The sun., 1873-09-19
THE BROOKLYN ROBBERY.
THE Trust COMPANY, NOT IHE
TREASURER, THE CULPRIT.
Exploding the Theory that tho Money was
stolen white In Transit from the Treasury
20 the Bank-Thc Trust Company Respon-
sible for the DefaicatiOn.


Expiodips the Theory that the Money was
stolen white In Transit from the Treasury
to the Bank-Tbe Trust Company RespoB-
siblc for the Defaication.
The delay Of District Attorney Britton
In procuring indictments against Rodman and
sprague, despite his daily repeated assertions
that he has conclusive evidence of their guilt, Is
one Of the mysteries that surpasses the comprc-
hension Of the average citizen and Is the sub
jcct Of endless comment. Rodman was arrested
nearly three weeks ago, aud 1t was then an
| nounced that the testimony against him was
| mplete and unanswerabe, and that his case
would bo laid before tho Grand Jury imme-
diatcly on the assembling Of that body. The
Grand Jury was impanelled week ago last
Tuesday, but up to the present moment they
are officially ignorant of the existence OF such a
| person as Rodman, much less that he is the
urraut thief and Official robber the boasted
evidence and his own confession prove hun
| to he.
Near tho close Of last week Mr.. Winchester
! Briitou returned from Europe, threw on MS
coat, rolled up lis sleeves, and went at the work
Of prosecuting criminals with more zeal ana
earncstness than Is wont to be displayed by
! modern District Attorneys. His enterprise was
| SO conspicuously displayed that poor ROdinan
was quickly
FRIGHTENED INTO THE CONFESSIONAL,
as tho only alternative to term in state Prison,
| and there revealed the fact that the dead Mtlls
| and the diving Spragtio were the great offenders,
| in whose hands lac had been but puppet. on
| this confession Sprague was quickly placed In
| arrest and the astute prosecuting officer Of tho
| county made haste to'lay before the public tho
arrest was based fortified With his own assur-
| anCc that every word OF the charge was currubo-
| rated by documentary evidence. According 10
| ihc SAME authority tho culprits were but three
| I'm number Mills, who was dead; Sprhgue, who
was IN the grasp Of the law law and hndmn,i, WHO a,
! on the witness stand and case NE conscience
But despite all this readiness ~ the proof and
| the prisoners. Notwithstanding this complete
ness Of the case the learned District Attorney
has allowed an entire week TO elnp;c, during
slit ngs and yet delays to submit the case to
them for their action. surely the people have
reason to suspect that there Is some hitch I'm the
business; that II Is not all SO clear sailing as was
at first represented or else that there IL an uu-
seen power wurkug ,huEnliy LOT iue PIutVsfVtI"h
Of the guilty and t. deleat The ends OF Justice.
the CHARGE AGAINST RoDMAS AND sPRAGUE.
The charge on which both Rodman and
SprAguc wee arrc-tcd, stripped uf all legal mis-
tincdtion. IL apr lpriating TO their own use
stealing money belonging to the city OF brook
lyn, intrusted to their care and custody. Tech
nlcaly they are charged with embeLLllng city
funds. felony punishable by lmprisonnent IN
the state prison. when arrested Mr.. Rudman
declared himself innocent Of THIS crime, and
| his counsel Informed "a reporter OF TnE Sun that
| he had a good defence and could not be con-
victed. Later he made confession duplicating
Nit Sprague as The principal In the commission
Of this very crime which he had previously de-
ciared had not been committed, and which hls
counsel sald could not he proven. When Mr..
sprague was arrested, he also, despite Rod
| mans so-called confession. asserted his innu-
cence, which was so generally believed that no
trouble was experienced in securing tDOUJ bail
to save him from the indignity of imprson-
ment. lli- couu.sl' ais ,l"IehEe tuc IToM1i M 81 ~
! his guiI:, with tho utmost assurance ul their
ability to clear him.
ACCOUNTING ron BnTrToN's DELAY.
