The Portland daily press., 1886-10-04
A Statement from the Prisoner to a
Reporter.

Saturday morning U. S. Marshal Harmon
and Deputy Marshal johnson proceeded to
the jail where they took Mr.. Gould into GUS
toly, Thanking Sheriff True and his assis-
tants for their kindness while he was
stopping at the jail, the prisoner, accompa-
MED by the United States officers, got into a
hack and was driven to the Congress street
station of the Maine Central. Mr.. Payson
Tucker had, considerably, placed car at
the disposal of the prisoner, for which kind
ly favor Mr.. Gould returned thanks. At
Brunswick, Marshal Harmon furnished a
nice lunch. In conversation with the Bos-
ton Globe correspondent who accompanied
him to Thomaston, Mr.. Gould made the fol-
lowing statement
MIR. GoULD's STATEMENT.
81 desire, first of all, to say that have no
criticism to make of any one connected with
the First National Bank. They have all
been my friends and they have treated me
with the greatest consideration, and have
only the kindest feelings towards them. L
positively say that this talk about my having
lost trust funds is all nonsense. The So
called appropriation of $4,000 amounted to
this and no more: / received no money
whatever. 1t was only bookkeeping mat
ter connected with the settlement of a mat
ter in the Probate Court. | also say that |
lest no private funds for any one.
81 am charged with having sold stock to
the extent of $1,000 to Cumberland man.
This matter occurred some fourteen years
ago, and the stock was sold by another per-
SON. | had nothing TODD with it whatever,
but did think it might be a judici0us in
vestment, and so it was, and at this time the
stock Is all right.
'The losses l sustained were the results
| of the death of one person, the misconduct
of another. At the time of the suicide OF
Mr.. Wood | met with my first loss. | was
square with the bank at that time. decline
to give the name of the man by whose
misconduct | lost heavily. | never specu--
lated in grain at all. | had not speculated
at all for many months before my arrest. |
had taken for many months no money out of
the bank; for speculative purposes. 1 had
taken it for investments, and those invest
ments were of the most solid and legitimate
kind, of kind that are paying well. | say
| that, to my best judgment as a business
man, had / been let alone for only five weeks
| longer, should have repaid to the bank a
| very large portion of all the money due it.
| | say again that was investing, net specu-
| lating, and in one year more l could and
| should have paid almost the entire sum due
| the bank.
| 81 do not attempt to apologize for what !
| did, and you know that have not tried to
| evade the punishment, but while 1t was all
| wrong it was not the fault of the head but OF
| the heart But do not say that did not
mean to do wrong. | looked upon it much
| this way for long time that owned as much
as / owed. There has never been time for
| the past twenty or more years when |
haven't had from $4,000 to $4,000 of prop
erty. / stood ready at all times to give up
| that property if discovered. / gave, up all
had to the bank, except one cow, and that
| has been advertised for sale, and hope some
| one in want of good cow will buy her.
| gave up my library to the bank, and even
| the furniture of my house was given up, and
| in addition transferred all the other prop,
erty had to the bank, SO you see, that !
have already conveyed to the bank by way
| of restitution a considerable amount of prop.
| erty, and more will follow from the invest
| ments | spoke of, all of which have assign
| ed to the bank. l have given up all had
now what more can l do save this / am now
doing?"
This talk of my having expended $500O(
| on my house is absurd, and as to the furni-
ture in it, with the exception of a very few
articles, the furniture was exactly the same
| that was in our old home. Almost all the
| reports that have been circulated about me
were false. / was not trapped into return
| ing home from New York while | was there
| I knew in a general way that the directors
| had discovered that the accounts were not
| all right. No telegram was sent to me re-
QueSting me to return. A letter was sent
| and was returned to me from New York
| after | had reached Portland. l did meet
| some gentlemen in Boston. wired them
| from New York that would be in Boston al
/ 6 o'clock, and as matter of fact, l was there
| at 6.10 of the indicated evening. prepared
the best statement that possibly could un
der the circumstances for the use of the di
/ rectOrs."
Here Mr.. Gould paused, and with evident
| emotion said: "My wife proved herself t.
be more than heroic. When told her all,
the first thing she said was that she was GLAD
| l came home, and that l would have killed
| her had | run away. She was educated
| in the strict Quaker notions of her father
| General Dow, and it was she who was the
| first to propose that we give up all we had
She felt that it was just that we should make
/ all the restitution in our power. She gave
| up much that had been bought with her OWL
money. She never regretted the doing of it
| 1t was right and that was enough for her tt
| know"
Being asked if it was true that some of his
] friends offered to make up the amount OF thu
defalcation, Mr.. Gould said: "Yes, that il
true, but stepped on that plan. 1t wa'
| something that seemed to me to be all wrong
| Where would neutrality-suspicious. as a man
have been? l could not have looked those
| men in the face. No; it would have been an
escape from justice and from the terrible
| punishment of the newspapers, but how car
man escape from himself? | may b
wrong; / may be obstinate; | may be evel
what man.called me, "a most consummate ass
but could not have allowed that to hav,
been done under any circumstances. l
| would have been done had consented.
Speaking of his sentence, Mr.. Gould said
81 might have been defended by a lawyer O.
| great distinction in his profession. He had
| interviews with me and gave me some excel
| lent grounds for defence. / knew. myself
that there might be a defence made, but
| felt that it ought not to be. AS said, there
were some things in those indictments that
| without making an examination of the book
| of the bank. could not say whether they Wer'
| true or false, but there were things in thos
indictments that were true, and was obllge'
| to plead guilty.
dMr. Gould, did you hear of a plan to re
tain General Butler for your defence2 2
/ asked the reporter.
mo" replied Mr.. Gould, 81 do not recol
lect now that such a plan was proposed.
| might have escaped to Canada," continued
| Mr. Gould, after a pause. II could have gon
before my return here, and also after | re
| turned. The papers made me say that | hat
terrible struggle over the point whether
| should stay at home and face the music
| leave for Canada. There was no struggle Q
the kind. Had left should have returned
could not have staid there. Friends mad
me acquainted while was at my house, un
der arrest on a civil process, with severa
plans for etfecting escape one plan was t.
take me in a boat to vessel outside. neye
thought of such thing. | simply said tina
| is not my way of doing it. There would hav
been no difficulty about escaping had wished
to-"
| 'Mr Gould, did you believe what yol
preached"
"God knows did. I am here today OF
this train going to prison because l believed
| in my theology. / had preached the doctrine
| that all sin must be punishsd, that it is RICH
that it should be punished, and felt that
| could not preach the punishment of sin, ant
| then try to escape that punishment. knew
| that had sinned, and felt that it would be
| better for me to go to prison than to live IL
defiance of Gods law.
SIT took Mr.. Hadlock three days to fgur'
| out the fact that / was making it matter O
conscience, not of law. Then he said that
was making mistake. replied, it does no
| seem SO to me. and I alone am responsible
| / must take my own way. You. ma.
not think so, but to me this. going tt
| the prison at Thomaston is the light par
of it all. If all the punishment could fal
upon ME alone l should be happy, indeed.
am happy now in the thought that 1 am a
last doing right. l know that my. cours
| since my arrest has had the approval of m.
| wife and of my father, and | am satisfied"
"Could you have got bail?"
''Yes, believe could have got million
dollars of bail. / did not want it. l wa
| freely offered bail" T.
| ssPiease briefly define your position, MI