Wilmington journal., 1872-01-19
some of the Developments of the
Fraud Commission.

The testimony taken by the Fraud Com |
mission, of which the Attorney General of !
the State is Chairman, now in process of I
publication, discloses, positively, or sugges- /
tively, all of the villainy which the honest /
public had been led to suspect, and presents |
the most eloquent commentary that could !
be furnished on the beauties of g Radical
Reconstruction" 1t unfolds wholesale
system of bribery, corruption and spolia-
ton, and individual instances Of trickcry
and venality, that are positively amaZ-
ing ands shocking to n people, who, like
those of North Carolina, hardly believed in
the existence of such things, before the
contamination of carpet-bag thieves and
swindlers. Much of the rascality which
has been perpetrated is left to inference,
but 1t Is the inference which is supported
by the strongest circumstantial evidence
while enough is avOwed er crtortcd, to
stamp the period of Radical ''loyal rule
in North Carolina,-commencin with the
sO-called Reconstruction Convention and
ending with the August election in $50
as the carnival of plunderers and robbers
and the era of disgrace and damning dam
age to the State.
Passing over, for the present, the Com
mittee,s investigations into the affairs of the
Cape Fear Navigation Company. which
constitutes the opening portion of the Re
port, the first witness put on the stand, in
connection with the Penitentiary sWindle is
Mr.. j. NJ. Heck, of Raleigh. The readers
ef the Pickwick papers will remember that
that remarkable parsonage, Mr.. Samuel
Weller, when interrOgated as TO whether
he SaaC the person who made the noise in
court, (the noise aforesaid being an excla-
nation by Sans choleric male parent,)
solemnly looked up to the ceiling, and de-
elared that he did not! Mr.. Heck's mem
ory really seems to have been as badly
affected as Mr.. Weller's vision. We have
never known a case In which witness was
more forgetful but as Heck was joint-Ic-
cipient, with 4 most disreputable Yankee
3dventurer, by the name of Pruyn, OF
100000 in bonds for a piece OF property
probably not worth more than One-tenth or
the amount-as he and Prlyn, Jointly, made
all the representations as to the value of the
property, &C., and as it appears by subse-
Quent evidence, he was paid for "some''
service, $4,000 by Swepson, which amount
was "chdrged" to Littlefield,-the infer
ences are that Mr.. Heck, like little Jack
Homer,
''Put in his thumb
And pulled out plum,
Of remarkably good size and flavor!
Jim Harriss, (colored,) next appears
Apon the scene. The former witness ''re-
membered" but little the sable Jeems
2sas,c but little. He frequently borrowed
money from the banks, with Littlefield to
endorse for him, but he always paid at
maturity! He knew nothing of money
given for votes or infuence,-not he
Littlefeld, Swepson, Heaton and Deweese
were so impressed with his magnanimity in
backing out In favor of the latter for Con-
Rress, that it was determined, in formal
conference in Swepson's room, that he
must have a douceur in the shape of a
thousand or two, which Swepson paid and
charged" to the balance, all of whom, save
one, we believe, paid their assessments
Ako ~CnAfR0U' IL 10 D6NeeSe or SOMEBODY
else. At subsequent period, it appears
that Harriss received some $500, limo.
Gently and gracefully, of course.
Mr.. r. W. Lassiter, Radical Senator
from Granville, figures next. Here, again
We were left TO those inferences, which arr
sometimes more damaging than positive
fActs, and especially damaging when &C
eompanied by suspicious facts. 1t appears
chat Littleheld, the Jack Sheppard OF Radi
Cal reconstruction in North Carolina, hat
also a finger in the Penitentiary pie; thai
before the location of the site by the com
aittee, (of which Mr.. Lassiter was mem
eer,) Littleheld bought of him, at extrava
CANT figures, a poor piece of land In Gran
Vile, which, to this day, he Nittleield> hai
never seen!
We ahaN pursue, hereafter, the regular
succession of witnesses. 1t viii answer
GOT the present, by way of general sum.
EAEy,f TO say that one Rosenthal, fonfden-