An Account of the Proceedings on the Trial of Susan B. Anthony
A >> Anonymous >> An Account of the Proceedings on the Trial of Susan B. AnthonyAN
ACCOUNT OF THE PROCEEDINGS
ON THE
TRIAL OF
SUSAN B. ANTHONY,
ON THE
Charge of Illegal Voting,
AT THE
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN NOV., 1872,
AND ON THE
TRIAL OF
BEVERLY W. JONES, EDWIN T. MARSH
AND WILLIAM B. HALL,
THE INSPECTORS OF ELECTION BY WHOM HER VOTE WAS RECEIVED.
ROCHESTER, N.Y.:
DAILY DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE BOOK PRINT, 3 WEST MAIN ST.
1874.
INDEX.
PAGE.
Anthony, S.B., Indictment, 1
Her speech on receiving her sentence, 82
Her campaign speech, 151
Crowley, Richard, Opening speech in Miss Anthony's case, 5
Gage, Mrs. M. Joslyn, Speech of 179
Hall, Wm. B., Indictment, 85
Hooker, John, Article on Judge Hunt and the Right of Trial by Jury, 206
Hunt, Judge, Opinion against Miss Anthony, 59
His refusal to submit her case to the jury, 68
His refusal to permit the jury to be polled, 68
His sentence of Miss Anthony, 81
His direction to the jury in the cases of Jones, Hall and Marsh, 144
Trial by jury "_a matter of form_", 145
Jones, Beverly W., Indictment, 85
Remarks on receiving sentence, 148
Marsh, Edwin T., Indictment, 85
Remarks on being sentenced, 149
Selden, H.R., Opening speech in Miss Anthony's case, 12
Argument in her case, 17
Argument on motion for new trial, 68
Van Voorhis, John, Argument of motion to quash the indictment
in the case of Jones, Marsh and Hall, 94
Argument in the case of Jones, Marsh and Hall on the merits, 128
Motion for new trial in the case of Jones, Marsh and Hall, 147
PREFACE.
At the election of President and Vice President of the United States,
and members of Congress, in November, 1872, SUSAN B. ANTHONY, and
several other women, offered their votes to the inspectors of election,
claiming the right to vote, as among the privileges and immunities
secured to them as citizens by the fourteenth amendment to the
Constitution of the United States. The inspectors, JONES, HALL, and
MARSH, by a majority, decided in favor of receiving the offered votes,
against the dissent of HALL, and they were received and deposited in the
ballot box. For this act, the women, fourteen in number, were arrested
and held to bail, and indictments were found against them severally,
under the 19th Section of the Act of Congress of May 30th, 1870, (16 St.
at L. 144.) charging them with the offense of "knowingly voting without
having a lawful right to vote." The three inspectors were also arrested,
but only two of them were held to bail, HALL having been discharged by
the Commissioner on whose warrant they were arrested. All three, however
were jointly indicted under the same statute--for having "knowingly and
wilfully received the votes of persons not entitled to vote."
Of the women voters, the case of Miss ANTHONY alone was brought to
trial, a _nolle prosequi_ having been entered upon the other
indictments. Upon the trial of Miss ANTHONY before the U.S. Circuit
Court for the Northern District of New York, at Canandaigua, in June,
1873, it was proved that before offering her vote she was advised by her
counsel that she had a right to vote; and that she entertained no doubt,
at the time of voting, that she was entitled to vote. It was claimed in
her behalf:
I. That she was legally entitled to vote.
II. That if she was not so entitled, but voted in good faith in the
belief that it was her right, she was guilty of no crime.
III. That she did vote in such good faith, and with such belief.
The court held that the defendant had no right to vote--that good faith
constituted no defence--that there was nothing in the case for the jury
to decide, and directed them to find a verdict of guilty; refusing to
submit, at the request of the defendant's counsel, any question to the
jury, or to allow the clerk to ask the jurors, severally, whether they
assented to the verdict which the court had directed to be entered. The
verdict of guilty was entered by the clerk, as directed by the court,
without any express assent or dissent on the part of the jury. A fine of
$100, and costs, was imposed upon the defendant.
