Year: 1875

New YORK, April 10, 1875.


Governor Tilden surprised those who had no
previous intimation of his intention when he
pardoned Ingersoll, who was sentenced some
eighteen months ago to the State Prison for
five years for his completely in the ''Ring''
frauds. The convict was a dashing young
chair maker when Tweed took him under his
tutelage with the assurance that he would
make his fortune. He proved an apt pupil in
the school of roguery of which his patron was
the principal. He was an unofficial peculator,
and fabricated claims against the city, which
were promptly audited by his chief and paid
by their mutual confederate Connolly to the
extent of several million dollars His share of
the spoil thus obtained speedily amounted to
the fottune that was promised him. He -four
ished ''like green bay tree He luxurated in
princely elegance, had gorgeous equipages, and
glttered in iewelry. His young acquaintances
marveled at and enved his specous prosperi
ty, and wished they too could bask in the sun-
shine of Tweeds favor, and rush as suddenly to
wealth and fame


But the fall was as instantaneous as the rise
had been. While the banditti were extracting
vast sums from the treasury by means of spu-
rious bills and forged warrants secret mine
was being laid under their feet that was des-
tined to work their utter ruin.


An employe OF the Finance Department
amazed at the magnitude of the continuous out
flow of the peoples money collated the facts
and figures with great care and secrecy and inn
parted the information he had gathered, to a
prominent citizen in confidence. 1t began to
be whispered about that there were proofs in ex-
istence of stupendous embezzlements from the
exchequer. The Times entered upon relent-
less crusade against the "Ring" 1t refused to
be subsidized by patronage, which was freely
offered it. No other journal came to its aid,
indeed it received denunciation from many OF
its contemporaries, but it waged the battle
alone, and fought it with courage and vigor
Some of the earliest pioneers in this unequal
contest were wholly lost sight of when the de-
nouement came. The then collector of the
Port, Mr.. Murphy, was among the foremost in
point of time and'effcency in the prosecution
of this Herculean campaign. 1t was upon his
persuasion and assurance Of protection and
immunity from loss of place that the main
witness was finally induced to give his revela-
tions to the public. Yet, curiously enough, the
only recompense Mr.. Murphy ever received for
this signal service to plundered community
was to find himself paraded by a hostile print
when all was over, as an ally of the very csbal
he had done 50 much to overthrow. This is
striking commentary on the gross inaccuracies
of history, especially of partisan history, but
the examples of it are so frequent that they
have ceased to excite astonishment among the
initiated.


However, that the money had been stolen
was demonstrated beyond peradventure. Then
came the question who stole it, 1t was at this
juncture that the gentleman who now fills the
office of Governor brought his mathematical
genius to bear upon the mooted problem. Mr..
Tilden had shrown his genius for figures on
previous occasions in remarkable way. He
prevented the defeat of Flagg for comptroller
many years ago by showing the precise method
by which it had been sought to manipulate the
votes in favor of his opponent. In the matter
of the Ring frauds, he made an indisputable
analysis of the mode of distribution, resorted
to,whch traced to each one of the guilty parties
the share he had received. Connolly and
Sweeny had absconded, Watson was dead but
Ingersoll, Harrington and Tweed remained to
be tried, convicted and sentenced as felons. 1t
was remarkable coincidence that the same
expert who brought Ingersoll to punishment
granted his pardon 1t was unreasonable to sup
pose that this act of clemency was prompted
by any doubt of his guilt or any sympathy
with the criminal. The explanation of the
action of the Governor is simple enough. In
gersol knew the secrets of his confederates and
revealed them in consideration of his release.
He made confession which Is now in the
hands of the Executive. The publication of it
if permitted will expose some persons who have
hitherto escaped general reprobation, but who
were willing participants in the earlier rob-
berries of the gang who revelled so long in mum
icipal punder during the existence of the Board
of Supervisors of which Tweed was the presid-
ing officer aud ringleader. 1t contains material
for the legal evidence which is deemed indis-
pensabe for the prosecution of the suits against
the other me embers of the Ring" in prison and
in exile. IngersoH himself is believed to have
lost all his i'll gotten gains by disastrous specu.
lations upon the Exchange. 1t was long time
before even the promise of liberation could in
duce him to mpeach his confederates. But his
CuleI D6u6ldCtOE UcluS CdSSu, Suu OUuuUiIy anu
Sweeney having taken flight. his respect for the
adage of ''honor among thIeves'' was not strong
enough to restrain him from buying his freedom
by exposing the secrets of the band. He fur
nished the names of the plunderers, the system
they adopted and the pro rata of distribution.
For obvious reasons the details are not made
public at present but they doubtless will be,
when the cases which they are expected to for
tify are brought to trial. Meantime Ipgersoll
remains in seclusion stunning soGety quite as
much as he is Stunned by it; and realizing by
bitter experience, what q wreck he has made
of himself 10 yielding to the temptation to
acquire riches by dishonest practices. The les.
son was needed, few years of such regime
as that would have made the whole city den
of robbers The young men just coming on
the stage were being educated into the belief
that stealing, ii carried on with art enough to
avoid the law, or avoid detection was an ex-
ceedingly clever thing to do-that it gave a man
the right of recognition in fashionable society
that it opened to him the doors of the elite, and
that it secured for him the admiration and
homage of the swells male and female whose
equipages glitter in the park and whose da-
monds sparkle at the opera and who affect the
latest styles of dress and etiquette.


In such a state of things it is not so much
wonder that the standard of morals declines as
that there is any thing as morality left
If any proof were wanting that vast majority
of men are inherently good, it is to be found
in the multitudes who maintained their lnteg-
rity in spite of the examples of successful ras-
cality which multiplied around them. Still,
the punishment of the ''Rlng" thieves was not


merely salutary measure of abstract JUS
tice, but it was absolutely necessary as
wholesome warning Of the danger of wrong
doing


Gov. Tilden stands in such favor now that
although the pardon of Ingersoll occasioned
general astonishment, it provoked scarcely any