The courier., 1901-11-16

property in his name which the gov
ernment has attached belongs to him
or the government. incidentally the
whole question of Carter's guilt or In
nocence will be investigated again. Ii
does not particularly matter what the
nominal reason for the new trial is. No
man in prison with an estate of $780,
900 can be denied a new trial as long
as the proportion of legal business re-
tainS its present relations to the army
of lawyers. 1t is very surprising, con-
sidering the sum of money in Carter's
possession, that he has been allowed to
languish so long. Popular conviction
of Carter's guilt is strong. Reports of
the original trial We're widely read, and
when he was convicted. private judg-
ment ratified the sentence of the
court
Apparently possessed only of his army
pcy, having no visible source of in
come, Carter spent the income of a
millionaire. 1t was spending large
sums and having no visible source of
income that first attracted suspicion to
Richard Croker. Where did he get
it?" was asked in the newspapers many
times before it was answered by some
busy body fond of investigating.
Where Carter got his money was a
matter of discussion that occupied the
leisure of his fellow officers. And they
had enough, so that really battling
question like that was a relief. His
father-in-law was a rich man, but like
so many American millionaire fathers
in-law, he was close and suspicious of
a diIettante. fastidious on-in-law.
Captain Carter was in charge of har-
Dor improvements in Savannah. He
was accused of putting in bundles of
brush. called rip-rap, when the spe-
cificatiOns called for stone, and the
vouchers showed that he had paid gov
ernment money for stone. His success
sor discovered that hidden beneath the
muddy waters of Savannah harbor
were bundles of underbrush instead of
the piles of solid masonry the govern
ment had paid for. The discovery was
Immediately communicated to Wash
ington and after more investigation in
to the organic nature of the founda-
tions of the sea- walls built under the
supervision of Carter, he was arrested.
On account of the government money
in his possession it required a long
time to convict him; and after he was
finally convicted ii was a long time be-
fore he was put into the penitentiary
where the jury said he belonged. If the
prosecuting attorney had not been able
to demonstrate his guilt without the
shadow of doubt, he would not have
been convicted. 1t was said that he
had the strongest pull at Washington
of any young officer. 1t is GER
tain that President Mckinley was
badgered by all degrees of officials and
influentials to pardon him. But the
mere suspicion that such an attempt
was being made provoked such a news
paper storm that Carters attorneys,
who thought the people had forgotten
about him, were discouraged. And in
course of time, as soon as a rich man
may decently be inferred, Carter was
placed in the United States prison at
LeavenwOrth, Kansas.
The people cling to the old Mosaic
law: An eye for an eye. and a tooth
for a TOOTH when the object of their
hatred is man who has been placed
by them. or by the government repre-
senting them, in a position of trust, in
charge of monies reserved for harbor
improvements or for safe keeping.
OberIin NJ. Carter was accused of
stealing two million dollars from the
United States. Doubtless the bundles
of brush are still in the mud of Savan-
nah harbor. placed there by his con-