Miss ANTHONY insists that in these proceedings, the fundamental
principle of criminal law, that no person can be a criminal unless the
mind be so--that an honest mistake is not a crime, has been disregarded;
that she has been denied her constitutional right of trial by jury, the
jury having had no voice in her conviction; that she has been denied her
right to have the response of every juror to the question, whether he
did or did not assent to the verdict which the court directed the clerk
to enter.
The trial of the three inspectors followed that of Miss ANTHONY, and all
were convicted, the court holding, as in the case of Miss ANTHONY, that
good faith on their part in receiving the votes was not a protection;
which they think a somewhat severe rule of law, inasmuch as the statute
provides the same penalty, and in the same sentence, "for knowingly and
wilfully receiving the vote of any person not entitled to vote, or
refusing to receive the vote of any person entitled to vote." The
inspectors claim, that according to this exposition of the law, they
were placed in a position which required them, without any opportunity
to investigate or take advice in regard to the right of any voter whose
right was questioned, to decide the question correctly, at the peril of
a term in the state's prison if they made a mistake; and, though this
may be a correct exposition of the law in their case, they would be
sorry to see it applied to the decisions of any court, not excepting the
tribunal by which they were convicted.
The defendant, HALL, is at a loss to know how he could have avoided the
penalty, inasmuch as he did all that he could in the way of rejecting
the votes, without throttling his co-inspectors, and forcing them to
desist from the wrong of receiving them. He is of opinion that by the
ruling of the Court, he would have been equally guilty, if he had tried
his strength in that direction, and had failed of success.
To preserve a full record of so important a judicial determination, and
to enable the friends of the convicted parties to understand precisely
the degree of criminality which attaches to them in consequence of these
convictions, the following pamphlet has been prepared--giving a more
full and accurate statement of the proceedings than can elsewhere be
found.
INDICTMENT
AGAINST SUSAN B. ANTHONY.
DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
IN AND FOR THE
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK.
* * *
At a stated session of the District Court of the United States of
America, held in and for the Northern District of New York, at the City
Hall, in the city of Albany, in the said Northern District of New York,
on the third Tuesday of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand
eight hundred and seventy-three, before the Honorable Nathan K. Hall,
Judge of the said Court, assigned to keep the peace of the said United
States of America, in and for the said District, and also to hear and
determine divers Felonies, Misdemeanors and other offenses against the
said United States of America, in the said District committed.
Brace Millerd,
James D. Wasson,
Peter H. Bradt,
James McGinty,
Henry A. Davis,
Loring W. Osborn,
Thomas Whitbeck,
John Mullen,
Samuel G. Harris,
Ralph Davis,
Matthew Fanning,
Abram Kimmey,
Derrick B. Van Schoonhoven,
Wilhelmus Van Natten,
Adam Winne,
James Goold,
Samuel S. Fowler,
Peter D.R. Johnson,
Patrick Carroll,
good and lawful men of the said District, then and there sworn and
charged to inquire for the said United States of America, and for the
body of said District, do, upon their oaths, present, that Susan B.
Anthony now or late of Rochester, in the county of Monroe, with force
and arms, etc., to-wit: at and in the first election district of the
eighth ward of the city of Rochester, in the county of Monroe, in said
Northern District of New York, and within the jurisdiction of this
Court, heretofore, to-wit: on the fifth day of November, in the year of
our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, at an election duly
held at and in the first election district of the said eighth ward of
the city of Rochester, in said county, and in said Northern District of
New York, which said election was for Representatives in the Congress of
the United States, to-wit: a Representative in the Congress of the
United States for the State of New York at large, and a Representative
in the Congress of the United States for the twenty-ninth Congressional
District of the State of New York, said first election district of said
eighth ward of said city of Rochester, being then and there a part of
said twenty-ninth Congressional District of the State of New York, did
knowingly, wrongfully and unlawfully vote for a Representative in the
Congress of the United States for the State of New York at large, and
for a Representative in the Congress of the United States for said
twenty-ninth Congressional District, without having a lawful right to
vote in said election district (the said Susan B. Anthony being then and
there a person of the female sex,) as she, the said Susan B. Anthony
then and there well knew, contrary to the form of the statute of the
United States of America in such case made and provided, and against the
peace of the United States of America and their dignity.