In conversation with an eminent and able
lawyer of the Kings county bar Yesterday the
representative 4 'ruE suS asked how he, .ac-
counted Tor Brlton's delay Ia plocurng indlct-
mcuts against these men, The trouble is'
replied the lawyer, that Mr. Britton finds him
self unable to frame an indictment against them
that viii hold water brief examination II
the financial system and policy Of BruYk&n VIII
more clearly illustrate the difficulty Mr.. BiittOu
encounters, which Is alluded to IN the aboN,
Previous 10 Comptroller Schroeder's accession
to oflice the Culicc'o Of Taxes was accustomed
to deposit the daily receipts OF his Office In q
bank of his swu selection, and TO liis own ohci,
credit. After the business Of the day Wa
closed he would make up statement u re
cept- and the several funds to which they sp
m0rnSg 9ISTS' Would forwsrd This staten ent to ia,
! tity Treasurer, accompanied with his check ot
called for by the statement This check Wa
, invariably made payable to the order OF th'
r Treasurer of the City of Brooklyn, and thus he
came city property or money.
Mr.. SCHROEDER OBJECTED
to this system, which had prevailed for man
year., and insisted that the money collecte,
the Treasurer on the very day Of ts receipt, an,
| In the precise form u It's receipt that Is, II
what what other ,I representation Of money might hav
been received In the ordinary course OF busi
ness during the day. The Collector protcste'
that such a course was .mpractcable, and con
! tended against adopting IL until the CumptroIe
had begun legal proceedings against him nn'
rally To conform Il the law. This mandate Wa
not obtained until quite recently, indeed suhse
Quent TO the date Of any Of the criminal trausac
lions alleged against either Spriguc or Rodman
that II IS clear that during all the time the I'm
putcd stealing was going on the receipts Ia th
trcasur, were IN checks, payable To- tie order %
the city Treasurer. This held good with
sISGLE EXCEPTION.
Police Magistrates and other Justices mpos
iug zines on prisoners for violations u city ordi
n nnnceS, or rather offences for which the tine
% went To- the city treasury, made their payment
- to the treasurer in money, and this was the ont
II actual money the City Treasurer handled, AM
?, II amounted to but a triiling sum. The checks
90 payable TO the order of tile City Treasurer. clear
10 ! ly represented city money, and were so cousid
a, cred 'by all banks and bankers and no ind,yidua
"a could draw money on them. Ihey could he an
r were received by the banks, and placed TO th
70 credit # the city only when endorsed 10y th
Cty Treasurer. The city had and has It's pc
., prcsently '1 be- shown, wGci, a. every bank in IA
1t tity hed deposits Of cry money was iull
n uudcr-tpo and respected hy them. To pay ou
Il the city money in manner ditcrent from th.
A. / prescribed would render the dcpU-tdry ina
a the cry Treasurer with his oncial endorse
~ mout on the back Of his check could draw u
money ON II. To verify this "A SlN Icpnrtt
called AZ one OF the banks of deposit and nsko
whether the Treasurer could get a city che"
cashed If endorsed 10y himself. The reply wa
"Ccrt.iuiy not The reporter then ask ed hu
IL the Treasurer could distribute his deposl
among the various banks, and received
NJ THIS ENPLANATIoN.
"a "Sunpose the Treasurer should receive tod
=" Cucck for $lOOO0 payable to his order a. @
cr Treasurer tie would come to this bank af
~ say perhaps that he wanted 70 deposit s5Lopl
, | tnat amount with us and the rest with son
~ other bank. We would require him 20 endor
lk his $4,000 check, which We would then tax
N, | and return 10 him our own check Tor SSl,W
-. | payable as the other was, TO the order of tl
u' | city Treasurer. We would then credit the CT
~ | account on our books with $1,000. He won
.u take our check to some other bank and depo'
" 1t, where il would be placed 10 the credit of q
10 city precisely as we had credited the $4,000
~ our books
W. From this explanation Il IL apparent that un
'r the r"rcut change maugurtted 10y Comptroll
10 Schroeder the Treasurer not only did not hand
IA" any money, but could not get any To- hhnd
~ When pay were to bo made the Com
'ir trOllCr wuuld draw "A warrant Tor the amour
Ia payable 10 the creditor demanding the warral
in That warrant required to he counterstlned
ia the Mayor ana then endorsed by the cry Ccl
-" So prepared IL went 10 the city Treasurer. !
u, he'd To IL were two tickets In the form o
coupon. one of these the City Treasurer wou
detaCh, and the other was hlled out with
order the particular bank from which I