New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-04-06
J1COB SBAPPS MONOLOG CE.

JACOB SHARI"S MONOLOGUE
Jacob Sharp has paid immense sums to
LAWYERS who enjoy a reputation III TINS Town ioi
shire wdness and ability. 1t is well understood
that his legal advisers do not practise law on
wind" for 40 we have been assured by one Oh
the most prominent among them. That De'n2
tbc ease. il IS amazing that Mr.. Sharp, with all
the army of attorneys that he has at his DECK
and call. could not get up better defence OF
himself and of his Broadway line than thar
which we print this morning. 1t is all wind
and cheap sort of wind at that. There is not
one word in the long monoogue to weaken fol-
a moment the general conviction that the
Broad way franchise was obtained ny DilDery
and fraud, and that Mr.. Sharp Ould now be
busy in the quaIries or the stove department OF
Sing Sing Prison instead of remaining at liberty
and pouring out such idle gable as this III
vain effort to save stolen goods for thieves.
In Sharp's blunt way of talking, in his occa-
sional flashes of cunning and in kis unD0unded
imnudence he irresistibly reminds the reader of
q man of far greater force tlan he who held
this city in his grip for years. the late unamented
William NJ. Tweed. Snaps manner and bear
ING recall the swagger of the famous Old BOSS
of the great Ring. Tweed did things on
greater scale than Sharp bat If he Is now
allowed an opportunity to- take note OF the
current of affairs in the city which he despoied
he must watch with the keenest interest and
sympathy the career of this faithful follower III
his footsteps One can imagine the shade OF
the ponderous chief of the old gang bending in
benedicton over the form of his successor and
smiling approval of his exploits. a famous
The other y
Sharp does not attempt to clear up one doubt
full point in connection with the broadway
matter nor in any way to explain or modify the
damning disclosures of his own testimony
before the Senate Committee HIS whole talk
is a special plea, begging the question, but 1t Is
without ingenuity or responsiveness. what a
wretched case must that be for which such stuff
as this serves as a defence! He tries to show
that he and his associates paid as much Tor the
Broadway charter as 1t was worth. That Is not
true, but even if it were, bow does 1t affect the
evidence that the Aldermen of 1884 were
bribed? Snaps own testimony before the
Committee left entirely unexplained the dis
position of hundreds of thousands OF dollars.
If he would give the public any reasonable ex-
PLANTATION of where that went, some of his state
ments might be believed. But lie knows
perfectly well that every person familiar with
the matter came to the conclusion long ago thai
the missing money was used TO bride the Alder
men. Until he shows that this corruption fund
was used in some other way he wastes his
breath when he tries to apologize for his course
or TO turn aside the wrath that now scOrches
him. He has been convicted out OF his own
mouth. All the tricks and devices which he
used to cover his trail the absence of accounts
the destruction of checks, the drawing of vast
sums from banks in cash, his complete forget
fulness of transactions enormous in amount and
in importance-all these dOings were the
methods of thief and not those of an honest
man.
Sharp says he is constantly charged with
having stolen millions from the city. That is
not tue. He is charged with having organized
and prom Oted a conspiracy by which the Board
of Aldermen was bribed to pass the Broadway
franchise. He says that he did not bride the
Aldermen. No one supposes that he himself
slipped a thousand dollar bill into the hands of
any Alderman, but one supposes, either that
the Aldermen held that 9 o'clock meeting and
passed the franchise without being we'll paid
for their dirty work, and no one doubts that
their pay came from those missing hundreds of
thousands of dollars which Sharp can remem-
her notf ing about. Sharp thinks it makes no
difference to the city how many bonds the
Broadway Railroad issued. Could not some one
of his fat-pocketed lawyers give him little
inkling of sense on that point This is public
franchise, not piece of private real estate, and
| the community has a right to know on what
| basis of values its bonds are issued.
! 1t is clear from this deliverance of the Broad
way Boss that he does not now feel much fear
of imprisonment. He is shrewd, and, as he
says, all that he has done was done under
legal advice" He may have acted through
agents in such a way that the guilt of bribery
cannot be brought so directly home to him
before a jury that he must pay the penalty,
though it is the duty of the District Attorney
and the Senate Committee to secure that result
if it is in any way legally possible. But what
Sharp most fears now, evidently, is that the
Broadway franchise will be annulled. His
| alarm should be the strongest incentive to the
Legislature to push through this just and
| righteous act without delay Don't leave stolen
goods in the hands of thieves day longer than
| is necessary. Sharp's arguments against annul-
ment are ropes of sand. They require no
answer. They fall to the ground of themselves
| Of course he brings in the widows and the
| Orphans" Fellows of his sort have always Oh
tap tank of The tears of widows and orphans
| There have been few steals since the world
| began which the thieves did not try to exc Use
by calling on the public to listen to the heart
rending drip of these tears. There have been
few crimes punished that some widow did not
weep and some orphan wall. The Broadway
franchise should be annulled, no matter what
becomes of Alr. Sharp's widows and orphans.
| THE CASE OF JOHN GOODE.
| John Goode, of Virginia, is not a fit man tC