Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-06-09
IT LEAVES NO STAIN.
Bright Futures for Convicted Crimi.
nails in New Jersey
PROVE THAT THE OLD PROVERB,
The Way of the TransgresSor is Hard, is
Entirely Unreliable.
A NUMBER OF NOTABLE INSTANCES
CORRESPONDENCE OF THE p1sPArcH.l

| OuL CA pSIlCuClnS oOSAdA VI pVAAAOoA VSAe
cism to any extent?
That is question that has often beer
asked of late years. The theory usually il
that crime leaves a mark that can never b
effaced, and that the convict never regainI
his former status. This theory has beer
taken for fact, and fiction and the pulpit
have pictured the everlasting disgrace o
wrongdoing. The young man is warned
that indulgence in crime or immortality
any sort breaks the life and leaves the per
petrator wreck until his dying day.
But the theory is disproven here in New
Jersey. The bigger the embezzler and the
larger the defalcation, the brighter is the
future for the criminal when he has paid the
punishment in State prison. This little
commonwealth, which cannot be ridicule6
out of the Union, presents conspicuous in
stances of the above statement 1t can show
dozen men, who occupied high places
socially, politically and otherwise, embez-
cling county and bank funds, being sent
enced to terms in the big stone State prison
here, and leaving after few years to return
to their homes and resume their former social
and business standing.
SOME NOTABLE INSTANCES.
Oscar Baldwin is one. He was cashier ol
the Mechanics National Bank of Newark.
He lived in style and was at the top notch
Of prominence, socially and religiously, in
the metropolis of the State. When he was
through with embezzling the funds of the
bank, there wasn't enough Of it left fnan-
cially to get tramp drink of whisky with.
Baldwin was arrested, tried and convicted.
He came here and served six years term.
Good behavior knocked off the other four
years of the sentence. He had pretty good
time while in the prison. There were lot
of other large embezzlers, whose names will
be mentioned later, in the same corridor
with Baldwin. They got up what was known
as Financiers' row. They had plenty to
eat and on holidays hampers of champagne
and chicken salad are said to have reached
them in some way. They had privileges
galore. Baldwin left about two years ago.
His family had meanwhile lived as COM
tortably and luxuriously as ever. Newark
ers made just as much as ever of them.
They never lacked for money. When the
ex-cashier returned home, he was warmly
received. His friends crowded to the house
to see him. He is now living as happily
apparently and certainly as high socially as
ever.
James Hedden and Henry Marchbank
came here about the same time. Hedden
was in his Newark bank as much of an en-
bezzler as Baldwin was in his. Marchbank
was paying teller and was cognizant of what
was being done, although it is doubtful
whether he ever reaped any of the cash
benefits. Hedden was a leading spirit in
the wealthiest Presbyterian church in
Newark. hedden and Marchbank served
q 1hasr a,I I'D 4Las~ haro
They returned home. Hedden mingled as
freely as ever with his old friends and
OCCUPIED HIS OLD PEW
in the church. Marchbank got a good
situation at once and is said to be getting a
larger salary now than he got before he was
convicted. There has been no ostracism
that is perceptible in the case of these
Newark defaulters, although hundreds of
homes were blasted when the banks failed.
Garret Boice was President of the leading
bank in Jersey City ten years ago. His
son-in-law, Edward Shaw, was cashier and
John Beach was paying teller. The bank
had savings institution adjacent and with
the same officers. By juggling the securi-
ties back and forth from one safe to another,
the trio managed to get away with hundreds
of thousands of dollars. The Boice family
had an elegant house at Bayonne. Boice
was Superintendent of the Sunday school in
the Reformed Dutch church at Bayonne
Shaw and Beach were the leading spirits in
the boat clubs and social affairs in and
around Jersey City. They were discovered,
arrested, convicted and sentenced. Beach
got out first, Shaw went next, and Boice
has only recently finished his term, good
behavior, as usual, reducing the period over
one-thlrd. Beach is as popular as ever at
Bayonne, it is stated, Shaw and his family
stand we'll in Brooklyn, and everybody is
mighty glad to know that Garry" Boice is
among his friends once more. These three
may have suffered considerable remorse and
their families were temporarily inconven-
fenced, but otherwise they are all in good
shape. There are no signs of ostracism.
Then there was Levi D. Jarrard. He
was the Collector of Middlesex county and
lived in New Brunswick, where Rutgers
College and the Herzog Theological Semi
nary are situated. The city was presuma-
bly, conservatory of piety. Jarrard was
the political boss of half New JERSEY. he
was Republican personally, but the Demo-
Gratis consulted him also. He absolutely
dictated the nominations of both parties.
Levi waited his chance and then embezzled
all the county funds within reach. His DO
litical pull couldn't prevent conviction and
sentence, but it helped him after he got in
side the prison walls. 1t has never been
successfully denied that he was the
BOSS OF THE STATE PRISON.
His friends always had access to his cell.
He roomed in the Financiers' row. During
the Presidential campaign Of 1884, Jarrard
was constantly consulted by the leading
politicians of the State. Not q move was
made in the campaign around Middlesex
county unless it met first with the ex-Col-
lector's approval. His release was anxi-
ously awaited by hosts of friends. The
Gubernatorial canvass of1SS6 was approach
ing and the "Old Man." as Jarrard was
termed, was to have been put in command,
His social reception would have equaled
his political reception, if the reports cur
rent at the time were trustworthy. But
Jarrard, who was pretty well along in years,
contracted a cold and was sent home lust in
time to die. His funeral was largely at
tended, however, and bore witness to the
fact that no ostracism was in store for him.
Arthur Ogilvie wrecked the Dime Saw
ings Bank, of New Brunswick, and caused
scores Of worthy working people to suffer
many miseries He was one of the yestrv-
men in the leading Episcopal church of the
city. He is nearing the end of his term in
the State prison. His old home awaits him
in New Brunswick, and there is nothing to
indicate that society intends snubbing him.
There are few Of the more prominent
examples of Jerseys big embezzlers who do
not suffer any ostracism to speak of and
whose punishment scarcely fits the crime
they perpetrated. "
'iThe way of the trahsgressor is hard" is
the old Biblical proverb. 1t has usually
been accepted as perfectly and uniformly
reliable; but it doesn't seem to apply here
in New Jersey. Maybe it wouldn't apply
much better in other States if the records
were ransacked and the truth told.
L. S. MOTT.