I am perfectly clear there is no ground for the motion in arrest of
judgment, and that a public mischief is stated as being the object of
this conspiracy. The conspiracy is, by false rumours to raise the price
of the public funds and securities; that crime is committed in the act
of conspiracy, concert, and combination, to effect the purpose, and the
offence would have been completed even if it had not been pursued to its
consequences, or from circumstances the conspirators had not been able
to effect it. And the purpose is in its nature mischievous; it is one
which strikes at the value of a vendable article in the market, and if
it gives a fictitious value, by means of false rumours, it is a fraud on
all who may by possibility have to do with that article; it is a fraud
on all the public who may have to do with the funds on the day to which
the conspiracy applies.
It seems to me quite unnecessary to specify the persons who became
purchasers of stock, for without the gift of prophecy how could the
defendants know who would be purchasers on a succeeding day? The
impossibility is the excuse; besides if it were possible, the multitude
is an excuse in point of law. But such a statement is wholly
unnecessary, the conspiracy being complete independently of any persons
becoming purchasers.