National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1882-01-04
Do Prosecutions Prosecute ?


1t is now more than eight months since
the Post-Ofiice Department and the De-
partment of Justice commenced news
paper raid against Thomas j. Brady, ac-
cusing him of malfeasance in the office
of Second Assistant Postmastor-General,
from which lie had just been called upon
to resign. Thomas L. james and Wayne
MacNeagh We're at the heads of these
Departments during all that time. They
have spared no effort to make the people
believe they had found clear evidence of
dishonesty and crime in the management
of General Brady's Office, and they have
frequently promised the public that he
should be indicted, and convicted of his
alleged manifold shortcomings.
1t is serious thing to accuse citizen
ofprevious good standing of felonies. The
officer who does il is bound to make good
his accusations and TO bring the accused
to justice. How is it in the present case
Three successive grand juries have been
in session since the newspaper persecu-
tion of Brady commenced MacYeagh,
Cook, Gibson, James, and Woodward have
been steadily engaged in feeding news
paper correspondents with assurances
that the prosecution was about TO begin.
But it never yet has begun. Never has a
witness been produced before grand
jury. Never has proceeding been taken
in court except one by information, which
was by the court declared improper and
illegal. During the lifetime of the late
President, Attorney-General MacNeagh
employed rs special counsel Benjamin Ii 4.
Brewster esq., of Pennsylvania, and
Colonel George Bliss, of New York
They were expected to prosecute
but there has been no action be.
yond the case just alluded to, which mis-.
carried because il was not authorized by
law. Is it not monstrous that citizen
should thus be dealt with? James and
MacVeagh have repeatedly authorized
statements to be published proclaiming
Brady and others to be criminals, and
MacVeagh coarsely boosted on recent
occasion that if no conviction should ever
be had he had at least branded the ac-
cused as thieves in public estimation. II
this is not co~ardly tyranny then
none has ever been practiced among
men. James recently addressed letter
to Special Counsel Bliss recommending
that civil suits be brought to recover
money alleged by him TO have been cor
ruptly paid to contractors who had not
earned it. This was done to cover
James's retreat from the Department in
which he had promised so much and
performed nothing. His letter, being
thus intended merely to divert public
attention from his own failure to produce
any results, might well have been quietly
filed. But Colonel Bliss, who has Q
penchant for giving information to the
public upon matters in which he
is concerned, made James's letter text
for lengthy pronunciamento, in
which, under date of December
he foretells marYels in the way Of Wig
orous prosecution of cases not yet com.
menced but which were advertised il
April, and in which he had been retained
nearly four months. All this seemed sC
much in the regular course of the GOV
ernments remarkable struggle in Tho
newspapers against alleged crimes anC
misdemeanors in Office that il need hay,
attracted no special attention. But We
confess to some surprise that the emnen
gentleman who has just been appointed
Attorney-Geneal should have apparentl,
caught the general infection and gont
into the newspapers. His great nam,
win hardly suffice to give general sane
tion TO such course, II is possible tha
he thought he might safely address Col
onel Bliss letter on Department busi
ness without cautioning him against put
ling il in The newspapers.
The new Attornoy-General will be sur
TO succeed if he viii cause Colonel Bills
TO bring a suit against Thomas L. Jane
to recover some $4,000 which he cause
10 be paid to one Walsh, contractor
after having previously aacertained tina
he had forfeited ii by nonperformane