St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-07-01

The sentence OF JAMES ID. FIsH Is an
impressive event Notwithstanding the
universal Judgment tbat his conviction was
proper and his punishment Just, Jhe
sight Of the Old man lettering along I'm his
prison gaTb must arouse feeling Of pity
IN the hardest heart Mt FISH is So years
of age and ND 20 a few months ago held q
high position in the business community Of
New York. Ia little more than wears
time he tails from the high and responsible
position OF president of a prominent ma
tjonal bank, in which great financial trusts
were in his keeping. and goes down to a
felon's cell Oh what at his age is likely to
prove a sentence for lie. And vet the jury
tina convicted him and the cour, which SEN
fenced him only performed a plain duty
when they fixed the penalty which be de-
served. The evidence IN the trial of his
case revealed a most remarkable series of
transactions with the firm Of GRANT
* WARD. based upon astounding
frauds. in which the funds of
tho Marine bank had been used not
merely with the consent Of President FISH.
but through mis- active participation Ia the
fraudulent transactions. Commenting on
the cate which has Cyertaken the eminent
banker the New York Times saws that Mr.
FISH as president of the Marine bank.
did not simply favor the firm with which
he was himself connected. he did not sim
ply permit the funds of the bank TO be used
In large transactions, the legitimacy Of
which he had reason 10 suspect. ne DID not
simply make loans on insufficient security.
OF no security at all, in the belief that they
would be repaid; but iu the guise of loans
he made Il direct misrepresentation of mon
eys in;rasted u his keeping 70 the use Of
Mr.. WAKu. No matter what his knowl-
edge OF belief may have been in regard 10
the character Of Wards operations. his
own act was a fraud upon the bank and
criminal transportation Of its funds He
certainly knew the character of the notes
which re accepted, and he deliberately
directed the credits 90 he made which rep
resented no value and thereby most fla
grantlv 1i0lated the law which was intended
to protect the bank. He was false TO his
trust and there Is no cXtenuaJion of the
specific ofTense OF which he was convicted.
1t ought % be no cause for congratula-
ton. but mere matter of course. that his
former Responsibility and high position and
the wealth which he had commanded did
not interfere with the reasonably prompt
execution of justice in mis- ca>e. and yet It
does afford a degree of satisfaction thar
could only come from a well-vromded dis
trust of tie stern and unimpeded admins
tratiou Of the law in such eases. The lesson
cf this case and its consequences ought 70
be of value to a community in which there
has been too much laXness in the enforce
ment of a high standard Of financial honor
and too little sternneSs in eXacting the
penalty for violated trusts. II viii be
seriously impaired if it is not followed by
an equally rigid eNaction Of tie proper
penalties for the Infamous misi0inCs Of
FERDINAND WARD. whose monstrous
frauds in the obtaining OF money ought to
insure his seqUestrotion from the company
of honest men for a tenn only limited by
the duration of his natural life