New-York tribune., 1875-12-06
THE ESCAPE OF TWEED.


Two years ago William NJ. Tweed was sen
fenced to the pcnitentary, and instead OF gong
| there he was conducted to comfortable room
! in the Tonbs. If he had been an undistin-
| guished man who had stolen elhaps In a
moment of extraordinary temptation-a few
hundred dollars, the prison van would have
been waiting for him when he left the court
and he would have been ratified off to his cell
| and dressed in roguc's livery without cero-
mony Being IA thief upon Il large scale, how
| ever who had stolen from ten to fifteen mil
| lions through long course of systematic vii
lainy, he was treated with the consideration due
| to a millionaire; and be was not taken to jail
| at all until the Governor interlered after some
weeks delay and obliged the Sheriff to do his
| duty. Transferred nt last to Backwclls
Island, he lived there like n prisoner of state,
with his private room and his private meals,
and his private secretary, his comforts all about
him. and his friends calling upon him whenever
| they pleased. He had tho privileges of the
grounds, and they say now that nothing pre-
vented his walking away except his unwilling
ness TO leave the stolen property behind him.
When the manner of his life on the Island
| caused public scandal, the Warden was
|
! effect: there seemed to be no power in the
| State to place William NJ. Tweed upon the
| saniC footing as the other conyicts. Liberated
by the Court of Appeals, lac went TO Ludlow
Street Jail on civil process, and there the
scandals of his former imprisonment were re-
| peatcd and magnified. He was not thief
with dozen indictments hanging over him
and suits pending for the seizure of all his
property besides but he was an eminent pub
lie character who had been unfortunate in
politics. lie rode about the city. He walked
in the Park. He went to his house. He dined
out. He entertained company. He was one OF
iovial party which Toasted recently at an up
town hotel. newly elected police justice being
his boon companion on that interesting occa-
siOn Meanwhile his counsel, virtually con-
Tossing that his case was indcfcnslble, were
fighting Justice with frivolous and dilatory
| pleas until the community grew indignant at
their efrontery. Their last device being ex-
bausted. and an immediate trial inevitable,
| Mr.. Tweed requested his obsequious attend
ants TO drive him, after dark, to his house OH
| Madison-ave.. and while they sat in the par
lor, chatting with some OF the family, he SAID
| he would " 20 up stairs And that Is the last
| that has been seen of him.
The dogged obstiDacy with which Tweed
stood his ground two years ago when the rest
Of the Ring took flight led most people to
| believe that ho would not run away, whatever
| might happen. His determination To face his
prosecutors was prompted partly by avarice,
| for ho had enormous Investments in this city
from which he could not bear the thought of
tearing himself away; and partly. no doubt,
il spiang from his intimate knowledge oi the
mysteries of Ncw-YOrk justice. He be
| lieyed that money could accomplish anything.
| Had he not tried il Ever since the cstab-
| lisbment of the Ring he had been buying
| legislatures, courts, judges. jurics, governors,
| sherifs, and lawyers, like 50 many cattle.
| Dealing IN this sort of stock was his special
business. lie did not see why the resource
| which had served him all these years should
| fail u0w human nature remaining just
| Che same and even the personnel of politics
| being very little changed and no doubt he
| cursed Sweeny and Connolly as fools and
| towards for running away from the city
| where they had been so comfortable, instead
of daring little temporary Inconvenience
| and fighting tho thing out. Ii is so often the
| fatal error Of bad men like Tweed that they
| take no account Of the operation OF moral infu-
ences of which they have no personal experience.
| The reform movement probably presented itself
| TO the "Boss" as nothing more than shlewd
| political scheme of his enemies, which could
| be combated by the same agencies he usually
| brought 90 bear against revolt in the Wig
| wan. or an unforeseen prep0nderance OF the
wrong party in election returns, or strike of
some hungry faction. 1t never occurred to his
mind that this could be a disintercsted and an
earnest uprising of the people, which would
| brace uD the cOnsciences of jurics, and give
acuteuess, nerve, and persistence to the peO-
pies advocates. Ii did not seem to him pos
! sible that great parsonage "inside politics.
with his creatures in every court and un-
counted millions ut his disposal, could ever be
! convicted and sent to Jail and even if that
amazing catastrophe should come TO pass he
had golden key which he believed would open
any prison in America.
AS one hope after another deceived him and
ho fell back to his last resort, it ought to have
been plain TO all of us what was about to hap
pen. In the tussle with the law, Tweed had
to contend against an aroused moral feeling
of the community, which strengthened and
sustained the courts and made them more