Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1862-08-21
sen,ene. - A~a,l Robber.


Sentence of a h ~ail Robber.
The following sentence was pronounced by Judge
John w. BrockenbrougF against " ulam A. Hopkins
charged with violation OF the COME del ate States Mall
and convicted August term 1862 of t. Confederate
Court, held at WytheVille, Virginia:
Vim. Il. HOPKINS
Your fate is sad nnel In the dawn of man. hood,
you have been betrayed into the commission of crimes
whichare about to consign you to felon's DOOM
lou occupied position in which you were exposed to
constant temptation The commission of the crimes was
easy and it seemed to you detection was impossible
Fatal deluson Let your terrible fate be warning to
all employees of the Post Office Department throughout
the Confederate States that the pryng eyes of those
sharp detectives, known special agents, are upon
them, and that through such terrible nstrumentality
swift vengeance may overtake them for violating the
important trust reposed in them. One several
of such acts will escape detection but they will not es
cape observation. Where money has been committed
to the mails for transmission over given route and
the letter containing 1t has myserously disappeared
without reaching the hands of the party to whom
addressed the Department is soon notified Of the fact
by the suffering party. 1t is apprzad that all its
officials not honest, and that somewhere along
extended route, embracing perhaps many, many post
Offices depfedaOns have been committed but the odlum
of dishonesty must rest on all alike if and
speedy means Of detection not res0rted to- The IN
s;rumentahty for accomplishment of so important an
object IS at once appiej. Decoy letters prepared as
to be suggestive to dishonest post master OF rich
prize, tempt repetition of acts heretofore committed
without detection and without any apparent means of
detection. The enterprise safe One and the IA
tai deed is done The special agent is On the route
He has access to the mails by private key 1t IS at
once known that post master or his deputy, at
particular Cce is the thief His presence Is soon seen
as well as M by the alarmed cuprit before he has bad
time to conceal destroy the evidences OF his guilt and
the doom OF the unhappy man. if the detective is adrolt
so securely sealed that the Ingenuity and eoquenca of
the most learned and able counsel are bafed in the
effort to the offender from merted punishment
His counsel lament with towering pathOs that their
client has been made the victim OF official trckery and
that h Government itself has spread the fatal in
the meshes OF which the unwary feet OF the unfortunate
prisoner have been entangled beyond the possibility of
eAtrcaon It is true that herein the Government docs
practice deception. Experience has demonstrated that
undetected crime would riot through all the extern
sve ramicatOns of tie Post Office Department. If this
agency were not employed, and the practice, like
tegy in war; must seek its vindicaOn in the necessity
which gave il birth 1t is the readest and surest means
of ferreng out crime and of separating the guilty from
the innocent 1t has erors for the honest post mas
ter and is indeed the most potent means of preserving
his reputation tor private and official fidelity 1t an
official trap which securely holds ard unmasks the VIC
at0r of the laws 1t is not designed to expose the In
nocen but the guilty to temptation and doubt wheth
er honest officer ever tempted to the commission
of crimes by such instrumentalty Officials IN this de-
partment exposed to constant temptation by the
them have already yielded to it, that this secret agency
whose basis is deception is put into requisltoD not TO
tempt the innocent tC crime, but the guilty to its repe
ton. n nearly all the successful prosecutions for OIL
cia depreciation upon the mails which have occurred in
this district during my long judicial career the conVc
ton OF the cupr has been secured through this agency
alone and the best interests OF the department and OF
society forbid that it be dispensed with 1t Is sharp
sword to pierce the guilty but shield OF triple steel to
defend the innocent If unworthy men are sometimes
|
of espionage and detection anxious to secure VIC
TINS than to aid the just administration OF the laws by
the punishment Of the guilty only let the siJw finger OF
public scorn be pointed at them, and the unworthy
creatures driven ia disgrace from office whose true
duties they have misapprebended ana whose legitimate
functions they have vey perverted. Let the evils OF
the system be corrected but the system itself cannot be
dispensed with without destroying the efficiency of this
most important department OF the Government. have
been led into these remarks by the teVere, but as
think unmerted structures of Of Jour counsel upon
this system in his eloquent and im Fashioned appeal to
the jury who tried you.
You have had the benefit William A. Hopkins, OF
fair and impartial trial by jury of more than ordIn-
airy intelligence, and every resource OF argument and
eloquence have been exhausted in you behalf IN vain
You have been convicted Of crimes OF most serious
character against the peace and webeng Of society
While other young were imperllDg their lives IN
the embattled field in defence Of their rights and ber
ties of their country against Vanda oe you protected
yourself by an Ctcla position from aDllty 10 such
noble service, AND have ANONYMOUSLY perverted it to
the purposes population end pilfering You had not
received indeed, any formal appointment of post master
at the Big Spring Depot, but you had been employed
as deputy of your father who held the office till his
DEATH and you continued, with the acquescence of the
Government, to discharge its functions for several
months afterwards 1t during this latter period
that you committed the crimes for which you now
to suffer- Under the instructions of the court you were
held to be an employee of the Post Office Department
and so subject to the pains and penalties of the law
That law is severe and has itself fixed the mini
mum period of your confinement In the Penentiary at
ten years. Should your conduct in prison be exemplary
will cordially recommend your case to Executive elem
ency at the end of the first year of your punishment
You young, not long Injured to crime and trust
the terrible punishment you are to undergo, will work
your reformation not harden you into ncorrigble
criminal. That you may leave the Penitentiary re-
formed and penitent man. l earnestly hope.
1t only remains to pronounce the sentence of the law
which is That you be taken hence to the Penteutiary
at Richmond and be there confined at hard labor to
the OF ten years and day, and pay fine of one
dollar to the Confederate States.
a Faithful Slave.
During the march of the Yankee prisoners from the Fail
Grounds the South Side Depot to take the for Rich
mond few days SINCE they had to pass in their route the
Washington Eote in front of which congregated
number of PERSONS among them several slaves Ore of thu
Yankees accosed of the latter asking him IF tina