Second Count--And the jurors aforesaid upon their oaths aforesaid do
further present that said Susan B. Anthony, now or late of Rochester, in
the county of Monroe, with force and arms, etc., to-wit: at and in the
first election district of the eighth ward of the city of Rochester, in
the county of Monroe, in said Northern District of New York, and within
the jurisdiction of this Court, heretofore, to-wit: on the fifth day of
November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
seventy-two, at an election duly held at and in the first election
district of the said eighth ward, of said city of Rochester, in said
county, and in said Northern District of New York, which said election
was for Representatives in the Congress of the United States, to-wit: a
Representative in the Congress of the United States for the State of New
York at large, and a Representative in the Congress of the United States
for the twenty-ninth Congressional District of the State of New York,
said first election district of said eighth ward, of said city of
Rochester, being then and there a part of said twenty-ninth
Congressional District of the State of New York, did knowingly,
wrongfully and unlawfully vote for a candidate for Representative in the
Congress of the United States for the State of New York at large, and
for a candidate for Representative in the Congress of the United States
for said twenty-ninth Congressional District, without having a lawful
right to vote in said first election district (the said Susan B. Anthony
being then and there a person of the female sex,) as she, the said
Susan B. Anthony then and there well knew, contrary to the form of the
statute of the United States of America in such case made and provided,
and against the peace of the United States of America and their dignity.
RICHARD CROWLEY,
Attorney of the United States,
For the Northern District Of New York.
(Endorsed.) Jan. 24, 1873.
Pleads not guilty.
RICHARD CROWLEY,
U.S. Attorney.
UNITED STATES
CIRCUIT COURT.
Northern District of New York.
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
_vs._
SUSAN B. ANTHONY.
* * *
HON. WARD HUNT, Presiding.
* * *
APPEARANCES.
For the United States:
HON. RICHARD CROWLEY.
U.S. District Attorney.
For the Defendant:
HON. HENRY R. SELDEN.
JOHN VAN VOORHIS, ESQ.
Tried at Canandaigua. Tuesday and Wednesday, June 17th and 18th, 1873,
before Hon. Ward Hunt, and a jury.
Jury impanneled at 2:30 P.M.
MR. CROWLEY opened the case as follows:
_May it please the Court and Gentlemen of the Jury_:
On the 5th of November, 1872, there was held in this State, as well as
in other States of the Union, a general election for different officers,
and among those, for candidates to represent several districts of this
State in the Congress of the United States. The defendant, Miss Susan B.
Anthony, at that time resided in the city of Rochester, in the county of
Monroe, Northern District of New York, and upon the 5th day of November,
1872, she voted for a representative in the Congress of the United
States, to represent the 29th Congressional District of this State, and
also for a representative at large for the State of New York, to
represent the State in the Congress of the United States. At that time
she was a woman. I suppose there will be no question about that. The
question in this case, if there be a question of fact about it at all,
will, in my judgment, be rather a question of law than one of fact. I
suppose that there will be no question of fact, substantially, in the
case when all of the evidence is out, and it will be for you to decide
under the charge of his honor, the Judge, whether or not the defendant
committed the offence of voting for a representative in Congress upon
that occasion. We think, on the part of the Government, that there is no
question about it either one way or the other, neither a question of
fact, nor a question of law, and that whatever Miss Anthony's intentions
may have been--whether they were good or otherwise--she did not have a
right to vote upon that question, and if she did vote without having a
lawful right to vote, then there is no question but what she is guilty
of violating a law of the United States in that behalf enacted by the
Congress of the United States.
We don't claim in this case, gentlemen, that Miss Anthony is of that
class of people who go about "repeating." We don't claim that she went
from place to place for the purpose of offering her vote. But we do
claim that upon the 5th of November, 1872, she voted, and whether she
believed that she had a right to vote or not, it being a question of
law, that she is within the Statute.
Congress in 1870 passed the following statute: (Reads 19th Section of
the Act of 1870, page 144, 16th statutes at large.)
It is not necessary for me, gentlemen, at this stage of the case, to
state all the facts which will be proven on the part of the Government.
I shall leave that to be shown by the evidence and by the witnesses, and
if any question of law shall arise his Honor will undoubtedly give you
instructions as he shall deem proper.
