The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1877-07-07
The Tweed Correspondence.
NEW YORK, July e.-Ths following
correspondence is made public;

NEW YORK, June 80, 1877.
Ny DEAR sIR:-In view Of the state
ment made by the Attorney General II
his communication Of June 10th, and
which from his high official position
might naturally induce the public Ia
believe that l have been acting in bad
faith and with no design Of fairly carry.
Ing out my intentions as expressed In my
letter 10 Mr., O'Connor OF Dec. 9th, 1876
l should ask II Il be possible
or proper, to have all the facts
which are in dispute between
Mr.. Fairchild and yourself submitted to
some gentleman or gentlemen who are
free from political bias 10 render u writ.
ten opinion whether or not, In all the
facts, ! have been faithful to my promise,
and whether what l have done does not
justify my release from custody. To Mr..
UConnor, gentleman Of recognized
honor and ability, made my first appeal.
To him would willingly submit the
whole matter and feel satisfied with any
decision he might arrive at.
Trusting this suggestion, which l take
the liberty Of publishing, will not inter.
lere with any other aCion you may have
determined upon, ! am yours truly,
WILLIAM M. TWEED.
To Hon. John D. Townsend.
This Is followed by letter from Town.
send 10 Attorney General Fairchild, in
which Townsend says:
In your report TO the Governor upon
your official conduct in the actions against
Peter B, Sweeney and VIM. NJ. Tweed,
you took occasion 10 criticlse severely my
acts and charged me with conduct which,
II as you represent II TO be, would be re.
prehenSible to the last degree. In fact, a
large part Of the report, which is NOT
taken up with historical sketch OF what
you say has been done by other parties,
and upon whose shoulders you now
attempt to place the burden Of your own
responsibility, and which Is not devoted
toyour assertions that Tweed's PROPOSE.
ton was unreliable and worthless is IN
effort TO distract public attention from
your action to my conduct, by which you
10 some extent governed your decision.
| assume the latter has but little inter-
est for the public as my relation to Tweed
was a private and not an official one, ex.
ceptso far as il had affect on your judg-
ment. Stillsome OF your animadverslons
seem, in justice TO myself, to require a
reply. In my open letter TO you dated
June 80 1set forth as far as could fairly
go what Tweed's proposal contained,
and all that he offered TO do, and 1t was
apparent from that that there were but
three courses honorably open to you 10
pursue. lst. To return the statement i'm.
mediately il you felt disinclined to enter
on such negotsation. ID. To return the
statement at once II you thought the
proof Of all it contained would not war
rant his release. Sd. II you concluded
its contents would werrant his release, TO
investigate thoroughly whether he could
do what the statement set forth. All that
he proposed was contained in the state.
ment, unless his mind was refreshed as
10 other matters, and the intimation that
he might further corroborate his asser.
tions was based solely on the ground that
you would release him. He asked no dis.
charge from civil judgment or criminal
indictment. have briefly rehearsed this
in order that il may be remembered that
Tweed made no proposal 10 confirm his
evidence, except such as was set forth in
the statement. The statement furnished to
you was based on Tweed's letter TO Mr..
0Connor and was intended to accom-
plish that which in your report you say
was Mr.. O'Connor's aim. l quote your
language: although this decision
(meaning the Court Of Appeals decision)
defeated the recovery Of large amount
Of money, yet the rigor and energy Of
the prosecution had already driven from
power and broken down the wrong.doers
and made the people Of New York free. "
This was the main good sought by Mr..
OConnor's prosecution, and it was more
important to the city and State than the
getting Of asum Of money, however large.
In theory it appears that you agree with
Mr.. O'Connor, but in practice, it seems,
you differ. You make no attempt in your
report totdeny that you stated 10 MI. Kelly
that you would release Mr.. Tweed il he
carried out his intentions asexpressed in
in the letter to Mr.. O'Connor. You do
not deny that on the Goth Of April you
said to me that you were surprised that
Mr.. Peckham had corroborated what
Tweed could testify to, and you then in
timated 10 me that Tweed would be re-
leased in few days. You fail to deny
that You gave assurance 10 the same
effect TO Twecd. You fail 10 ex.
plain how it was that without my
knowledge You called on Tweed with
Bryant, and how it is that Bryant could
have been so conversant with your move
ments and your wishes, and so ignorant
OF them, unless he was acting in concert
with you. You give no reason why you
requested me not 10 communicate with
Peckham on the subject. You show no
reasons, as trusted you would, why you
have been 30 very considerate to the many
ring thieves, who still live in comfort and
elegance. You have not denied that it
was by your suggestion that Tweed de.
clined to testify before the Senate Commit
tee on the Woodin matter, or why It was
when Tweed was expecting full exami-
nation Of the matters set forth in my
statement you confined yourself in your
interview with him on the eth Of March
to taking a statement in writing from
him OF what he could prove against
Woodin.
The letter replies at length 10 the vari.
Gus parts OF the Attorney Generals re.
port, and among other things denounces
as falschood the statements that he
(Townsend) offered to collect for 10 per
cent tho amount covered by Tweed's
checks, and that he (Townsend) was re-
tanned as counsel for Sweeney-the
retainer gwen him by the latter being
merely to prevent his being retained by
the people.
The letter is quite caustic, and almost
entirely Of personal character.
An Important Case in the Courts.
New York, July Gan important
case Of Wm. G. Browning and others va.
VIM. A. Smith, Wm. r. Hunter and s.
,.Ls.h ,,IntnktN. n...