(2 of 2)
In Defendant Campbell the Government picked for this test not only the largest "gold hoarder" on its list but also a respectable lawyer whom Prosecutor Medalie called "exceedingly able." Born in Brooklyn, Mr. Campbell was graduated from Harvard Law School in 1894, is a director of U. S. and British insurance companies, belongs to such swank Manhattan clubs as Union, Metropolitan (where he lives) and Century. When he filed his civil suit against the Chase Bank, he well knew he was inviting the Government to prosecute. His argument in that suit will become his defense in the criminal action, to wit: 1) Congress has no Constitutional power to delegate its legislative authority over gold to the President; 2) the President is prevented by the 5th ("due process of law'') Amendment to the Constitution from depriving him of his property. The "property" in this case is not only the gold bars in the Chase vault but his $65,000 paper profit incident to the rise in gold from $20 to $31 per oz.
Mr. Campbell, who promptly pleaded not guilty to the indictment and was released on $1,000 bail because no moral turpitude was involved in the charge, was thoroughly aware of the risks he was running in this contest with the Government. If convicted, he could be disbarred, fined $10,000, imprisoned for ten years. But he was, he intimated, making a fight for his Constitutional rights and "if I have to go to jail, I don't care."