Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1908-10-02

Iir WIZ controlled! legislatures and
e.. .tJtut T. supreme r,urt judges had
fa1uI Himself r,Wtr.csS when each
turn of t'r l-r! huery had
brought hiw T" =, fac" with Judge
loss, +, -. ...-s silt had been
decided .car-: hitn and the Interests
b. I,i,r,-,..,,.I. :..i each time 1t was
jude l;..~..rrc who had handed down
the te, l~i,i4 So for wears these two
men had fought Il silent hut bitter duel
in which principle on the one side and
Attempted corruption on the other
were the Ga.;V Of battle. Judge Ross
more fought with the weapons which
his oath and the law directed him to
use, Ryder with the only weapons he
understood bribery and trickcry. And
each time 1t had been Rossnl0rc who
had emerged triumphant. Despite ey-
cry manouver Ryder's experience could
suggest. notwithstanding every card
that could be played 10 undermine his
credit and reputation, Judge Rossmore
stood higher In the country's conf
dcncc than when he was first appoint
! ed
So when Ryder found he could not
corrupt this honest judge with gold
lie decided to destroy him with calum-
ny. No scruples embarrassed Ryder
In arriving at this determination
From his point of view he WAS fully
| justified. Business Is business. He
| hurts my interests; therefore | remove
him." So he argued, and he consid
| cred 1t no more wrong to wreck the
| happiness of this honorable man than
| he would to have shot n burglar in
self defense So having thus tran
| quilted his conscience he had gone to
work In his usually thorough manner
and his success had surpassed the
most sanguine expectations.
This Is what he had done
Like many OF our public servants
whose labors nre compensated only In
country. Judge RoSSmOre was a man
of but moderate means. His income
as justice of the supreme court was
$1,000 Il year. but for a man in his
position. having certain appearance
to keep up. 1t little more than kept the
wolf from the door. He lived quietly.
but comfortably, in New York with his
wife AMI his daughter Shirley. an at
tractive young woman who had grad
mted from NaSSar and had shown a
marked taste for literature The daugh
ter's education had cost n good deal Of
money. and this. together with life in
| Surance and other inciicntals of keep
Ing house In New York. had about TAX
en- all he had. Yet he had managed to
| save little. and those years when he
could put by fifth Of his salary the
judge considered himself lucky. Sc
cretly he was proud of his compare
tive poverty. At least the world could
never ask him where he got It,"
Ryder was we'll acquainted with
Judge Rossmore's private means. The
two men had met ut Il dinner. and. nj
though Ryder had tried to cultivate
the acquaintance he never received
much encouragement. Ryder's son
jefferson. too. had met Miss Shirley
RossmOre and been much attracted to
her, but the father having more am
bilious plans for his heir quickly dis
cOuraged all attentions In that dircc-
ton He himself, however. continued
to meet the judge casually, and one
evening he contrived to brOach the
subject Of profitable Investments. The
judge admitted that by careful hoard
ing and much stinting he had managed
| 20, fnv fhnuSun1 dnlIorS which
he was anxious to invest In something
good.
Quick as the keen eyed vulture
swoops down on Its prey the willy
financier seized the opportunity thus
presented. And he took so much trOu-
BILE in answering the judges inexperi-
enced questions and generally made
himself so agreeable that the Judge
found himself regretting that he and
Ryder had by force Of circumstances
been opposed to each other In public
life so long. Ryder strongly recon-
mended the purchase Of Alaskan Min
ing stock. a new and booming enter
prise which had lately become very
active in the market. Ryder said he
had reasons to believe that the stock
would soon advance. and now there
was an opportunity to get 1t cheap.
A few days after he had made the
Investment the judge was surprised to
receive certificates Of stock for double
the amount he had paid for. At the
same time he received a letter from
the secretary Of the company explain
Ing that the additional stock was pool
stock and not to be marketed at the
present time. 1t was in the nature OF
a bonus to which he was entitled as
one Of the early shareholders. The let
ter was full OF verbiage and technical
details OF which the judge understood
nothing. but he thought it very liberal
Of the company and, putting the stock
away In his safe, soon forgot all about
1t. Had he been business man he
would have scented peril. He would
have realized that he had now In his
possession $4,000 worth of stock fol-
which he had not paid cent and fur.
thermore had deposited It when reor.
ganizatlOn came.
But the Judge was sincerely grateful
for Ryders apparently disinterested
advice and wrote two letters to him.
one In which he thanked him for the
trouble he had taken and another In
which he asked him II he was sure the
company was financially sound, as the
Investment he contemplated making
represented all his savings. He added
In the second letter that he had re-
ceived stock for double the amount of
his investment and that being n per.
feet child in business transactions, lie
had been unable to account for the ex-
ira $4,000 worth until the secretary of
the company had written him assuring
him that everything was in order.
These letters Ryder kept
From that time on the Alaskan Min
ing company underwent mysterious
changes. New capitalists gained con-
troll and the name was altered to the
Great Northwestern Mining company.
Then 1t became involved In litigntion.