitants of the | ence of their familles have admission to the | titled to demand from you your mental | S7°" 2% thOS % s N Depr e -~ tinded Th the courtroom, the chandeliers zvere lighted and | community. That, gentlemen, is another | hmes of the city it then hecomes necessary | Tesponse that the statement made by Mr, | cantation, a retraction or a modification | bed 120 miles away. 12 It pretencer P Lt it Rt A ® element which adds importance to Your | fer the protection of womanhood to expose the | Maguire Is itself entirely unwarranted, | Should at ence take place, and the or- [he saw or aporoved v T - el od deliberations, and gives welght and char- } ders were that that retraction or mod urged the publica one so pretends, for he had no knowledge | of it until after it was published Where, th: is there a pare ticle of - evid that war- ants the heated and exaggerated states | ment of the learned counsel that this artie | cle was born of malice of John D. | Spreckels, and his desire to avenge hime gelf for some fancied wrong upon a man with whom he had but a bare passing ac- | quaintance. a man with whom he had had no business, a man who had never of« fended him persopallv, a man whom he certainly never had offended in his life? “That is the third consideration, gentle= men. whl‘h 1 lay before you when you come to inquire into the motive of Mr. Spreckels, and the utter lack of warrant and foundation for this monstrous state- ment of the learned counsel. Gentlemen, on the contrary, on the 19th of October, gentlemen in this case a verdict? Place, for instance, in & Dlace of DUDMIC | uox dster mame bolder profieate trom pursaing NEd T TR DRTDE o B en. Proved. Sftewn davh fnfore. thiy article was pub- Slotwly the foreman arose, advanced to the rail, unfolded a pa- | ot the press as universally established, ;n::mror;: :‘):::er“::. :»J:--c;efi;;:vur SRS SHIE NS UTY R ae: “In. the next pll* tl 1 .l:::l‘n ffi;‘:fi:}z “:a T:‘(;:rf-(fiff tn:r 7, 3 P of ce, gentlemen,, it is & on ir ala 0= “ri % ks = men, as the evidence will show to which - a er gnd sai We have. We find in favor of the defendant.” that it I not only the right but that it la | the clty on guard against bim. " The pubiten. | 151 % 10 e¥idence wil e el | matter nat only testifled to In this case | tel Which had led to cortain conseauences, Beron won Schroeder dropped back in his chair as if he had the duty of a public journal to take cog- nizance of and expose it. If that has been tion of private offenses is thercfore one of the “In the first place let me dlsmiss, as en- by Mr. Spreckels himself, but his name which the learned counsel would not allow Gisagreeable acts which must at times be per- and that of his f fly h V' ! eflect upo L) been stunned. He had learned that in California @ jury justifi Gone ;and nothing’ move. than thyt has| feryed Ty even the:1ast: Garsru] Jourial thiv{Hely Gimcrstiy f vofisdrstion,, and, Jet | m;umea et me-Tm:.m:r‘c': 'iff."'l". - “;.;:rn:;or‘;: by Yh»]nh - ol u-u"mm been stunned. He JUTy JUSties G | peen done in this case, gentlemen, the | has any respect for virtue and any true com. | me dlsmiss With a wave of contempt | prises and‘the dévelopment of this :,:,' ;,“ne, ",: ,:,r, e ,;,r m‘ ,‘r ,f m: ¢ o ¥ ene anager o newspaper which dares to expose any man, however. powerful he may be, who makes himself an enemy to honorable men and honest women. . duty of the press, so far as it is universale ly recognized In this country, has not been violated. The boundaries of its rights have not been overstepped. On the contrary, its conduct, far from being cen- prehension of its duty to the public. “Now, that editorfal, gentlemen, pub- lghed in this leading T, voices the ethics and the sentiments of the press in these United States, correctly defines its which it deserves, the idea, but half-voiced | by my learned friend, and from which his own good sense and upright nature shrank instinctively, even in giving it that half voice, that Mr. Spreckels sought to that it is"a matfer of which you migh: almost take judicial cognizance that he and his family are engaged in a multitude of affairs of the greatest magnitude and of almost every conceivable diversity. paper. Mr. Leake, in consultation and with the advice of the heads of his stafl, deemed the matter of such moment that he shrank from assuming the responsibil- ity of fulminating such a charge, though