823 Sheet – American State Trials 1918 Volume X Leo Frank Document

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Reading Time: 3 minutes [394 words]

Here is the translated text as follows:

THOMAS COOPER

May it be considered seditious to say the President is mistaken? Before you can condemn me for this kind of sedition, you must become Catholic believers in this new-fangled doctrine of infallibility. I know that in England the king can do no wrong, but I did not know until now that the President of the United States had the same attribute.

I have said (and I am accused of saying it) that "even those who doubted his capacity thought well of his intentions." Is it a crime to doubt the capacity of the President? Suppose I had said that there were some who did not credit him with sufficient capacity for the office he holds—is that a crime? Or if it is a crime in them, is it a crime in me, who have not said it? Nor can the word "capacity" here be fairly construed into any other than a comparative meaning. Surely, no one who has read his "Defense," as it is called, of the American Constitution, or who reflects that he has had the abilities to raise himself to his present situation, can say that he is devoid of either industry or talents. But those who voted for his opponent must have believed Mr. Adams to be of inferior capacity to that gentleman. I was of that number; at least half of the people of the United States were of that number. If it is a crime to have thought and spoken thus, I fear I shall remain incorrigible in this respect. However, if of two constructions, one is absurd, improbable, and unfavorable, it should be rejected in favor of the meaning most likely to have occurred and which, in its effects, will do the least injury to a defendant like myself. This is common, this is legal charity.

Nor had we yet, under his auspices, been saddled with the expense of a permanent navy.

Gentlemen, is it true or not that we are saddled with the expense of a permanent navy? Is it necessary that I should enter into a detail of authorities to prove that the sun shines at noon-day? Furthermore, is it true that we incur this expense under his auspices and sanction?

I have before me two publications. One is the Gazette of the United States, published by Mr. Fenno in this city; and...

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