_Conceded_, that on the 5th day of November, 1872, Miss Susan B. Anthony
was a woman.
BEVERLY W. JONES, a witness, called in behalf of the United States,
having been duly sworn, testified as follows:
_Examined_ by Mr. Crowley:
Q. Mr. Jones, where do you reside?
A. 8th ward, Rochester.
Q. Where were you living on the 5th of November, 1872?
A. Same place.
Q. Do you know the defendant, Miss Susan B. Anthony?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. In what capacity were you acting upon that day, if any, in relation
to elections?
A. Inspector of election.
Q. Into how many election districts is the 8th ward divided, if it
contains more than one?
A. Two, sir.
Q. In what election district were you inspector of elections?
A. The first district.
Q. Who were inspectors with you?
A. Edwin T. Marsh and William B. Hall.
Q. Had the Board of Inspectors been regularly organized?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Upon the 5th day of November, did the defendant, Susan B. Anthony,
vote in the first election district of the 8th ward of the city of
Rochester?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Did you see her vote?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Will you state to the jury what tickets she voted, whether State,
Assembly, Congress and Electoral?
Objected to as calling for a conclusion.
Q. State what tickets she voted, if you know, Mr. Jones?
A. If I recollect right she voted the Electoral ticket, Congressional
ticket, State ticket, and Assembly ticket.
Q. Was there an election for Member of Congress for that district and
for Representative at Large in Congress, for the State of New York, held
on the 5th of November, in the city of Rochester?
A. I think there was; yes, sir.
Q. In what Congressional District was the city of Rochester at the time?
A. The 29th.
Q. Did you receive the tickets from Miss Anthony?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. What did you do with them when you received them?
A. Put them in the separate boxes where they belonged.
Q. State to the jury whether you had separate boxes for the several
tickets voted in that election district?
A. Yes, sir; we had.
Q. Was Miss Anthony challenged upon that occasion?
A. Yes, sir--no; not on that day she wasn't.
Q. She was not challenged on the day she voted?
A. No, sir.
_Cross-Examination_ by Judge Selden:
Q. Prior to the election, was there a registry of voters in that
district made?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Was you one of the officers engaged in making that registry?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. When the registry was being made did Miss Anthony appear before the
Board of Registry and claim to be registered as a voter?
A. She did.
Q. Was there any objection made, or any doubt raised as to her right to
vote?
A. There was.
Q. On what ground?
A. On the ground that the Constitution of the State of New York did not
allow women to vote.
Q. What was the defect in her right to vote as a citizen?
A. She was not a male citizen.
Q. That she was a woman?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Did the Board consider that and decide that she was entitled to
register?
Objected to. Objection overruled.
Q. Did the Board consider the question of her right to registry, and
decide that she was entitled to registry as a voter?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And she was registered accordingly?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. When she offered her vote, was the same objection brought up in the
Board of Inspectors, or question made of her right to vote as a woman?
A. She was challenged previous to election day.
Q. It was canvassed previous to election day between them?
A. Yes, sir; she was challenged on the second day of registering names.
Q. At the time of the registry, when her name was registered, was the
Supervisor of Election present at the Board?
A. He was.
Q. Was he consulted upon the question of whether she was entitled to
registry, or did he express an opinion on the subject to the inspectors?
MR. CROWLEY: I submit that it is of no consequence whether he did or
not.
JUDGE SELDEN: He was the Government Supervisor under this act of
Congress.
MR. CROWLEY: The Board of Inspectors, under the State law, constitute
the Board of Registry, and they are the only persons to pass upon that
question.
THE COURT: You may take it.
A. Yes, sir; there was a United States Supervisor of Elections, two of
them.
By JUDGE SELDEN:
Q. Did they advise the registry, or did they not?
A. One of them did.
Q. And on that advice the registry was made with the judgment of the
inspectors.
A. It had a great deal of weight with the inspectors, I have no doubt.
_Re-direct Examination by_ MR. CROWLEY:
Q. Was Miss Anthony challenged before the Board of Registry?
A. Not at the time she offered her name.
Q. Was she challenged at any time?
A. Yes, sir; the second day of the meeting of the Board.
Q. Was the preliminary and the general oath administered?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Won't you state what Miss Anthony said, if she said anything, when
she came there and offered her name for registration?
