Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1865-1869, 1865-08-19
RICHMOND WING.
SATURDAY MORNING...AUG. 10, 1865.
The - Pardon Brokers'"

We deem it proper to put the people of
Virginia on their guard against the rapacity
Of a set of land sharks, who have recently
made their appearance, in person or by
proxy, 10 almost every county in the State.
We allude TO that unselish and patriotic
class Of men, who have undertaken the bust
ness Of procuring pardons for those unfortu-
nate persons, the estimated value of whose
property exceeds twenty thousand dollars.
These disinterested and plausible mediatOrs
between the President Of the United States
and those of our citizens, who are guilty Of
being comfortably well of in the world, are
quite numerous, very impOrtunate and ilre-
sistibly fascinating, and are known in the
newspaper literature of the day as ''pardUn
b-okers''-that is, men who, for the trihing
consideration of i've hundred or thou
sand dollars in good money, portion Of
which is usually required to be paid In
advance, will venture TO assure even the
most hardened and impenitent offend
er in the land, that the question of his
pardon is only a question of time, for
their 1.-THE ''pardOn broker's'O influence
with high and important officials at Wash
ington is very nearly omnipotent, and eau
not fail TO succeed with any application
for pardon which may be entrusted TO their
MANAGEMENT. These inveterate horse-leeches
will tell you, with the most significant wink
and nod in the world, that they are on the
most intimate and confidential terms with
President johnson and all the members of
his Cabinet, and especially with Attorney
General Speed and few of his principal
clerks and that if you omit to employ
them in your behalf, you will never be par
doned while the sun shines, and you will, in
all probability, be sold out of house and
home in less than ninety days ado then"
they imploringly say, ''put your cases into our
hands Don't suffer your loved wives and
innocent children 10 be turned out of doors
and made dependent upon the cold charity
of the world, when you can retain secure
possession Of your property aud enjoy your
accustomed comforts for the remainder of
your lives, by paying us the miserable fee
of FIVE hundred or thousand dollars We
really wouldn't charge you cent for our
services In this matter if we could afford to
aid you TOR nothiug,-for the truth is, We
went into this business, not 10 make money,
(oh perish the iguoble thought y but solely
from the most benevolent considerations,
our bowels OF charity and compassion being
horribly distressed at the idea of your being
swept OF all you own on earth Come, here
is our mediatorial paw We can save you,
aud nobody else can Fer, let us assure
you again and again, that we are on the most
confidential terms with Andy Johnson. We
are hail fellows we'll met with Attorney
General Speed And as for peasants, the
Attorney Generals clerk, We have dined
and wined with him a score Of times within
the last three months We know what we
are about Come, give US your hsnd-be-
for it is too late Only five hundred or
a thousand dollarS-that's all Thank you,
thank you very kindly You may lool, for
your pardon in very few days at iarthest %
Thus appealing aud cOaxing and frightening,
these sharks generally succeed in entrap-
ping their victims, and with big fec and
a chuckle, turn away and proceed to the
same business in some nav direction.
We repeat, that. the people OF Virginia
should avoid these ''pardon brokers'" and
thereby save the exorbitant fees which are
extorted from them. There is no use in the !
- 80,
this matter for them. If they will send their
applications for pardon, in proper form, to
Governor PEIRPoINT, he will take
pleasure in endorsing them and transmitting
them to Washington, where they will be ex-
amined in their turn and disposed Of as
promptly as the President sees fit.
No doubt many of the gentlemen engaged
in the new avocation ofprocuiing pardons for
their afflicted $40, 900 friends, charge only
moderate fees and act fairly and even gene
rousy by their clients. We know some
such ourselves. But the majority of them
are humbugs aud swindlers Of the first
water, and deserve to be pointed at with the
finger of scorn through all time. We main.
tain that there is not the shadow of necessi-
" for employing any feed agent in this mat
ter at all, no matter how worthy and homo
rable he may be. To adopt the course sug-
gested above is all that an applicant for par
don, under the thirteenth exception, should |
do.
Besides, such applicants, whether worth /
twenty thousand dollars, or ten times TWEEN
", are, in nirety-nine cases out Of hun
dred, in no condition to pay such exorbitant
fees as We have heard OF, even if it were ne
cessary to employ lawyers to attend to their
applications for them. Many an honest and
anxious old farmer in Virginia has been
scared on. Of five hundred or a thous md
dollars, when, if he had merely sent his ap-
pUcation TO the GOVERNOR, he would
have avoided paying single cent and been
lust as sure OF receiving his pardon. Though |
hundreds and perhaps thousands have al |
ready been mercilessly deeced, let others |
take warning and keep clear of the ''pardon |
brokers'"
Some how or other, facts have come to |
our knowledge in reference to the ''ways
and wiles" Of some of these men, which the
public interests mar demandt to be published.
If occasion should arise, We shall give them
to our readers, ''withOut fear, favor or affec-
tion.'