New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1872-01-11

| City, with their money and Their concu-
bines. From across the ferry they shouted
defiance ut Judges and laws, and Or
ganizcd gangs of mcrcenaries to keep
guard about the tavern which they called
| their fort. They maintained this attitude for
weeks, and when they were ready to divide
their rlunder with the spectators on this side
of the river they made their bargain, came
over in broad daylight, and laughed at the
Supreme Court. We have more than once told
the history of this shameful proceeding, by
which the road was first robbed Of S0,COO,OOO,
| and then handed over to Fisk and Gould, as
| their personal property. And what became OF
the order of arrestl Why, Judge Barnard put
| it in his pocket, and entered the service OF
the men against whom it had been issued.
The degradation of the bench was now
complete. At Fish's call, Barnard left his
mothers death-bed in POuglkeepsie to sign
outrageous ex pafte orders Of indeed ms sig
nature was not fraudulently affixed afterwaiG)
in the apartments of Fishs mistress. Al
Fisk's ORDER the telegraph was used to serve
writs in Albany purporting to be issued III Now
York. At Fislis demand, when the great goa
conspiracy broke down, tWenty-elght lJuhc-
tons were sued out to save the consplfltOrS lIoh
the consequences CT their ruined enterprise anu
men whom they Lad sWindled were forDlddeh 10
appcar in court except in the character OF
criminals At Fisk'5 bchest, when the EnSlish
investors attempted to save their deprecl-
ating property, Barnard seized sixty thousand
shares of stock, and placed them virtually N
FisL's hands, to be voted with and Cancelled.
At Fisl's order, the Supreme Court became a
tool OF the Erie Company in its raid upon the
Albany and Susquchanna road. and prosecuted
Ramsey with injunctions and fraudulent ac-
tions, which have only been dropped since the
death of their prime mover And as corruption
on the bench spreads downward and destroys |
in time the moral dignity and purity of the bar.
so it was possible for these vulgar rogues to use
az the instruments Of their msdceds distin-
guishcd advocate whose sense of honor bad |
been described rs "QuiXOtic," and lawyer |
who had but Just exposed i'll the public press |
the very same abuses in which he was now re-
quired to participate. These were the men
with whose help Fisk took gang of ruilians
to Albany to carry railway election by force
when he could not control it by fraud. These
were the men finally with whose help he hlled
the measure of his Ofenses by violating the
personal freedom of his adversaries. =,
The discovery which he made when MI
Bowles WAS thrown into prison, III the ChIio'
mas season of 1868, that his power over 'no
courts was great enough even 10 OBTAIN d"
order of arrest whenever he Wahted IT. was
not forgotten. lie tried it at the very De9in-
ming of his quarrel with Stokes about tlls
woman, Mansfield, ana lie Would
,ove tried il AGAIN if his life had been pro-
onged. In the lawsuit which ended III his
assassination, the opposite party had been
,arassed by Fisk with countcr-suits, enjoned
rom producing evidence, threatened with IN
and damages for libel. Rightly or
wrongly, il had become general understand
NO that Fisk'S control over certain Judges
vas so complete that no litigant could meet
i'm on equal terms. In the game of law, the
Prince of Erie played VITA loaded dice. The
nd came when he caused the Grand Jury to
ndict Stokes for conspiracy. Then his enemy
urncd at hay.
We offer no apology, much less an eX-
of the crime. 1t Is not Ior
Is to Judge between these two worthless
men, Whatever can be said IN defense
# the assassin will be said i'll the proper
inc and place whatever can be salh III
barity of the dead has been repeated day
lfter day III the newspapers. but leu us looh
It the case squarely and take its teachings to
leart. The man who tempered with the
ourts has fallen by the fruit of his own cor
mt interference When the course OF justice
= interrupted, the lawless vendetta OF the
lnife and pistol inevitably takes Its place
Perhaps the startling manner Ill which this
ruth has now been brought home to us may
i've n fresh stimulus to the spirit OF reform
already working in the community. Iammany
ell under tho weight of its plumber, and
when it seemed strongest and most prosperous
vas suddenly crushed by its own sins. Tho
abuses of the law have apparently reached
corresponding point, where they must be over
turned 10y their own cnormity. 1t would be
strange instance of that poetical justice which
loes now and then show itself in human
affairs. if Fisk after debauching the judges
hiring his lifetime should be the means of
them after his deatr. Let the Leg
stature consider what is above rccited and
the Bar Association Will prove, and give u |
prompt action.
-------------------
COL. LEETS GENERAL OhDER fR5UDS. |
1t is an unfortunate consequence of the de- |