The New York herald., 1870-12-01


aSuperior Court Judge.
case came up yesterday before Judge spencer,
OF the Superior Court OF unusual interest In connec3
ton with stock operations and rs throwing some
light upon the subject matter or referees. A mo1
tion was made to Set aside the report OF Mr.. Doo{
little q referee appointed In q suit brought By
George F. Gray against James Fisk, Jr.. w. Belden
and William b. Bradford To recover $40, 900, sliegcdi
IA being due the plaintiff by the defendants, a. min
brokers IN certain stock transactions. The defends
ants claimed that this transaction only $4,000
were due the plainun The cause was referred I'd
Mr. Doolitte, who reported In favor Of the defendA
ants.
Mr.. Eldridge, counsel for the plaintiG made quits
lengthy speech. urging that The motion he granted.
His main ground was tho referee, In the progress
OF the examination, had repeatedly expressed TO
him the intention Of finding In favor OF the plant
when suddenly he moved around and gave a YER!
dict for tho defendants His only supposttion. u
course was that =
UNDUE INFLUENCE
had been brought to besr upon him by the defendl
ants. He knew that free pass had been given
him by Mr.. Fisk over the Erie Railroad, and
1t was fair to presume that tho bribery did
not stop here. In the course OF his remarkd
he commented upon the Prince OF Erie IN his
versatile characters, and rs broker, Thoughts
him quite as unscrupuous as in his manifold otner
business operations. He contended that the
evidence was most manIrestly IN favor OF the plau
tnf and therefore demanded as q matter Of right
and equity that tho referees nnding should be
set aside. His speech was delivered with marked
energy and evidently produced asensation upon Tho
assembled group OF lawyers and outside listeners.
Mr. David Dudley Field In rising TO oppose ,hs
motion did SO with his usual coolDess and bandness
Of manner, commencing his speech With the usaaI
smile that almost universally nantes his ruddll
beaming coultenance u @ Me began with cali.
referee Judge rIiIian, before whom the cause was 3
Danforth, ox-J1dge Cierke, Mr. Boswell, Mr.. Crowl
ley and Mr.. Mitchell. to all of whom the opposing
the appointment. Mr.. EIdridge had known Mr.,
Doolitte for some time, and, Us for himself he had
very little acquaintance with him. He believed
him however, perfectly trustworthy, ana was viii,
Ing to trust the case to him.
he read letter from Mr. EIdridge to Mr.. Doolttle,
written subsequent 10 the latters decision In tha
es as y r. me win iscs
was no friend to fraud, and on any and every occa.
sion sought to oppose II; that Mr. Doolltte had sos
blandishments and attempts at bribery; that aflel
auesty spoken freely o. the matter and his iatention
TO nna for the plalnt that the evidence for the de
asked him to sign consent fs the amount OF hid
ices; and that although he was surprised at thd
what grace he p'' csSd. NJ. fIsd's IS running COM
msns SO on ns letter & were most unsparng He sale
d had
up an incessant talk upon TINS subject why
s ns q @ %ps o rs M
WAY, signed consentafor fees WHICH no knew % b
RsrisSss g Outrageous ou cs He asked wnas YOU'D q
given verdict against his client, he should ask I'd
| have the verdict reversed on the ground that Id
"A md fbau =
| said they wero
GOING TO GIVE VERDICT FOX HIN,
| but had lied and did nots He denied that Mr. Doc.
road or any other confederation from Mr.. FISK.
little because his fiilaI sdjudgmt Of the case was
IN accordance with his own honest convictions and
nious and unworthy q counsel Of that court I'D
hoped his Honor, in giving his opinion, II he should
served that 1t might 70 forth before the world as
exhibit OF the means to which lawyer may resore
Mr.. Eldridge briefly rcjoined insisting that Mr.
Field had mlsrepresented the facts. lie would nod
the Of the case pending It's examination before
him. but these conversations he declared, wera
al thrust upon him BY Mr. Dooiittle and none Of his
THE OPPOSING COUNSEL
having had their principal In the case Mr. Doos
llttle VINO mp to this time had sat very quiet and
attentive listener, rose and briefly addressed tad
Court The circumstances as they appeared before
on him 10 say something. He had known Mr..
Eldrldge about year and half. and had
frequently met him at the Manhattan Club, and they
had chatted and occasionally smoked cigars to.
gether. He han not known Mr.. Field long He
met HIM FOR the first time, TO know him, In Paris and
then only for moment. HIS appointment as re-
force was procured through the influence OF Mr.
Allen. II he had supposed that Mr. EldrIdge
thought by any c0urtesies or Establishments he
could influence his judgment In the case, he would
have spurned bM acquaintance. He was friendl1
with him until this infamous attempt
TO BLACKEN CHARACTER. t
Mr.. Eidridge asked him how he could explain hfa
sudden change OF opinion as To one item LII the
case--an item which he referred to by number, but
tnespartlculars Of which he did not explain.
Mr. Do0littc said he could best jadge OF MS own
mental processes The fact was, this item was tha
fulcrum upon which the whole case turned. His
mind became clear on the subject. He was satisfied
that there was no fraud. and at the most only d
clerical error. But he did not like TO have his cna-
racter attacked-to be charged with bribery, and
held up before the world as corrupt and unworthy
OF trust.
MIR. Eldridgc asked II he had nor said that Mr..
Belden was !,
TOTALLY UNWORTHY OF BELIEFs
Mr.. DOOlitte answered the question by natly deny.
ing ever having said any such thing He then went
on TO say that his decision subject to reyewaI
before higher court, and he was perfectly willing
1t should be, and the result he believed, would be To
sustain him in his finding.
After some further unimportant remarks by coun-
sci on both sides the Court TOOK the papers ana
served It's decision.
CALIFORNIA CENT NARiANS