New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-11-11
+ HENRY WORE'S STATEMENT


The great American novel we are told
remains to be written. We venture to suggest
that if J. Henry Work, gentleman not I'M
| known to fame in connection with the opera
lions of Ferdinand Ward, will devote himself
| TO the task of composing that sure-to-be-
immortal work. the result will be profoundly
impressive. Mr.. Work has lively fancy, a
| buundless Imagination, limitless trust in human
nature. a fine vein of humor, mastery
capacity for the construction of plot and the
dey eopment of incident, while he combines
with these important qualities facility ana
fluency which put him almost on level with
Alexandra Dumas the elder and the romanccrs
of the Arabian Nights.
! Mr.. Work has proved his capacity for writing
a story of absorbing interest by long narrative
which was published i'll Tie NcW- York Times
! of Yesterday. This puIpolts 10 give faithful
history of the relations of the historian and hl'
! br0ther-in- law, William :. Warner, with
Ferdinand Ward The account is conspicuous
! for its candor where frankncSS is of no import
ancc. but it dsclOSes nothing which the public
is anxious to learn. We are favored with all
the details concerning the earl y acquaintance OF
Mr. Work and Mr.. Warner with the Grants
and the Wards, which nobody cares about; but
the names of the men behind Work and
| Warner. which every one would like TO know,
are stuiiously concealed Why2 Mr.. Work is
emphatic in the ass france that all the dealings
of his brolher-in-law and himself with the firm
of Grant x Ward were honorable and even
creditablc Why does he not permit the gentle
men for whom Warner and he were operating
to share the honor and the credit of these trans
81, tnffE -
anxious to give every one concerned in these
complications his inst due.
Mr.. w ork describes at length the representa-
lions of Ward which are supposed to have
blinded the wcak-eycd Warner to the true
nature Of Wards operations He would have
us believe that men of the long experience III
business affairs possessed by his br"thcr-in-law
and himself trusted implicitly the incredible
assertions of Ward. Ward told him, it seems,
that contractors. who mad big contracts on
hand for the National Government the city
| government or for great corporations, ctmc to
him for advances that for these advances the
! contractors gave the firm of Grant y Wand an
interest in the contracts and thai the profits of
the contracts supplied the enormous "plOlts
| of the firm. Now Warner and Work had seen
q good deal of men and a good deal of affairs.
They knew something about Wall Street, and
they knew perfectly well that the quantity of
idle capital in this city at that time was I'M
mense They knew that capitalists were glad
to get per cent or even less for loauS, and that
vast sums were loaned daily ut rates far below
the legal rate of interest. And vet they would
have the public accept the assurance that they
never felt any suspicion of Wards fantastic
| inventions. They read the newspapers; they
were looked upon by all who we're acqUainic ed
with them Us shrewd long headed men they
knew that in these days almost ali contracts.
! public and private, are awarded after sharp
competition wkich reduces the margin of profit
to moderate proportions they knew that con-
tractors have 10 gIvc bonds, and must Therefore
have some backing of capital at the time of
getting the contracts they knew that any
| responsible contractor with large operations on
hand can borrow money on his notes at the
legal rate of interest and, in face OF all these
things, they tell us that they were deceived
by Ferdinand Ward into surprising that con-
tractors were paying him so cytravagantly for
the use of money that he could pay William >.
Warner 10 per cent per month and even higher
rates on the sums that he put into Wards hands.
This is often spoken of as AN age Of unbclicf.
Such a story that OF Mr.. Work might not
have been questioned in the days when the
alchemists were looking for the philosopher :
stone. and the notions of astronomy TO which
the Rev. Mr. Jasper of Richmond still clingS
were embedded in the faith of nations. Bat
this slIeptcal generation will insist on reading
between the lines.
Mr.. Work wants to know why the other men
who were involved in the operations of Fcrd-
inand Ward are not regarded by the public in
the same light as Mr. Warner and himself. We
can cnlighten him. TO use bit of jlrgon
which ought to be entirely familiar to men
who dealt with Ward, Warner AMI Work got
the swag. Mr. Work thinks it was their duty
to protect the interests of those who had in
trusted them with money tn put into the Ward
nit. If Warner and Work had sought to protect
those interests by attachmen is or court pro-
ceedings Of any sort, their course might not have
been open 10 censure. But what other creditors
of Grant e. Ward rushed to Wards house
when the crash came, and either frightened or
wneedled him into giving into their possession
the property which he had stolenY How can
Warner and Work expect the public to look on
their dealings with Ward as Legitimate and
honorable, when Warner grabbed the plumber
| in this way ] What was the secret OF his
mysterious influence over Ward which secured
that transfer of stolen goods
At Auburn, n pale, gray-haired, feeble old
man Is STOPPING over his daily task, with little
chance of ever leaving his prison i'll freedom.
At Sing Sing, thin, wan face, hollow checked
and hopeless, is bending over wheel, the eyes