Page:The World's Most Famous Court Trial - 1925.djvu/123

 his case before the jury before the issues are made up. Your honor asked both sides to present the issues not to the jury, but to your honor. Then, your honor submits the issues to the jury, the testimony is given by the witnesses, and your honor gives them the law.

Mr. Malone—That is the procedure.

Gen. McKenzie—This is wholly improper, argumentative. It is not a statement as to what the issues are. Your honor has already held that this act is constitutional, it being the law of the land, there is but one issue before this court and jury, and that is, did the defendant violate the statute. That statute interpretes itself, and says that whenever a man teaches that man descended from a lower order of animals as contradistinguished from the record of the creation of man as given by the word of God, that he is guilty. Does the proof show that he did that, that is the only issue, if it please the honorable court, before this jury. My friend is talking about a theory of evolution that it took him two years to write, that speech. (laughter.) That is not proper, if your honor please, if it is proper, it would be like a couple of gentlemen over in my country, where they were engaged and were trying a lawsuit before a justice of the peace, and they had a large number of witnesses. Finally one lawyer said, "let us have a conference," and they went out to confer, and they came back in and said, "if your honor please, the witnesses in this case, some of them are not very well, others are awfully ignorant, and we have just agreed among ourselves to dispense with the evidence and argue the case." That is what my good friend Malone wants to do. (Loud laughter and officer rapping for order.) And that is exactly what he has done, and hence I make that motion to instruct the jury that they must not consider Col. Malone's argument for the present, but to give him a chance after a while to shoot again.

Mr. Malone—Your honor if my brother is the spokesman momentarily of the defense, I am very happy that the judge has explained his theory. We are willing that the prosecution should state all of the theories they have got about this, and if they have got any more, we would like to hear them. We do not want to shut them off from stating anything in their minds. And so far as I am concerned, I believe your honor correctly instructed the jury that what I have stated to the court and the jury that is our theory of the case. We are prepared to back it up by the evidence and by the evidence to the jury. The jury, we believe, is an intelligent body of citizens that know the difference between testimony taken from the witnesses, and oratorical flights of the judge and myself.

Gen. McKenzie—If your honor please, we understand, and for the present there could not have been anything in the minds of the lawyers—we are not mediocre as lawyers—

Mr. Malone—That is not what I meant.

Gen. McKenzie—The only mistake the good Lord made is that he did not withhold the completion of the job until he could have got a conference with you.

Mr. Malone—I rather think you are right. (Laughter in court room.)

The Court—Any further statement from the state's side?

Gen. Stewart—None whatever.

(Jury was thereupon sworn by the court in due form.)

(Direct examination of Mr. Walter White continued by Attorney-General A. T. Stewart):

Gen. Stewart—Col. Darrow has very kindly consented not to be captious in objecting. I may use a few leading questions in order to get the evidence out.

Q—Mr. White, do you know what particular books, or what particular subjects, Mr. Scopes taught in the high school?

A—He was a science teacher; he taught chemistry, biology and other subjects in the science course.