Morning journal and courier., 1882-08-21
Monday Morning, August 21, 1882.
GOULD DEFENDS CONKLINa.

GOULD DEPENDS CONKLTNG.
 Jay Gould has allowed himself to be inter-
 viewed concerning the charges that Conkling, as his paid agent, tried to induce Governor
 Cornell to sign certain bills by offering him political and other bribes. Mr. Gould pro-
 fesses to open his mind very freely to the re- porter. He declares that there is nothing in his relations with Governor Cornell or Conk- ling that he is not willing the whole world should know. He says Conklipg has never
 been his individual attorney or counsel '
 but has been the attorney of corporations ill
 which he is interested. Concerning tho ele-
 vated railroad tax bill, which Conkling is &C., cused of having tried to bribe the Governor to sign, MT. Gould says that before it passed, and indeed before arguments in it's favor were presented in the Legislature, he con- ferred with the Governor about it. His &C., count of the interview and subsequent oc- currence is as follows: q conferred with the Governor personally. l met him in the hall of the Fifth Avenue hotel in this city and he invited me into his room Alusion was made to the disputed taxes of the eleva- ted roads, and the Governor expressed the opinion that the true and equitable way to adjust the matter was for the Legislature to pass such & bill as had been introduced. He added that he would gladly approve such measure. After the bill had passed the Governor intimated, as learned. that some constitu- tional questions existed in his mind as to cer- tain details of the bill which he would like to have cleared up, and that he would be glad if Mir. Conkling could be employed by the company to give legal opinion on these points" Here the reporter asked t'The Governor intimated that to you, did he, Mr.
 Geuld's? and MT. Gould replied: Several persons among them MT. Harris and Mir. Payn, made this suggestion to me as coming from the Governor. I immediately reported this to MT. D. D. Field. who was our counsel, and he, I believe acted on it. had nothing further whatever to do with it.'' Mir. Gould further said that he fully expected the Gov ernor to sign the bill
 It has been intimated that Governor Cor nell might have been interested in the ele
 vated railroad stocks. Mir. Gould was asked about this and he disclaimed any knowledge of the Governor's transactions in these stocks, but he gave an interesting account of what is called in Wall street 'the Governors
 blind pool" A 'eblind pool' is, according to MT. Gould, "a combination of parties talk ing certain interests in a transaction and leaving the purchases and sales in connection with the transaction entirely to the party who gets the pool up and in whom they all repose confidence" Governor Cornell got up such pool in American District Telegraph and fa1 xpifh I Gould, Russell Sage and Sidney Dillon. This is the way the pool made money: The Gov ernor having an agreement signed by Gould, Sage and Dillon authorizing him to buy let that fact leak out quietly among his friends \ in the street. They naturally concluded that
 if tho Governor was gong to buy so large an amount of the stock it would be @ great purchase and they had better slip in and \ take some, thus making large market. The l Governor very shrewdly went the other way, ! which, under the agreement, he had right X to do, and made very large sales at high prices After he had sold enough he aban- l doned the American District Telegraph, of
 which he had been the main pillar up to that ! time, and the price of the stock was knocked ! down from 75 to 35 This revelation will in-
 terest those who bought the stock at high prices quite as much as it will the politicians. l These are the main points of the ''inter- view" which is, as whole, very crafty
 one. It does not clear Conkling, but it di-
 rects very unpleasant suspicion against
 Governor Cornell. It may not be long be-
 fore the Governor is heard from, and what
 he says will carry quite as much weight as what Jay Gould says.