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Vol. 13, No. 49
Mr. Watson’s Statement at tlie Opening of His Case.
'T'HE case of the United States government
1 against Thos. E. Watson was, for the
third time, brought to trial before a Federal
Judge, in Augusta, Georgia, at ten o’clock on
the morning of November 27, 191 G.
Mr. Watson was his own counsel, assisted
by Hon. J. Gordon Jones, of Cordele, Ga.
Hon. Don Clarke, of Savannah, Ga., Hon.
Wm. Fleming and Hon. Sam Olive, of Au
gusta.
The selection of the jury was accomplished
with satisfaction to both sides, and Mr. Wat
son made the opening statement to the jury.
Although frequently interrupted by the (prose
cution, Mr. Watson was able to lay his case
clearly before the jury as follows:
The jury is to inquire, not whether De
fendant committed a crime against any
individual, but whether he acted criminally,
feloniously against the community, THE
PVBTAC.
The moral turpitude which the law means
to penalize, is that of the unprincipled sen
sualist, the mercenary caterer to prurient ap
petite, the literary panderer whose pen is the
allv of the bawd and the brothel.
By the very language of the statute, such
a man is the accomplice of the criminal doctor
who procures abortion, and of the criminal
midwife who performs a forbidden operation
upon a pregnant woman.
'T'HERE were 500,000 women voters this
1 year, and it is said that they were gen
erally for Wilson because of the slogan “He
kept us out of war.”
I doubt if that had much to do with it, be
cause most women love fighters.
We are told that the women have been the
pot-boilers in almost every war. They not
only prepare the torch, but light it.
From of old, men have fought, to win the
smiles of women. Is it not so?
“None but the brave deserve the fair” is a
leading line in the wonderful “Ode to St.
Cecilia’s Day,” which Dryden wrote, describ
ing one of the wild revelries of Alexander
the Great.
The warlike women of the Jews inspired
their warriors before the battle, and harped
their praises after the triumph.
“Saul has slain his thousands, but David
his tens of thousands;” hence, Saul fell into
the background, with the women, and David
went head.
The Grecian mother taught her boy that
death in war should be considered more
glorious than life, in ignoble peace; and, in
Roman civilization, the men who fought
ruled those who thought and wrote.
I do not ’ • I that any poet ever sang in
praise of :: ...dk-sop, or went into raptures
over the white feather.
66 He Kept Us Out of War.”
Thomson, Ga., Thursday, November 30, 1916
Is Defendant that kind of man, as shown by
any evidence that the prosecution can pro
duce?
Is he the author of literature of that vile
character?
Has he written, published, and mailed any
thing naturally calculated to debauch morals,
private or public?
That’s the issue you are to try.
Defendant will show that, for 25 years, he
has written, published, and mailed books,
paper;?, and magazines. *
Defendant has written 15.000 pages. GOO
words to page, 9,000,000 words.
Attacked wrongs in Church and State.
Never threatened until Boman Catholic
church attacked.
Warned of Boycott. Answer.
American Federation Roman Catholic So
cieties'adopt Resolutions. Anthony Matre.
As to the book itself. «
The short editorial from Jeff only “a fil
ler.”
Former indictment. Same case now.
Prosecution entering its -fiffh year.
Defendant will pray the Court to charge
you, that each pieces of literary work must be
judged on its own merits, and with reference
to the character of the subject; the object
which the context shows its author had in
view; and the established standards prevail-
As to the average woman, she won't love a
coward, if she knows it; and the wildest
scamps in the community are apt to be the
fascinators of the sweetest girls.
Don’t ask me why this is so, because I
can't explain it upon any other theory, than
that which makes a Book of Sermons the best
place to hide something in.
Didn’t the women start the French Revo
lution ?
Didn’t the women set fire to the com
bustibles, and throw our country into the war
fever, in 1861 ? They certainly did. Who
started the Franco-Prussian war of 1870?
The Empress Eugenie.
Who instigated the Civil Wars in France?
Queen Catherine de Medici.
Who pushed Charles the First into his
fatal conflict with the British Parliament?
His wife, Queen Henrietta.
Who caused Louis XIV. to repeal the act
of religious toleration, and plunge France
into the awful persecutions known as the
Dragonnades? Madame De Maintenon.
Who engulfed King*Louis XV. in the
Seven Years War, and lost France her im
perial colonies? Madame De Pompadour.
Who was Russia’s greatest conqueror?
Catherine the Great.
Who first put England’s navy in the proud
position which enables the national song to
ing among the highest-class of writers in that
particular sphere of authorship.
Thus, a writer of fiction, who is shown by
his text to be actuated by no loftier purpose
than to amuse, gratify prurient appetite, and
to coin money out of readers whose taste is
depraved, cannot be considered with the same
degree of tolerance that must necessarily be
shown to the stern censor of morals, who
alludes to vices in such a manner and spirit
as to cause his readers to recoil from them.
In like manner, books on health and hygeine
must of necessity be given a freedom not per
missible in a Sunday School library.
Books on Social Conditions, especially in
the great centres of population, must neces
sarily go into painful, and even obscene, de
tails which would be unpardonable in a Series
of Readers intended for use in the Public
Schools.
For example, there are any number of re
volting, obscene, and filthy pages in the litera
ture on “How the Other Half Lives.’ 1 “Child
Slavery,” “Life in the Slums,” “Night Life
in New York.” etc.
The U. S. Government itself publishes and
mails official reports on Home conditions,
tenement life, etc., that need the benefit of
the rule of construction for which I contend.
Illustrations:
(CONTINUED on page two.)
boast, “Brittania rules the wave?”
Queen Elizabeth.
Who was the constant inspiration of that
marvellous Italian liberator, Garibaldi? His
noble wife, Anita.
When the politicians calculate on the ad
miration of women for men who are “too
proud to fight,” I become incredulous.
The average She would rather hug and
kiss a blood-bespattered He, who has just
done about and killed a bear, than to tq be
hugged and kissed by an exquisitely dressed,
spindle-shanked Highbrow, who had just
drawn first prize in the Literary Contest.
What favorite of the classroom compares,
among young women, with the fellow whose
legs and arms are unrivalled at foot-ball ?
What cultured civilian stands any chance
among the fair, with a chap who is all
a-flame in gold braid and brass buttons?
Mind you, I’m not.talking about things as
they should be, but about things as they are.
“He kept us out of war!'’
IV hat war? Where did he have a chance
to get into one? What did he do, to keep us
“out?”
Every member of the European family of
nations had its hands full, and did not want
to add another powerful enemy to its list.
The pope and the two Germanic Kaisers
Price, Five Gents