New-York tribune., 1875-10-12
PRIvATE Practice ~ PUBLIC OFFICE

PRIVATE PRACTICE ~ PUBLIC OFFICE
The letter of Mr.. Stephen II. Hammond,
Democrat Chairman of the Ways and Means
Committee of the last Assembly, of which we
gave a synopsis day or two ago, was a
curious document. 1t was the confession OF
Deputy Attorney General of this State, who
held that position for sixteen years, that he
received a certain sum of money from an
insurance company whose affairs were the
subject of investigation by the Superlntend-
ent of Insurance, and might have been
the subject of action by the Attorney-Gen-
eral This is the confession; the defense Is
that when he was asked by the officers OF the
Knickerbocker Life Insurance Company to make
the exhibit called for by Superintendent Mil
ler of unsavOry memory, he first satisfied
himself "that the company was solvent be-
"yOnd any possible contingency and then
accepted retainer of $500, his entire com
pensaton amounting, it is said, to $4,000.
If this is true. and if ''the Superintendent,
"haying completed his examination, reported
"the company not only entirely sound. but
"haying surplus beyond any requirement of
"law," Mr.. Hammond might have saved the
company $500 by reporting the result of his
original investigation directly to the Superin-
tcpdent. If Mr.. Miller and Mr.. Hammond had
formed a combination to blacknai this COM
pany, their method of procedure could hardly
have been different from this.
1t il of little consequence whether Slr. Ham
mond did much work or little fOr this money.
The evidence in the legislative investigation
into Superintendent Millers acts, printed with
Mfr. Hammond's letter in The Genera Courier,
goes to show that he did little or nothing.
But his acceptance of the fee would have
been Just ~ fragrant violation of the
proprieties of his Office if he had
earned it by hard work and actual
LEGAL services. Mr.. Hammond meets this point
by showing that the law providing that the
" Attorney General shall not act IA attorney in
any private suit unless the people shall be
interested in the event thereof" was repealed
in 1913, leaving the Attorney General or his
Deputy free to engage in private practice.
But Mr.. Hammond forgets that the Ten Com
mandments have never been repealed, and that
there are certain unwrtten laws of honor and
integrity which no legislation can affect. His
plea that the examination of the superintendent
would have been concluded before it could have
become necessary for him to take official action,
i'm case the report made II necessary IL absurd.
The moral quality of his action will be made
as clear rs MONDAY, if we suppose Mr.. Ham
mond to have been Deputy Attomey-General
when Gov. Tilden's Canal Message was sent
in to the Legislature, and that Auditor
Thayer refusing to pay moneys due on certain
contracts indicated in that message, Mr.. Ham
nond had accepted retainer from Denison,
Belden & Co. to argue their claim before the
Auditor.
Mr.. Hammond owes it to his party to with
draw from the canvass for Senator from the
XXVIth District, and the people, If he does
not withdraw, owe it to the State to defeat
him. This is a bad time for bad records, and
we want no men with records like this in a
Reform Senate The TRIBUNE urges all honest
citizens to cast their votes against him, just as
we urge them TO vote against William Is.
Woodin, because he was one of William NJ.
Tweed's legislative accompices; just as we
urge them To vote against John II. Selk-
reg, because he sells his vote by stealth
and blushes to find it fame; just as