Edward Douglass White

“ As said by counsel for the government, 'the plea of the statute of limitation does not question the validity of the indictment, but is directed to the merits of the case; and if found in favor of the defendant, the judgment is necessarily an acquittal of the defendant of the charge, and not a mere abatement of the action; and it has been universally classed, in both civil and criminal procedure, as a plea in bar, and not in abatement.' The motion to dismiss the writ of error for want of jurisdiction is overruled. ”

“ The claim is then made 'that in cases of conspiracy, a plea in abatement is the proper method of raising the defense that the right to prosecute has not accrued, because no one of the conspirators had 'done an act to effectuate the object of the conspiracy. ”