Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1876-04-20

CHaRLKs OCoxoR's DEFExcE.-The
original charge made BY the New York
Times, Or correrpssdent Of that pa-.
per. sgaisss the sninnt New York
lawyer, Charles O'Csnor, (~ho viii Be
remembered herebcuts % the presiden-
tial candidate Of our friesd, Mr.. Har-
ris, inthe late Grant Greeley campaiyno
was to the effect, that he permitted the
public to believe that be prosecuted Mrs.
Forests devoree suit gratuitoasly and
that when the Judgment for arrears Of
alimony 1854. 00O) was finally affirmed.
only $1,000 was paid over to the plaintiff,
the remainder cess. 000) being retained
BY her counsel, O'Conor sud Chase,
OConor receiving $4,000 and Chase
$4,000. To this impeachment Of the
Times, Mr.. O'Conor presents q memo
rial to the New York Bar Association,
Of which he is member, asking an inqui-
~ into his professional conduct. Inthe
same paper, whilst not denying the
charge Of the Times, that he and Mr..
Chase kept $4,000 and only gave
Mrs. Forrest $4,000, he shows that he
was in no way responsible for the por-
ular impression that he was acting gra-
tuitously, and the distinguished MEM
bers Of the Bar who presented him with
the complimentary testimonial at the
conclusion of the trial were we'll aware
thatheexpected to be paid for hisservi:es.
One very important fact is only inciden-
tally alluded to in the Times article
namely, that Mr.. O'Conor made advan-
ces of money to Mrs. Forrest while the
alimony cults were pending, and that
these were included in the "fee" which
he collected I,r himself out of the pro.
ceeds of the judgment for S64, 1000
Between 1851 and 1860 be expended
for her in paying court charges, board
bills and other expenses (rnost of which
were incurred by Mrs. Forrest in per-
SOM the SUN of s., 1867. Between March
IL, 1868, and September 20, 1867. Mr..
O'Conor loaned her S1O,250. These
loans were made at her urgent solicita-
ton, and with the distinct understand
ing that they were to DO repaid out of
the judgment for alimony when it was
finally affirmed. She made some eIpe-
riments as a theatrical manager which
were not always successful, and she
also became indebted to her brother
in-law, Mr. Sedley, in very considerable
sum. All her creditors expected to lie
paid when the judgment for alimony
was collected, and there was naturally
great dissatisfaction when it was found
o It that he had only received $4,000.
Mr.. O'Conor did not feel called upon
to take care of the interests OF other
creditors. The money was collected by
Mr.. Chase from Mr.. Forests agent,
and the amount paid into his hands,
including interest, was s66, 1862. OF
this sum Mr.. Chase paid over to Mr..
O'Conor Gas appears from bill dated
November IA. 1862 the sum Of $685.
S5O.7l. The balance excepting the
$4,000 paid to Mrs. Forrest) he kept
himself. The items in the bill were
the various sums loaned to Mrs. For
rest, with interest thereon. The in-
terest on some Of the loans had been
running for seventeen or eighteen years,
and the effect was to more than double
the sum originally borrowed. Two fees
were charged-ope for $500, which
bore interest January l. 1868, to No
vember 9, 1868, and another for 81, 500,
on which no charge for interest was
made. 1t will be seen from this that
Mr.. O'Conor's fee for eighteen years
service was not so extortionate rs might
be Inferred from a glance at tile bill
for 1850 without knowing anything
about the items Of which it was COM
posed. Another very important fact
was overlooked in the Times, namely
that the original order granting d.
vorce, with alimony, took away Mrs.
Forests right of dover in her hus.
hands estate. In the course of the
subsequen' l.roceedings, Mr.. O'Conor
induced the Court To re,oLa this mart
of the decree, and after Forests death
she received SCI, 1000 from his executor
in lieu of dover This was a very i'm
portant service for which Mr.. O'Conor
was entitled to liberal pay. 1t will be
seen that since the distribution Of the
Forrest estate, Mrs. Forrest has not
been in INDECENT circumstances. Upon
the whole, We think that Mr.. OConor
has made out a very good defence.
'THs Iosr CArse''-A rnacpisr, n, n;r,r-~