Smyrna times., 1877-10-03
The Great Fraud in Philadelphia.

oOnH . NORTON PRESIDENT OF the Market
street city railway of Philadelphia, and also
President of the Permanent Exhibition, in
that city, turns out to be in u serious and
terrible financial default by fraudulent
over-lsSue and sale of the stock of the
company to the amount Of $4,000, shares
representing half million of dollars all of
which he has lost in speculation. Other.
are involved in the guilt, and the company
has suffered terrible loss probably sufficient
to ruin it, by the wild and wicked doings OF
Its honored and trusted President.
Here is what one of the Phila. papers
says of him:
This not the first time that trustees of n
corporation have blindly trusted everythins
to one man, only to find themselves duped
and robbed at last Nor DO we refer to
Morton's election US president Of the
Permanent Exhibition Company. That
was q splendid strike Of impudence to be
sure. We cannot refuse Il sort OF admira.
ton for man who, knowing that he
/ ought to be hammerng public stone in a
| striped suit, associates with gentlemen and
so gains their love and trust that they put
hlm up as their representative best man.
Morton was chosen president Of the Tx.
! hloltlon Company because he was supposed
| to possess the very qualities now shown to
be totally wanting in him. But CORPORA.
ton OF all kinds-fnancial, philanthropic,
/ social and religious--are too often the nrav
OF master knaves who get to the head, to
make US wonder at all that the Exhibition
! was betrayed in that selection. 4 man
less clever than Morton might have i'm
posed on the Exhibition people. The
! subhmlty OF his confidence game-that
which marks him .tltcile pracepe among the
tr!oe OF It's practitioners-is the efir0ntery
with which he faces down the public since
7 MS exposure. He admits all the 0iIcnse
charged against him but claims he is
innocent OF wrong intentions lie was
actuated i'll the commission of his crimes
solely BY the 'desirc to aid Others" lie
mad not made one dollar hy the transac.
tons He is conscious of no dishonesty
on his own part" His only desire now Is
TO disguise nothing and to do nothing
dlshonorable.' The whole tone Of lIorton's
talks with the reporters, if correctly given.
Is that OF an injured person-not the vic.
TIMER, but the victim. lie seems 10
think that the one virtue Of frankncss
which he affects, now that conccalmcnt is
no longer possible, should outweigh al! his
crimes
That is q matchless assurance with which
he promises to ''do nothing dishonorable"
hereafter, as if people could still be asked
to trust aim out of Jail! If, besides secur-
ing this king Of the confidence mer for
their show, the Permanent Exhibition
Company would engage, as additional at.
traction the trustees of the West Phi!adel.
phla Railroad who stupidity allowed this
man to 60 on ovcrissung thousands of
shares OF stock for a period of seven years
without discovery, the success Of the fair
would be almost made
Another paper says:
There is no punishment for a criminal
nabob. 1t is the ham-fattcr who iails if
FIVE years ago man robbed the city trea.
sury OF two hundred thousand dollars. was
convicted and sentenced to five wears i'm.
prlsonment, with heavy fine for q cond;. |
ment. In two months he was pardoned
by the Governor, and to-day holds clerk |
ship under the city at $1,000 per year.
That man should have been shot, but he
wasn't. There is no city in America with
such little centralized public influence or
sentiment as this city of PHILADELPHIA. |
Broad street north from Girard Ayenile 10 |
Jefferson street, is called Rotten Row
from the fact that a swarm of Tweed noliti |
tians have bought property and are iivinr |
all along there. Fifteen years ago scarce q |
man OF them was worth dollar: now they |
are worth hundreds of thousands. These |
men cannot get into respectable society.
despite their thefts, because they have mo |
blood, you know but it has ever been n
wonder to me why this respectable society
does not make them come to Judgment for
every dlsreputable dollar in their filchinc
hands. All these things undermine the
ialth OF the people in form of govern.
ment which II II dare, at least does not.
make quick and unrelenting example Of
every evil doer. If these things do not
change, where is the confidence in conrts9
or where is the hand that would be sillv
enough to stay the hand of the viglante?"