no assignment, because they
themselves constitute the company. It has been decided that a man cannot
steal his own money, neither can he assign from himself to himself. We
shall prove by a credible witness that The Western Supply Company is
but another name for John C. Fields, Oliver Radcliff, and the portly
gentleman who was known a year ago as 'Honest' John Griscom, one of his
many aliases. If to these names you add a few moneyed confederates, you
have The Western Supply Company, one and the same. We shall also prove
that for years past these same gentlemen have belonged to a ring, all
brokers in government contracts, and frequently finding it necessary to
use assumed names, generally that of a corporation."

Scanning the document in his hand, Sutton continued: "Our motive in
selling and accepting money on these herds in Dodge demands a word of
explanation. The original contract calls for five million pounds of beef
on foot to be delivered at Fort Buford. My client is a sub-contractor
under that award. There are times, your honor, when it becomes necessary
to resort to questionable means to attain an end. This is one of them.
Within a week after my client had given bonds for the fulfillment of his
contract, he made the discovery that he was dealing with a
double-faced set of scoundrels. From that day until the present moment,
secret-service men have shadowed every action of the plaintiffs. My
client has anticipated their every move. When beeves broke in price
from five to seven dollars a head, Honest John, here, made his boasts in
Washington City over a champagne supper that he and his associates would
clear one hundred thousand dollars on their Buford contract. Let us
reason together how this could be done. The Western Supply Company
refused, even when offered a bonus, to assign their contract to my
client. But they were perfectly willing to transfer it, from themselves
as a corporation, to themselves as individuals, even though they had
previously given Don Lovell a subcontract for the delivery of the bees.
The original award was made seven months ago, and the depreciation in
cattle since is the secret of why the frog eat the cabbage. My client is
under the necessity of tendering his cattle on the day of delivery, and
proposes to hold this earnest-money to indemnify himself in case of an
adverse decision at Fort Buford. It is the only thing he can do, as The
Western Supply Company is execution proof, its assets consi