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

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Here is the translated text as follows:

808 X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.

Expressions of attachment and confidence in the President, along with a determination to resist the oppression of the French government, were conveyed through various addresses. The President replied to these addresses with responses that generally echoed their sentiments. In fact, his expressions were as general as the nature of the addresses would permit. Therefore, the traverser ought to have blamed the addressers, not the President. For instance, the Marine Society of Boston, composed of seasoned seamen, addressed the President in favor of a navy. In reply, the President agreed that a navy is the proper defense for the country.

In the first part of my charge, I made remarks on the assertions of the traverser that the President had borrowed money at eight percent during a time of peace. Therefore, it will not be necessary to elaborate further on that point.

Please note, gentlemen, that in his defense, the traverser must prove every charge he has made to be true; he must prove it thoroughly. If he asserts three things and proves only one, he fails. If he proves only two, he still fails in his defense, for he must prove the entirety of his assertions to be true. Even if he were to prove that the President had done everything charged against him in the first paragraph of the publication—such as interfering to influence the decisions of a court of justice, or delivering up Jonathan Robbins without precedent, against law, and against mercy—this would not be sufficient unless he also proved that Jonathan Robbins was a native American who had been forcibly impressed and compelled to serve on board a British ship of war.

If he fails in this proof, gentlemen, you must then consider whether his intention in making these charges against the President was malicious or not. It is not necessary for me to delve more minutely into an investigation of the defense. You must judge for yourselves—you must find the publication and judge the intent with which that publication was made, whether it was with malice or not. If you believe that he published it without malice or intent to defame the President of the United States, then your judgment should reflect that understanding.