1881. Proceedings in one of the principal cases were begun against the conspirators, but they were dismissed on account of irregularity in the form of the action. Early in 1882 several persons were arrested for furnishing fraudulent bonds on the bids for service, and indictments were found against Brady, Stephen W. Dorsey, John W. Dorsey, John M. Peck and John R. Miner, who had made the bids; H. M. Vaile, a sub-contractor; M. C. Rerdell, S. W. Dorsey's secretary; Turner, a clerk in Brady's office; and against one of the principal contractors. The method by which, as charged, the government was defrauded consisted in first obtaining the contracts for the routes, and in subsequently having the payments vastly increased, in compensation for additional mail trips per week, and faster time on each trip. This latter was called "expediting" the route. The Dorsey combination, as the conspirators were popularly called, controlled one hundred and thirtyfour Star Routes, on which the original compensation was $143,169. By increasing the number of trips beyond what the locality required, and by "expediting" them, this amount had been increased to $622,808. On one route the compensation had been increased. from $398 to $6,133.50; the revenue derived therefrom by the government was $240. The cases came up for trial in the District of Columbia, June 1, 1882. The government employed special counsel to aid the District Attorney, and the defendants, too, were represented by eminent lawyers. After a protracted trial, the case was submitted to the jury on September 8th; as they were not able to agree as to all of the defendants, they were kept out until September 11th, on which day, the presiding judge, Wylie, deeming an agreement on all the defendants unlikely, accepted the verdict. Peck and Turner were found not guilty; Miner and Rerdell, guilty; as to the Dorseys, Vaile and Brady there was a disagreement. Preparations were at once made for a new trial in the cases in which there had been a disagreement and the motions of the counsel of Miner and Rerdell for a new trial were granted. The second trial began in December, 1882. Rerdell, on this trial, pleaded guilty and turned States' evidence. On June 12, 1883, the case was given to the jury, and on the 14th, a verdict of not guilty was rendered. In April, 1883, W. P. Kellogg, ex-Senator from Louisiana, and Brady were indicted for receiving money for services in relation to a Star Route contract. The cases never resulted in a conviction. At the conclusion of the first of these trials charges of attempted bribery of the jury both on behalf of the government and of the defense, were made. The foreman of the first jury, Dickson, and another juror, claimed to have been approached on behalf of the government, and still another juror on behalf of the defense. Before the first trial had ended Dickson had made a sworn statement of the facts in his case, and it was charged that he had used it in the juryroom for the purpose of influencing the verdict. The Department of Justice investigated the cases, and declared its belief that no government officials were involved; it implied that all the attempts had been for the purposes of the defense. Dickson was subsequently indicted for attempting corruptly to influence the jury. Stars and Bars.-A popular name for the flag of the Confederacy, which consisted of a blue union with white stars, one for every State of the Confederacy, and a field of three bars, the center bar of white, the other two of red. There were also battle-flags of different designs. State Rights. (See State Sovereignty.) States, Admission of, to the Union. (See Admission of States to the Union.) State, Secretary of. (See State, Department of.) State, Department of.-This is the oldest of the executive departments of the government, having been established by the Act of July 27, 1789. The Secretary of State (whose salary is $8,000) is at its head. He is appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, and is a member of the President's Cabinet. He is the medium of communication between the United States and any of the States or any foreign country. He has charge of the great seal of the United States, which he affixes to all public documents requiring it, he also coun tersigns them. His department has charge of all ambassadors and consuls; in its custody are all the engrossed copies of the laws of the United States and all treaties. The principal subordinates are as follows: The following are the Secretaries of State from the beginning of the government: NAME. Thomas Jefferson. James Monroe John Quincy Adams. Henry Clay.. Martin Van Buren. Edward Livingston Louis McLaine John Forsyth Jeremiah S. Black. William M. Evarts Star Spangled Banner.-This national song was written during the bombardment of Fort McHenry, near Baltimore, by the British during the War of 1812. Francis Scott Key, a lawyer, of Frederick, Maryland, had gone on board the British flag-ship to solicit the release of a friend who had been carried on board a prisoner. The British, as they were on the point of attacking Fort McHenry, detained Key, and he as well as his friend and another American were transferred to another vessel lying near. There they watched the fight and here during the bombardment did Key write the song. States, Familiar Names of.-AlabamaArkansas-Bear State. California-Golden State. Colorado-Centennial State. Connecticut-Nutmeg State, Wooden Nutmeg State, Free Stone State, Land of Steady Habits. Delaware-Diamond State, Blue Hen State. Florida-Peninsula State. Georgia-Empire State of the South. Illinois-Prairie State, Sucker State. Indiana Hoosier State. Iowa Hawkeye State. Kansas-Garden State, Garden of the West. KentuckyCorn Cracker State. Louisiana-Creole State, Pelican State. Maine-Pine Tree State, Lumber State. MarylandMassachusetts-Old Colony, Bay State, Old Bay State. Michigan-Wolverine State, Lake State. Minnesota-Gopher State. Mississippi-Bayou State. Missouri-Pennsylvania of the West. braska Ne New Nevada-Sage Hen State. Hampshire Granite State. New Jersey New York-Empire State, Excelsior State. North Carolina Tar State, Turpentine State, Old North State. Ohio-Buckeye State. OregonPennsylvania -Keystone State. Rhode Island-Little Rhody or Rhoda. South Carolina-Palmetto State. TennesseeBig Bend State. Texas-Lone Star State. VermontGreen Mountain State. Virginia - Old Dominion, Mother of Presidents, Mother of States. West Virginia-Pan Handle State. Wisconsin-Badger State. State Sovereignty.-Nullification is the setting aside and ignoring of a national law by a State. Strictly speaking, State Sovereignty" is the doctrine that the States, at the formation of the Union, delegated a portion of their sovereignty to the national government, 66 reserving the right to revoke the agency and to resume the exercise of all the elements of sovereignty at any time by seceding. "State rights" is the doctrine that every State is sovereign within the limits of its own sphere of action, made so by the declared will of the nation as expressed in the Constitution; and that the will of the nation, appropriately manifested, as provided in the Constitution, may change that sphere. In the Constitution, the rights of the national government are distinctly stated; the rights of the State are limited only by the expressly declared national right. Previous to the Civil War the term "State rights" was used to designate the idea of "State sovereignty," and misuse has raised a prejudice in many minds even against the legitimate. theory of State rights" brought forward since that event. The arguments against "State sovereignty" may be summarized as follows: The colonies did not fight each for its own independence, but each for the independence of all, as is shown by their joint action. throughout, in military as well as civil matters. The sovereignty acquired in that struggle was never individually exercised, but all remained under the national sovereignty raised by the common fight for liberty. All the elements and insignia of sovereignty were vested in the national government, as the power to declare war and peace and to coin money, and moreover the power to amend the Constitution, except in a very few particulars, was given to three-fourths of the States, and on the theory of State sovereignty this would imply the selfcontradictory condition of a sovereign State voluntarily exposing itself to changes in its government without its consent to the change. It may be maintained that secession would afford the needed relief; but if this had been the intention, the consent of all the States to an amendment would have been required, since it must be presumed that the union was intended to endure. The doctrine of "State sovereignty" was put forward at various times. (See Hartford Convention; Nullification.) Soon after the nullification troubles it became the ally of slavery, and the result of the Civil War put it to rest |