The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1874-12-31
AahfEal
HISTORY OF THE SAFE BURGLARY
CASE.

mixed that an lntelligible account oi
the case. one 0f the most remarkable
in our LEGAL annals, has never been given
until recently, The following account
from the Boston Advertiser, will be of in
terest, now that the case is over for the
present. '.1 l. 'EtI
During the last session of Congress an
Investigation of the conduct Of affairs by
the Territorial Government of the Dis
trict was entered upon and prosecuted
with energy. The motive of this inves-
tigation was a memorial 10 Congress ask
ing for it, which was signed by Columbus
Alexander, w. w. Corcoran, and other
respectable tax-paying citizens, who al
legged that they had reason to believe the
officers of the territorial government
guilty of a corrupt exercise of their au-
thority. The suspicion of such malfea-
sanCe in office was notoriously common
in Washington and elsewhere wherever
enough was known to base a judgment
upon. When the matter was brought
before Congress by the memoriaists an
investigation was ordered. There was
some reluctance on the part of several
Senators, it will be remembered, to serve
on the investigating committee, but after
aWhiea committee was constituted which
set about to business, and with little diff
Guilty found out that the condition of
things was bad enough. The result of
theirrepOrt was the overthrow, of the Dis
trict q Jyernment, the appointment of a
commission to draft new scheme gov
ernment for the District, and the estab.
lishment of Il provisional government
have cnarge of the public interests ad
interim. ,......, ....,. H
The Assistant District Attorney under
the Territorial Government was a lawyer
named Harrington, and he appeared at
the sitting of the investigating committee
as counsel for Governor A. K. Shepherd
and the other members of the Board of
Public Works and officers of the Terrific
rial government, who soon came to be
designated AS the Washington Ring. Har-
rington was superviceable to his clients
in the way of preventing the Investiga
ton Committee from finding out TIE facts
they were searching for. Some informa-
tion the committee and memOrialists par
ticularly desired to obtain, was supposed
to be spread upon the books of John G.
Evans & Co., firm having dealings with
the ring There was turned over to the
committee set of books purporting to be
those of the firm, but the suspicion was
strong that the set was not the genuine,
original one. This suspicion, together
with many circumstances in connection
with the investigation, made the case
look blue with the ring. 1t became clear
that nothing would re-establi h htheirpres-
tige but the breaking down III some way
of the character of theImen active in push-
ing the investigation. ..H ..
One night last spring the safe in the
office Of Harrington, the District Attor-
ney, was mysteriously robbed of a bundle
of papers. The robber was taken into
custody when leaving the doorsteps of
the house of Columbus Alexander, one of
the memorialists, whittier he had been
tracked by officers Of the Secret Service,
who. by remarkable good fortune, were
standing by to see the burglary commit
tel. Immediately the report was dill
gently spread that Alexander had put up
the Job in his excessive zeal to procure
evidence against the ring, and he was, we
believe, arrested for completely in the rob-
berry. The matter was at once taken
recognizance of by the investigating COM
mittee, who made thorough investipl-
ton of the case, with the result that AL
exander was cleared of suspicion, and ey-
idenCe obtained which indicated that the
job was put up by Harrington himself,
with the guilty completely of A. B. Will
liams, and Assistant Prosecuting AttOr-
ney of the Washington Police Court; Col.
II. c. Whitley, Chief Of the Secret Service
of the Treasury Department, and |. C..
Nettleship, Col. Whitelys first assistant,
who employed some notorious burglars
to break open the safe, abstract docu-
ments, and deliver them to Alexander,
who was TO have been arrested at the in
stant of receiving stolen property and 50
involved in felony, by which means
the investigation of Harrington's clients
would be broken down. 1t happened
however that Alexander did not answer
the summons of his door bell, and the
plan failed to that eXteat.
The evidence before the Congressional
Committee was of such serious charac-
ter that the treasury department took
cOgniZance of it in 50 far as it effected the
officers of the secret service department,
and that branch Of it was thoroughly in
vestigated by law officer, whose infOr-
nation being submitted to the Secretary
of the Treasury, that officer dismissed
from the employ of the Government
Whitley, Nettleship, and the rest, and,
indeed, reOrganized the Secret Service
Division altogether In the course of
time the grand jury had the case submit
ted to them, and Harrington, Williams,
Whitley and Nettleship were indicted
for conspiracy to commit burglary
Their trial on this indictment is the case
now drawing to an end. The chief evil
dence for the prosecution is supplied by
one of the burglars named Hayes, who
turned States evidence and told start
ling story of the negotiations conducted
by Whitley and Nettleship, by which his
professional services were secured for a
price and a guaranty that he would not
have to remain in Jail long. During the
past week some of the defendants in the
case have secured the arrest of Hayes
on the charge Of perjury, but this is in
some quarters said only to be trick to
discredit this story with jury. There
are many episodes connected with this
case which have special interest, such
as the spiriting awav Of important wit
nesses, and the release on nominal bail
application Of one of the alleged conspir-
ators, Of an alleged confederate. The
District Attorney, Harrington, being on
trial, the prosecution Of the case has been
in charge Of Assistant Attorney General
Clement H. Hill and A.-G.- Riddle Ofthe
Washington bar, who was specially COM
missioned by the Department Of Justice.
/ .auLl LlL M- ~ sj.H.'
#IFI. .. Nf.tf.HI -.H HtIl .H..
'-'t V0 HOJpTP (fECa, TJEpE. I,..