Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1873-11-26

e Judge Davis then delivered the sentence in
] deliberate manner and clear voice as follows
| William M. Tweed, you stand convicted BY
, the verdict of an intelligent and honest jury
, of a large number of the crimes charged
, against you in this Indictment. That YER
dict, in the opinion of the Court, could moi
have been otherwise rendered without VIC.
lation of the oaths which the jury had taken,
and an utter disregard of the obligations
under which they rested to speak the truth,
and the truth only, by their verdict. The
proof when laid before the jury at the close
Of the case, was simply mathematical dem
onstration of your guilt. Holding high pub
lie office; honored and respected by large
class of the community in which you lived
and [ have no doubt, beloved by your asso-
ciates you, with most important trusts de-
volved upon you. and with every opportuni-
ty, by faithful discharge of your duty, to
win the honor and respect of the whole COM
munity, saw fit to abuse and pervert the pow
! ers with which you were clothed, in man
ner more infamous and more outrageous than
ever shown in any instance of like character
which the history of the civilized world dis
closes. Instead of protecting the public you
plundered il. Instead of standing guard
where the law placed you, over the treasury
OF your county, you threw it open--not
merely to your own rapacity; but to the av-
arice of your associates under circumstances
which make it clear that there was con-
certed conspiracy to plumber the treasury OF
this county in order to enrich yourself and
your associates in crime. The evidence on
that subject can leave no moral doubt of your
guilt. Commencing with the organization
of the Board of Audit by the resolution OF
the 9Th of May, we find that your career of
plumber began on the very next day. And
from that time forward, c0nsecutlvely, day
by day, until the whole 100 accounts had
been audited, certified warrants issued. and
the money paid, the evidence Is conclusive
that every step of the proceedings was taken
to carry out concerted plan to enrich your
self and those associated with you. Ii there
were no other circumstance in the case to
prove that, it would, in my judgment, be con-
cIusively established by the fact that on each
of these several claims, as they were passed
upon and ultimately paid, your share OF the
plunder was equal fixed, prescribed evident
ly at 24 per cent, and the shares OF your asso-
clates seem to have been measured by a sim
liar standard. 1t is impossible to believe
that on the distribution IN the 100 cases
where the money was received on these war
rants, 81 per cent should always have been
allowed to you unless it was understood in
advance, the arrangement that that sum
should be your proportion OF the moneys OF
which the county was to be plundef red.
When we see IN operation the machinery
Of an inventive genius and observe that at
each revolution a fixed quantity of some
manufactured article is turned out, we
argue from that result that it is the work of
1 mind in which thought and reflection have
developed themselves in that particular
form.
And when we see the machinery through
which you operated producing similar re-
suit, always alike in form, it is impossible
not to see that behind its operations lay a
concerted conspiracy by which you, in COM
mon with the others who shared the plunder,
were able to reap the fruits of grave and aw-
full crimes.
1t is vain to suggest that your trial and
conviction have been the result of any parti-
san feeling, or that the effort to bring you to
Justice has been a struggle-as one person
summoned as a Juror sald-between "the
ms " and {" the outs"
No, the whole contest has been a struggle
between honesty and fraud, between virtue
and crime. While it is true that one great
anu EuNcIiul ICduluS pdp0i III eHio wy; ~
longing to a particular party, was the first
to drag to light and hold up to the public
eye these Infamous frauds, yet it is equally
true that prominent and honorable men OF
all parties united to investigate and develop
their true character. Mr.. O'COnor, who
holds the foremost rank in his profession and
stands without a stain Oh character as pure
and noble as any in this city, Immediately,
from his seml-retlrement, came to aid IN the
rescue of his native city from the grasp of
corruption. Mr.. Tiiden, who stood as a
loading man al the head of the great Demo-
cratic party of this State, devoted weeks ana
months of toll in ferreting out these crimes.
and ID ascertaining through the bank ac-
counts the true character of what had been
done, until he was able to lay before US on
this trial, in absolute crystalline simplicity,
he truth so clear and plain that no man
could fail to read it. need not allude to
other prominent men of your own party who
have taken active parts IN the proceedings
that have ultimately led to your conviction.
1t would be wrong, it would be unjust to en-
terrain for one moment the idea that your
conviction has been the result of persecution
at the hands OF any person or any party.
1t has been the result of the ascertanment
Of the truth and of the production OF evidence
50 clear and plain that never in my expert
ence or in my reading have | seen a case
where the proof was so utterly overwhelm-
ing. or where it was SO impossible for the
Jury to fail to see the truth Through the
whole of this trial until your conviction you
have remained as calm and serene as if you
relied upon innocence for an acquistal,
while it was overwhelmingly apparent that
your serenity was only audacity-an auda
ciuus confidence in the omnl potence oil cor
ruptIon rather than reliance upon integrity
aud innocence. 1t is the duty of the Court
to pronounce upon you a sentence that may
be in some degree adequate to your crimes.