Judge — May 15, 1886 — page 11: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE JUDGE. Ladies and Gentlemen of the Grand Jury of Public Opinion : This Court of Last Resort desires to impress upon Your Jury the striking effects of your | power as shown in the conviction and_sen- | tence of Jas. D. Fish and Ferdinand Ward | by the courts of New York. We also con- | gratulate Your Jury on the speedy justice thus secnred in obedience to your tribunal | of Public Opinion. It has recorded a con- | tradiction of the cynical and despondent | feeling sometimes entertained by you, that | the criminal courts would not convict a rich | man. Your Jury, while taking heart of | hope from these convictions, should not abate your determined attention to the law- | less and injurious course of rich men, for eternal vigilance is the price of your author- it ‘The convictions already secured in the ha special cases mentioned have reached but two of the conspirators interested in the Grant and Ward frauds. There must be many more implicated, and equally guilty with Fish and Ward. Fifteen or sixteen millions of dollars have been swallowed up, | and the most of it is yet in hiding. Your Jury should not abate your inquest until every dollar of the sequestered wealth is accounted for, and so far as any dollar has been unjustly’ taken, restitution to the rightful owners, and the punishment of all the guilty secured. Such a pushing of Justice to the last end can be secured if Your Jury do not let the matter drop. You will find as you investigate that there was no legitimate business done by the Ward concern. No property was bought, no en- terprise undertaken, no contracts entered upon, no investments of any kind that could pay a just profit are discernable. Men merely deposited money with Ward and he paid them back illegal gains out of the funds of other depositors, It was one man robbing another through Ward. But the most of those who put their money in there drew out, or expected to draw out, interest that they knew was ille- gal, or profits that they knew were dishon- est. There is no blinking or evading the criminality of most of the banks, corpora- tions and rich men that furnished money to Ward. They were law-breakers, every one of them, in intent, and most of them were such in fact. Your Jury should not abate your indict- ments until the statute laws against usury have been enforced against every man who drew unjust gains from the Ward operations; and when that has been done you should indict and arraign every one of them at this bar for further punishment by the Court of Public Opinion. Many of these men now stand high in honor and public confidence— a monstrous perversion of justice. Your Jury should strip off their marks of respec- tability and present them at this court in the prisoner’s dock—even as Fish and Ward have stood in the docks of New York courts. It is not fair that two or three of the parties to this great fraud should be arrayed in stri- ped suits and eat the hard bread of disgrace, while the rest of them flourish in fine rai- ment and live in luxury and respect. ‘The major crime that is set down in the code of Public Opinion they have been guil- Hy of—seckingto get rich by unlawful means, ‘The whole fabric of fraud rested on that sin and it is Your Jury’s special duty to strike at the root of the evil. While estab- lished courts of law, at your uaccasing, irre- sistable demand, vigorously enforce the statutory penalties in cases within the cog- nizance of those courts, be it your duty to visit the full penalties of the High Court of | Public Opinion on all who, in making haste to be rich, have not been innocent. ¢. BE. B. An Awful Example of Temperance. Jay Gould never tasted whiskey but once and that was thirty-four years ago, He decided that if aman means to succeed in life he must let whiskey atone; he then and there registered a solemn vow to drink only the drycst champagne, and he has religions- ly kept and now see where he is! /vc Sabula docet, that it’s lucky that this class of temperance men is not more numerous. A Mixed Definition. The Mugwump is the only go-as-you- lease contestant in the political arena. He is never handicapped by records or weight (moral). Hecannot lose a race. Which- ever of the favorites wing, he claims a vic- er Te is the umpire of the national game. Batted by all, he yet decides the contest ir- respective of the efforts and merits of the contestants. Ile is the monkey that decides the contest between the cat and dog for possession of the cheese. He plays Iago to the Democratic Cassio and the Republican Roderigo, saying: “Whether Moderigo kill Cassio, or Cassio kill him, every way makes my gain.” He does not object to the’ application of the principle “to the victor belongs the spoils,” provided he be allowed to designate the victor. The Mugwump is the tramp of American politics—fat, happy, ragged and indepen- dent. Wants nothing and geta everything. New York Democracy makes a business of politics the whole yeararouud. ‘The cam- paign of ’85 was not over before the munici- pal departments sent in their demands for several millions increased appropriations. What are Republicans doing to meet these previsions and provisions? By WAGE LABOR LOST. Igncrance is bliss on both comicbooks.com