The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-05-04
JAY Could ON JonN mORRIssEr.
A Candid Review OF the Tr,bune's Remarks
on the Dead senntor.


Mr. jay Gould, we are not surprised to soc,
has q moan opinion Of the late John Murrissey.
Indrod. there is in the mild Zero iy with witch
Mr.. Gouldis nrwspaper attacks certain forms of
crror or w'kpdness something which COM
mnnds attention. Satan could not rcbuke sin
with more a,"rhity ct mnnnrri No pot could
call n kettle black with more sudden hRsunpuOn
NJ purity Therefore. we were not surprised
TINT the Tribune should takc Occasion to shy
oyer the collin Of John Morriss..y t,nt he was u
low ard thoroughly bad man. Not long ago. on
Good Friday, We hrlirvc, MIR. Gould went for"
Judas with singular malryolcncc which bcto-
kcncd the possrs-ion Of n long memory. We
very much question II Judas wns over 81
maulcd and dragged about as he was on this
particular occasion. Mr.. Gould oppressed his
opinion II Judas in languag" which could not
be misunderstood. There was no III name in tho
vocabulary ot abuse which was not Hung nj
tho head Of tho miserable traitor. II he had
been alive this would not have happened. Mr.
Gould usually waits until his enemy L. ut sale
distance before hg frees his mind. Mr. Gould
fence into somebody's back yard. Hence his
We should hesitate to saythat judas WIS an
honest gentleman compared with jay Gould.
One does not like even To appear to Insult the
memory of the dead. II WIS ikea coward to
throw mud NJ the Israrlite who haa been do
crasrd III rse eighteen hundred years md moro.
Let ~ mnkr no invldious comparisons NJ tins
late day. But W. VII say that there was, moro
honesty in one VI John Mnrris-"y'S little fingers
than in the whole of JAY Gould's BODY OF
course. honesty should not be- the sole virtue Of
n man. though 1t may be- browning one, Nor
rissry WINS born in poverty and amid influences
which md a great deal To- do with forming his
character Influences over which he had no
control. The badness that was IN MIN WIS not
wholly his own deliberate requirement. His
b1ysh associates were not grntlenrns sons,
not scho.ars. not gentle ana Mrli,mnnn"rrd
youths. Many man who sprang from such
n root us he has lived and died a rough and
brulscr-or worse; and nobody has thought
il an abnormal development OF wlekrdnrss
But Gould came. of honest parents. Az he Into
" remarked " Judas. Like the rest Of us, he
wns once "A bnbv upon his mothers knee; n hoy
wi q
would have then thought IL possible that he
would live to be- the pirate and wrcckcr that he
II Morrissey, In his youth. was rude worker
in factory the companion OF those whose
highest ambition lay in inc development OF
He was n sunday school scholar: He was
brought up dclicatcly. aud his earliest efforts
were with the pen. In his adolcsceucc he wrote
n history OF Delaware county. which was n
model Of feminine gush and cloqupnce. hardly
outdune by any OF those sweet things which he
now prints in his daily newspaper. Shall such
a man MS this with his early advantages and
his later rascnlities. throw stones Mt one who
struggled up To decent living from the most I'M
But even il Morrisscy were all that Jay Gould
charges him with being. 1t certainly does not
lie n the mouth OF ono gambler to deride
lctte are not rcckoncd moral games. But when
stocks are played with as Mr., Gout plays with
them. those games seem like innocent diver
sions When the most unsophsticatcd coun-
tryman sat down Mt ono Of MOrrisscy's tables.
he knew precisely the limit Of hisrisk. He who
ins hut his bones behind him. There may have
been in Morrssey. who was not finely nurtured.
certain moral Ohtus"nesS which made him
look upon gambling without pang OF con
science. He regarded II ns legitimate husI-
ness. in which there were large odds in favor of
the dealer of the game We have never heard
that he attempted to Disguise this state Of facts.
jay Gould purSues calling in which There are
no odds in favor IT the customer. His dice ARE
loaded; his cards are marked. And yet he
thinks that he is Il better man than Morrissey
or course. the pugilisic episode - Morris,
s"y's life Is wholly objectionable. Mr. Gould
says that il was vain for Morrssey to reform 10y
iorsnking the prizr ring and the faro bank.
This was only change Of occupation" cries
the severe moralist. who has never changed his
course. but flies the black flag now ~ he did
when he boarded Erie and robbed thousands oi
haplcss stockholders Because the other man
had once been prize fighter, Gould rolls Ut
the whites OF his eyes and declares that h.
could never be anything else. Did anybody
over accuse MOrrissry OF striking foul blow
when Jay Gould blows up u bank or railroad
corporation he runs away. Only under the iron
grip Of the law has he ever made restitution. And
this man, whose touch is cold and clHmmy,
and who fondly says. My brother, my broth
err while he stnhs him under the fifth rio de.
clares that II IL very naughty for two sturdy fell
lows 10 stand up and pound each other with
their fists. One of these men sprang from tn,
lower levels OF society. His early manhood was
tempestuous. He lived TO secure. in some wav
men. lie was honest. generous. and BRAY"
whatever else he may have been. The Other
man was we'll born. His career X u satire upof
public morality. His influence upon the age /,
Il deadly blight. Yet he lvcs to SWIVEL "a homill
over John Morrss'y's coffin.