The ruling of Judge Lambdin on this point
will undoubtedly have an important bearing
upon the case. Citation upon citation from
various decisions were made by the attorneys
on both sides in support of their arguments.
The question was argued in the hearing of the
demurrer yesterday and the Government
claims that the matter is closed and that the
proposition rests upon the wording of the
indictment; that is, that the case is being tried
upon the obscenity of the extracts and that if
these are proven to be obscene the Govern
ment will have made out its case.
Defense Scores.
The defense scored the first point when
Judge Lambdin ruled that John M. Barnes
could testify as to the general character of
the books of which the defendant is the au
thor. This point was hard fought on both
sides, it first arising shortly after Mr. Barnes
took the witness stand yesterday afternoon.
The ruling was not made till 11:30 Saturday.
The defense was seeking to prove that Mr.
Watson's other books were of the highest class
and that it would not be reasonable to expect
that an author of such standing would delib
erately write an article containing obscenity
unless there was a good purpose in it. This
brought in the question of motive. The Gov
ernment’s contention is that motive does not
enter into the case; had Congress intended
that motive should enter it would have incor
porated in the statute something regarding
intent. This matter has not finally been
ruled on, the judge confining his ruling to
the admissibility of the particular question
asked the witness.