A. She stated that she did not claim any rights under the constitution
of the State of New York; she claimed her right under the constitution
of the United States.
Q. Did she name any particular amendment?
A. Yes, sir; she cited the 14th amendment.
Q. Under that she claimed her right to vote?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Did the other Federal Supervisor who was present, state it as his
opinion that she was entitled to vote under that amendment, or did he
protest, claiming that she did not have the right to vote?
A. One of them said that there was no way for the inspectors to get
around placing the name upon the register; the other one, when she came
in, left the room.
Q. Did this one who said that there was no way to get around placing the
name upon the register, state that she had her right to register but did
not have the right to vote?
A. I didn't hear him make any such statement.
Q. You didn't hear any such statement as that?
A. No, sir.
Q. Was there a poll list kept of the voters of the first election
district of the 8th ward on the day of election?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. (Handing witness two books.) State whether that is the poll list of
voters kept upon the day of election in the first election district of
the 8th ward, of the city of Rochester?
A. This is the poll list, and also the register.
Q. Turn to the name of Susan B. Anthony, if it is upon that poll list?
A. I have it.
Q. What number is it?
A. Number 22.
Q. From that poll list what tickets does it purport to show that she
voted upon that occasion?
A. Electoral, State, Congress and Assembly.
_United States rests._
JUDGE SELDEN opened the case in behalf of the defendant, as follows:
_If the Court please, Gentlemen of the Jury_:
This is a case of no ordinary magnitude, although many might regard it
as one of very little importance. The question whether my client here
has done anything to justify her being consigned to a felon's prison or
not, is one that interests her very essentially, and that interests the
people also essentially. I claim and shall endeavor to establish before
you that when she offered to have her name registered as a voter, and
when she offered her vote for Member of Congress, she was as much
entitled to vote as any man that voted at that election, according to
the Constitution and laws of the Government under which she lives. If I
maintain that proposition, as a matter of course she has committed no
offence, and is entitled to be discharged at your hands.
But, beyond that, whether she was a legal voter or not, whether she was
entitled to vote or not, if she sincerely believed that she had a right
to vote, and offered her ballot in good faith, under that belief,
whether right or wrong, by the laws of this country she is guilty of no
crime. I apprehend that that proposition, when it is discussed, will be
maintained with a clearness and force that shall leave no doubt upon the
mind of the Court or upon your minds as the gentlemen of the jury. If I
maintain that proposition here, then the further question and the only
question which, in my judgment, can come before you to be passed upon by
you as a question of fact is whether or not she did vote in good faith,
believing that she had a right to vote.
The public prosecutor assumes that, however honestly she may have
offered her vote, however sincerely she may have believed that she had a
right to vote, if she was mistaken in that judgment, her offering her
vote and its being received makes a criminal offence--a proposition to
me most abhorrent, as I believe it will be equally abhorrent to your
judgment.
Before the registration, and before this election, Miss Anthony called
upon me for advice upon the question whether, under the 14th Amendment
of the Constitution of the United States, she had a right to vote. I had
not examined the question. I told her I would examine it and give her my
opinion upon the question of her legal right. She went away and came
again after I had made the examination. I advised her that she was as
lawful a voter as I am, or as any other man is, and advised her to go
and offer her vote. I may have been mistaken in that, and if I was
mistaken, I believe she acted in good faith. I believe she acted
according to her right as the law and Constitution gave it to her. But
whether she did or not, she acted in the most perfect good faith, and if
she made a mistake, or if I made one, that is not a reason for
committing her to a felon's cell.
For the second time in my life, in my professional practice, I am under
the necessity of offering myself as a witness for my client.
HENRY R. SELDEN, a witness sworn in behalf of the defendant, testified
as follows:
Before the last election, Miss Anthony called upon me for advice, upon
the question whether she was or was not a legal voter. I examined the
question, and gave her my opinion, unhesitatingly, that the laws and
Constitution of the United States, authorized her to vote, as well as
they authorize any man to vote; and I advised her to have her name
placed upon the registry and to vote at the election, if the inspectors
should receive her vote. I gave the advice in good faith, believing it
to be accurate, and I believe it to be accurate still.