New-York tribune., 1871-09-25
THE SHODDY OOLIKOTop
Ex-MARsHAL MURRAY FORCED To 4u.
FRONT.
70 tAs Bdttor Of fAs rrtbx..

WIN oAAn0u Auq"i1oT' WHICH appeared In .TE Tn.
USE OF the 10Th inst, and wherein you review n.
political and business career o' Thomas Nurpay
Collector of the Port of New-York, you nav. s'
w. Enquirer" has touched bu. lightly. i, IA.
lions, the real gravity Of Mr. Murphys war ,se "a &C..
true that he made large sums OF money cut 81 n. -
.ls Rs It @ Ss :::
the transaetions by which be realised these In -
dered investigation. II Is not denied hat ysr1 =
aging results were obtained = mot denied 2ss =
suppressed 1t Is not denied that when the pspss. M =
had .ursd from tSs Wa D
that which lately eonvulsed tho Clty Han and wsss
denied that the afldayts absracted were hurtfal =
Mr. Murphyfs cause. It will not be denied thsS ii,
t%s he disposed T Of Wiessss s ss escus1 t1e ps
mOurnfully mysterious burglars did OF the sfdsySs
spriting them away a. Mr.. Marp6y's instiss;ioS y
on his promise to pay their expenses.
The concluding sentence of the foregoing psr,.
graph does great injustice. So far from boasias
Of being instrumental in spiriting away witnsssss
whose testimony would have proved beyond doutk
that Thomas Murphy was Q swindler, have on u
contrary always regretted, aud shall always en-
tinue to regret act which stains otherwise m
sullied official career Of eight years in the MOI
eventful history Of this Government. But, Sif.
very much doubt II any other man similarly plsssd
would nave acted Inherently.
The history Of my connection with this unfur.
tunate affair 10 as follows:
In the latter part Of May, the early part Of jana
1866, Mr.. Murphy called at my Office and bsfos
uttering o single word, completely broke down, sud
began to cry and sob like child The spectssas
was, indeed. o sad one to witness, and lookedst
him in amazement. After he had sufficiently ~
covered from his apparent grief he informed tsa
IL khak on ha -.
world was at stake that tho War Department held
about $4,000 that was due him on his oontrssk
which would not be paid pending the charges Of aal
made against him, and that the Secretary d
War had already issued, or was about to issas.
an order to try him by courtmartial for defrsadns
the Government, and that his personal liberty VA
in danger. he said that had procured Col 0leots
his appointment, and that the Government detect
ives who had worked up the case against him fr
Olcott had formerly been Deputy Marshah under
me.n "You can help me If you will" continued tho
heart broken Murphy, "and il you get mo out q
this scrape will pay you $4,000" "Aurphy,"x
answered. anything can do for you, viii Do
with pleasure, and as far as am concerned Is wM
not cost you ten cents" then asked, "What Ii the
condition Of the case and what Is the character OF
the testimony they have worked up against you =
Murphy then proceeded to recte the particulars of
the case-the nature of the testimony, and the msa-
ner in which the detectives had obtained 1t. In
ouired of him how he knew these facts. How did
Won get this informationp asked Men that
wort nm cases AGAINST persons charged with fraud
ara not In the habit of furnishing the information
thew possess to the parties implicated" He replied
that Olcott made regular reports to the War Depart
ment and he had an arrangement whereby he OBJ
tanned copies of these reports after they reached
the Department. He concluded by saying that II he
was tried by court-martial he was ruined man
Itold hum that it was useless to attempt 10 ap.
proach Olcott. had recommended his appontms nj
myself and solely on the ground of his integrity The
investigations that I was instructed to make inte
fraudulent contracts had accumulated to such an sx
tent that it was physically impossible for me TO attend
to them, and discharge my other duties as Marshal
and 80 reported to the War Department, suggesting
that some one bc appointed to attend to that branch
of the service exclusively and absolutely Independent
lsof my control was directed by the Departments b
select proper man, and when reported his mana
the appointment would be confirmed. IL was tins
that Olcott was appointed.
said to Murphy that from the statements he
had made to me he was in a very bad predicament,
and hardly knew how to advise him as TO what
course he should pursue. But after reelection the
only way could see was to get at ths detecasH
who had worked up the case. Murphy eIpreosd
himself eager to make terms with the detectives sn6
said he would pay them literally if they aided hnh
thwarting the prosecution and escaping the puniaar
ment That same day sent for the principal detective
who had been engaged in the case against Murray
and inquired what was the difficulty between hiD
and Murphy. I said Murphy was clever felsv
had many influential political friends in high ~
ton, both in New-York and Washington. He -
he knew it, and sorry that Col Oloott had plasA
this matter in his hands especially because he hA
learned that Murphy was q friend OF mine, and d
hated to be engaged in working up case that ~
to strike down my friends. inquired about the con-
dtion Of the case. In reply to which he rected whas
had been done and the testimony they had substan-
TALLY as Mr. Murphy himself had stated it.
then asked him IL he had any objections to having
an interview with Mr. Murphyf He replied DOS
the least.' The interview was arranged, ana IN
hour fixed for the meeting at my office next aAy.
They both appeared there at the time appointed ss0
introduced this detective to Mr. Murphy. iney
had private conversation at the extreme onu y
the room the nature of which do not know, exceps
from conjecture. A few days after this introducaos
this detective left the employment OF Col oioos'
and was employed by Mr.. Murphy Some days SUD
seouent another detective left the employ OF Coi.
Olcott. and was also employed by Dir. Murphy.
understood at the time, that a third detective wne
remained with Olcott was in the interest OF Ne
Murphy. policeman who was detailed o. ny
office was acting with the two detectives VINO wue
in Mr. Murphy's employ. The details OF what me-
men did in manipulating witnesses, destroying sns
standard Government samples of the hats ana o.ps -
and in other ways arranging for the trial oeiore @
Commission, / do not know except from oon,cosoIs.
The day after the report Of the Commission 80 ~
made, accidentally met Mr.. Murphy ana 'n0 o. -
detective in the vestibue OF the Astor houSe.
approached them saw Murphy hand Soms'oms
ths datectiye. Mr.. Murphy took me aside ana y
formed me that he had given tho detective $'1. -
IL. xxaa anQuQt. 09o