The sun., 1873-09-01


A Sun reporter conversed about the de-
fdcation, yesterday afternoon, with Mr.. de
Witt, the CORPORATION Attorney OF Broaklyn, at
his residence In Cumberland street.
MY connection with the case said Mr.. De
witt, "ends officially with the protection Of the
city against loss. The criminal prosecution de-
wolves upon the District Attorney, and 1 am
satisfied that he will honestly endcavor -
secure a prompt conviction. Mr Rodmau's
crime was certainly Of the most fragrant char
acter, and admits, - far a. am conyersaut with
the facts, Of no excuse or palhat'on."
"Do YOU know" asked the reporter, whether
Mr. Rodmau had any partners iu his crime or
II there are any parties who would he Affected
10y an entire exposure of the fact~t'
81 have heard" Was the reply that Mr. Rod
man has threatened To- make some exposures,
but personally know nothing about 1t. have
had 10 talk with him. and have only seen him
In court since his arrest. There has been 40
pressure brought To bear upon me Ia h.- favor
since his arrest, and no effort TO stiHe the facts.
OF course Mr.. Mills was, TO a greater OF less eX-
tent partner In Rodman's guilt. Mr.. sprague,
too. will be held morally accountable 10y some.
lie was certainly to blame. because he knew Of
the stealing II nfy thousand dollars 10y bis
deputy three wears ago and. instead of stopping
the matter and exposing IL, he all owed kudiuAn
10 20 On ana treble the amount. But. Whatever
fauit Mr. Spragus may have committed. he l.
suffering IN full atonement nov and - dispo-ed
To make every amend In hi power. lie NEGLECT
b t. cueck the robbery uTomytly viii make a com.
IaratiNsly poor man OF him. lie Uas
TURNED HIs PROPERTY ovrR To THE CITY.
including even the furniture In his house. lie
is utterly urHkcu VIA, both no finances and iu
hcaltu. and nls wuIs' cucia, could n but pily
him 90. hi- present circumstances The papers
a-- -ung DIS property {" t!e city auihortic-
we're .uadc uut Yesterday, aud Ir'-.tuo have
/ uc,u -isu-d. cxauined the p,por-, aud Alu
/ tuat 10, vii have -niutthins len after al nc
good the delinquency. the assignment IN
Clu.rs his house. STOCKS. and uersu undi proper. So
"W .u tlg s,rt.uc be atir 60 sct anything
| That du not know. None ~ the property
| turned over ly Nlr. Surasue bore any trace pi
thiuK t rnttcr douhtfll Il he can re-
. cover auyt"ius, i"r 1t wa in the hope
.Nulanai,u. tuat lie allowed the defalcatIou to
tun along The story Is tuat Mills and Euumau
. originally took SJoUO from the Trust Company,
and that Mill, tnen replaced the dencit with the
! citys money. Mr sprague discovered the fraud.
| AZ. demanded arestitution; but they begged
| ur. and Promised - refund at some early day.
| And So II dragged along. the men putting SIR.
/ sprague on with false promises, and getting
deeper in the mire all me tiuie wanted to
! Sprasue's friends begged for delay. saying that
/ II would lie unjust TO him to precipitate hi.
hodu an would make good At least q portion 9f
/ the theft. had kodmHn under police surSell-
lance all last week up TO his arrest, and he
oouLDS N HANE FLED
/ II lac had been disposed. Finally the arrest
J was m.ide.'
"Dil SIR kingsley urge the arrest o! Rod
/ mani
Yes; he was very indignant because Mir.
! SprdguC, while SHOWING OF the robbery, Induced
him to become his bondsmdu.
| " las there been auS pressure brought To bear
upon Iou. Mr.. Dewitt, to induce SOu To loresO
/ the prosecution
NO. There was All effort at delay. as | have
! said in order to see If Ar. Sprasue could not he
partially secured; but that was before the ar
rest"
/ who have appeared a. Rodman's friends. or
] as fearing the result of an inNestigationi
The efforts In his behalf have been made 10y
] his COUNSEL but | do not regard IL as possible
] that they can procure bail for MN. Nor do |
! think the ball excessive. i was In court yester-
/ ddy to oppose "A reduction, aud should have
! done 50 had not the Assistant District Attorney
! gained his point without my help. As said be-
lore, | believe there IL "a dispus,ticn to promptly
| convict Rudman, and II will undoubtedly he
done. As for the citys Interests. they are fully
/ protected ] here VIII he no necessity even for
/ cytl suit Mr. sprague has turned over more
/ Then Their are his bondsmen, all good vii per-
| haps one exception, and none of them dispute
] their liability should they be called on. Be
! sides this, believe that
TUE IHUST COMPANY Is Liable
/ for The funds deposited with them, and stolen
/ by their agent
| Are YOU aware OF the theory of Mr.. Rodman's
| defenCef'
NO, sir, and I cannot see the shadow Of
possible defence In his case, His counsel of
course will iuterpose all the available legal quib-
| bios, but on the merits there can be no sound
! defeut e.