New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-05-11
4 CONTICT nth 4 CHARACTER.

1t was brought ont yesterday in the hearing
of demurrer to the indictment Of William
f. d. stokes and William Il. Martin for an
ALLEGED libel of Edward :. Stokes the muir
derer of James Fisk that shortly after the
Presidential election of 1884 Mr.. Cleveland,
then G Jvcrnor of New-York, issued to Stokes
q pardon having the effect o. restoring ~ him
the tights of citizenship. The attorneys for the
defendants state that they have been unable
to find any record of this pardon. and certainly
no hint of il has ever before come to the pub
lie. Ii appears to have been given in secret
and secretly held until the allegation of these
defendants that il was impossible to libel a
convicted murderer who was civllly dead re-
Qulr(d It's production. Stokes was put on trial
three times for the murder of Fisk The first
Jury disagreed the second convicted him OF
murder in he first degree ard he was sentenced
10 be hanged. Influences Of one kind and an
other prevailed 10 secure him a third chance.
and evidence was produced, the character OF
which il is not now necdhll to consider,
which saved him from til" galows He
was sentenced to State Prison for manslaughter
and ,er;td his term. lie then returned
to New-Yorls to enter upon a new career
as a Tammany politician, with the superior
qualification and higher rights proceeding from
his distinguished position as convicted muir
dcrer. 1t now appears that seven years after
his release from prison. and following an cleo
ton in which Mr. Cleveland was candidate
for President, and humble sutton for Tam
many support this man recovered AT the hands
of Mr.. Cleveland the rights his crime had for
fcited II is extremely difficult 10 understand
this Transaction in way that leaves Mr. Clcve-
land free from the suspicion Of d,honorablc
motive. On no ground can his act be justified
or excused and it is hard to explain ii except
on the theory that it was the result Of Il bar
gain.
To see th, convict using the machinery OF
the courts - defenS his so-callrd character. or
rather 10 ininre his personal enemes-ior that
is the real meaning and purpose Of this libel
Suit-excit the jus. indignation Of every SELF
Ie.pc,ting citizen. The law of criminal libel
was not mad. 10 serve the malice Of any man.
and least Of all of muldcrerS and cOnyicts
District Attorney Nicol j. using his Office
10 accomplish the revenge Of Tammany poll
tician, and of particularly bad one al that.
The quarrel Of the Stokes cousins is notorious
fact and the enmity it has engcndcred between
Them ha, been paiaded before the public
in all sorts Of ways for a series of years. T.
bring the power of the State to avail in the
eifoIt of either to inflic; personal injury upon the
other is a performance in which an intelligent
District Attorney like Mr. Nicol should not be
engaged.
With his character yndcatcd in Tam
many court Ivy the aid Of Tammany District
Attorney. and with his rights as a citizen re-
stored by a Governor 70 whom he had been
politically scrviceable, Stokes is easily on a
footing before the public with Scannell-whO
was his fellow prisoner in the TombS. also
charged with murdei-and the next step in his
career will naturally be the seizure of a com
Portable public Office with rich salary. This
was of course the object To be secured by the
recovery Of his right TO the franchise and with
ether murdererS and cOnyictS and indicted per-
sons conducting the city government and alb
sorbng the taxes, some persons may think il
cruel to discriminate longer against Stokes.
Now is his golden opportunity. His associates
in prison and in politics have possession Of the
city, and discover no other idea than that il is
theirs to plumber at will. An opportunity
ampler than this for murderer with char
actcr and convict with the rights Of citizen
ship could not be found elsewhere in Chris
tendon.