Smyrna times., 1873-10-15
MS eIIU ID e D IL s.
The Secrets of Intimidation.

In the public prosecutors Office, in New
\ Ork, lie stored away the records of the guilty
the penltence, the secret woe of great CITY,
Thousands OF documents cover its shelves af
tecting the reputation of families, whose pub
licatiOn might bring disgrace to respectable
names that are filled with the details Ofcrimes
and commitments, of petitions and promises,
of the tOrtuous course of famous cases, of the
anguish of relatives and friends, of efforts at
cOncesment that have often proved ehrectual,
OF charges that were suppressed by influence
or corruption, of the histories of the mOurnfu
proofs Of human tallibility Neither wealth.
responsibility, real worth, nor personal emi
nence has always shielded our citizens from the
weakness Of seeking help from public prOsecu-
tors for their erring friends or relatives, of
asking favors, and promising return. The
fear of public shame, of family disgrace, is an
element of singular power in a community; it
has often made abject towards of the most
resOlute, and has brought honorable men to
consent to disreputable courses TO the un.
scrupulOus and daring public official it has
proved a source OF despotic tyranny, and we
are told that during the prevalence of the re-
cent corrupt rule in our city the secrets of its
legal offices were used freely to compel reputa-
BILE citizens TO lend their aid to the crowd of
thieves who preyed upon us, and that one COM
mon method of intimidation was to threaten
| the exposure Of the guilt Of a relative or the
errors of friend.
| Revolving as such node Of obtaining poli.
tical influence must seem to every honorable
mind, to the men who then ruled us it is said
to have been only usual pastime. They de.
manded from their victim his aid or his 81
lence; they produced from the public records
| the secret by which he was unclaimed. Some
times the disclosure would affect his own re-.
putation, sometimes that of his family, some
times that of his friend But the tOrturous
pressure was mercilessly applied, and often in
tears and anguish he lent his cOuntenance to
the shameless band who should long ago have
been shut up in the darkest cells of Sing Sing.
One instance is told as follows: A prominent
citizen when the reform movement began was
active in the cause, and allowed his name to
be published in the ist of the reformers. He
was man of high character, and might have
proved slngularly dangerous to the thieves who
were in power They resolved to disarm him.
They learned from the public officials that one
of his relatives had committed some gross
crime, and that dishoner and sorrow might
he easily brought to the reformer's family.
They printed On account of the family shame.
brought it to him. and threatened instant pub
ication unless he withdrew his influence from
the cause of reform. In tears and anguish he
| told his situation to friend-he begged for
|
public modification, and soon withdrew from
the ranks of the reformers. In another case a
person whom we shall call Mr.. A--was also
active in his assaults upon the Ring. He was
wealthy and respected; no one was louder in
denOuncing the public robbers, or bolder ia
demanding their punishment. But suddenly
he changed. He now mildly extenuated theiI
crimes, and suggested that they were possibly
not so bad as he had supposed Yet he, too
confessed the cause of his sudden change il
bursts of tears Some early error or some ae
which might have disturbed his domestic
peace had been traced to him. Here too, the
thieves had brought to him printed account
of their charge, and had threatend publication
unless he recanted. He did so, moved by {
false shame. He sold his property, removed
from the city, and has never recovered from
the terror of harmless disclosure.
We have mentioned this use of intimidation
by our recent rulers 10 show by what means
they may still influence our public boards, anC
force honest men to yield 10 their purposes
Nothing is more remarkable than the want O
courage displayed by some of our reformers
We want in the new elections q stronger race
who will neither fear SANDER nor yield d
threats, who are not afraid to meet their plum
derers boldly, who, if they have sinned, ar,
not ashame 10 own il and 10 make public the
repentance, and who are resolved TO eradicate
) every trace of corruption. The thieves ar'
again menaciDg us. They show their shame
less faces boldly in public; they are preparing
! to carry the fall elections and Cnce more thrus
their hands into the public purse Let thC
people strike down every one of them, aud LEI
their companions and instruments fall will
them.-HgrpeT's Weekly.