This would be a cruel and brutal robbery or larceny were it not for Jone mitigating circumstance and that is the fact that the money was intended obviously for the purchase of ammunition to shoot human bee ings. That is the only mitigating circumstance in the. whole scheme of this defendant; but that is nob mitigating in the eyes: of the law, 'Take Crawleys' own story through-Sut this contract. Take Crawley's story and Widler's story—practically that is the only evidence—they con vict themstives and what we find is that Widler probably " assisted by Crawley was to go and take that contract out of the safe and tear it up so that it would appear-as it does'here in Court, They Have torn just through the letters and the letters of the word Crawley remain Fintact. They -paste them on a piece of paper and produce them in Court the mext morning and say, "I have just found it and T have: been able to reconstruct it"! That is a nice story!
'The Defendant's Audacity Take Crawley's story. Take this contract for vests which he signed along with Yang and the day. that he got the Inst nioney=when he went to' the bank each day to get his hal{—he said nothing about the $5,000 diamond ring busine: Crawley went every day to the bank with Widler and got his half and hho tent back substantial gold telegraphic transfer remittances to the United States and the only reason he delayed his departure from China was because there was the prospect of this fraud in view, He got this money in the morning—his halt of the last $6,000—then he began at once to make arrangement for taking 'a steamer. The Taft was delayed takes the Tenyo Maru and got out of town and then he has the audacity—the defendant—has—to come on to the witness stand and speak about this contract—made in his own name, mind you—signed by
Jand the only responsible person him as representative of the arty out, the contract with thes Chinese—if it were a vest contract signed by him—and witnessed by a man of the name of Thompson" Jand he (Crawley) is going back to the United States tired of Shanghai—never coming back again, he sa} 'And there is a contract made in his name which he says that Widler guaranteed to him personally that he would carry out, 'Can you think of anything more ridiculous? Why, when he got over in America, what would these Chinese have?' They would have n: contract signed by Crawley! That's all they would have—for vests. They would have a contract signed by Crawley, and Crawley had taken away their money from them, cording to their story. When they, the Chinese, came to bring any suit what would be the answer? "Wo don't know Thompson, his name ig fon the contract og a witness." Even if they could prove that Widler was Thompson he could still say in any se: "I didn't sign the contract, Crawley signed it, Crawley got the money, I just witnessed the docu mont,"
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.