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Show It OSS TU EED. A Ilinlory ol the Compromise I'roeteUluiis iu Ills llt-tiulf. New York, 20. John J. Townaeud. counsel for William M. Tweed, makes pubiic to day the history of the negotiations nego-tiations with Attorney General Fair-child Fair-child for the release of Tweed. He says: On the 23d of February you (Fair-child) (Fair-child) aud Mr, Peck ham, in my company, called in the evening to see Tweed at Ludlow street jail. The object of this visit was that you might give him to understand that nothing short ol a complete confession of his orimes and accomplices wuld be accepted ac-cepted by government, in contrast witt your subsequent actions thnt in terview stands out most creditably to you. Tweed, I remember, endeavored endeav-ored to induce you to give him an idea on which aubjects you desired special information. Nearly six years had elapsed since he had been associated asso-ciated with ring matters, and his memory of some things connected with them had become somewhat indistinct. You declined, howuver, to suggest any epecial matter and said to him in eflect that you desired he should consult with me aud have me make a proposition to you, thus intimating that in your position as prosecutor you did not think it proper to hold direct communication with him. In accordance with this understanding under-standing I prepared a brief statement in letter form on tne 26th of February, Febru-ary, and addressed it to you. It contained con-tained the names of members of the legislature with whom Tweed held corrupt dealings, and the names of a few others who had beon benefitted by ring practices, and was intended only as a summary of what be could do, and to phow his good faith. This letter, addressed to you, I banded to Heckham, who Baid no was going to Albany the next day, and I was not a little astonished to learn from you on the 5th of March, when I met you at the rooms of the state board of charities in this city, that you had not received it. From about this time i bulieve I neither heard from nor saw anything of you until about the 4ih ot April. You,1 with your friend, Carolau O'Brien Bryant, seemed to work matters to suit yourself. Your confidence iu him of course induced Tweed to believe be-lieve he was your mouthpiece. I was in consequence to a great extent ignored, ho much bo that I seriouly considered the propriety ot withdrawing with-drawing lrom all connection with the maiter. Tho only intormation I could recoive as to how matters stood was through Bryant, und I wb informed in-formed by him that you did not desire de-sire Peckham to have anything further to do in the matter. Bryant, lrom my earliest connection with Tweed's affairs aiuce his return, had more or less interested himself in them by pretending to convey information infor-mation to Tweed, aa well as to myself, from O Conor, who in fact had had no connection, as be afterwards stated to me, with the ring cases since December 3d. He gained to a conaiderable degree my confidence confi-dence aud the absolute confidence of Cweed. As early as February I ro ceived a letter from him, of which the lollowing is a copy, enclosing Field's letter to Tweed: Grand Union Hotel, New York, February 21. My Dear Mr. Townsaid: I prosume you have seen Dewey and heard of big l&vorable hearing with the attorney general. I sead you the enclosed en-closed loiter as I will not bo ia town tomorrow. to-morrow. Mr. O'U. having read them desires me to have them placed in Peck-b-im'e bands, with the euygustion that tbo iron was now hot and it waa lime to strike. I t-ball sie you t -uiorr w evening even-ing and send you the letters in case you should meet Peck ban to-morrow and should have an exact opportunity to use them with him aud ihe attorney general . Yours truly, (Signed) T. O'o Bryant, Tennessee P. M. Mr. Tweed has since informed me that while I waa impressing upon him the absolute necessity of making a clean breast of his misdeed-, in con fortuity with the tenor and spirit of his letter to O'Conor, and what I then belieyed to be your wishes, Bryant was advising him that it was not your desire that he should dose, aud that my persistence waa only the result of Kelly's advice, to make political capital out of it. This Tweed informs me was the cause ol his estrangement from me. This will explain, also, the cause why Tweed'a full statement was not submitted sub-mitted until the 17th of April. Tweed well knew that he must conform to vour wishes if he exnectr-d r.n ho liberated from his prosecution. He felt that it was a comparatively unim portant feature in his case, and he was impressed for a long time that Bryant really represented you, and duriug the month of March he had reasons for thinking so, and of being confirmed in eucb belief. For rea aons which I never knew my inter views with Peckham were suspended, and when at the Buckingham hotel one mnrning, prior to the 17th of April, I as ted you in order to make inyaelt certain on the point whether it was your desire that I Bhould not consult with Peckham, you stated that you wished me to bring all ihe information to you personally. Peckham Peck-ham will probably remember that J walked with you ns;de after his inter view had closed, aud then left with him. I then excused myself lor not having called on hi m in reference to Tweed matters. The following letter lrom Bryant addressed to me, is, I believe, the first letter I received from him after his association with you: New York, Marck 13. My Dear Mr. T'wnsend: I have just oi in on the night train, bavins le't Albany a 1 o'clock. A deferred de-ferred upp ii.troent with Faircuhd Wng made for 7 o'clock last evening, at bis otliee, with closed dourj. It la ted until 12.20 1 hav . no h -pa of pry-enting the interview in the scope of this epistle, but tha retu.t Wis most satisfactory, tie ac-c ac-c 'pied tiiden's invitation lor taLnself and wue, a-u win De at urarumerey park OTrr undy next, fcte exi-ecu to jpo to Kort Washington on Sunday with Tilden aiid for the e lavement of tur client immediately. im-mediately. The future condu.-t o tba ati'air will be confj .ed to O'Conor and the attorney general. I siw oir baDpy clie t tiiis mornir.g, and will see you fur-th-r after my return from Sleepy Hollow. Hol-low. 1 cutered lull upon an extensive insurance tit-Id witn FnircbilJ, and have ostubhshel in Uiat coni.Uiun a rao-t impor.hnt and va.uable feature. Very tru y, e;c J J'tiia letter looked at in the light ol subsequent cveuts, it emB l0 me ehuibitsu degree of iutimacy with Bryant wh:cu Twetd or I might be excused lor relying on. A few days thereafter I received the following teiugiam fromBryaut: Aliiast, March 22. The LP-lerstandirg is absolute, as I said, ai.du.1.: orujm fur a civtv nuIl week, h'jme to-morrow. B3,YAT(T. On the samo day Bryant telegraphed tele-graphed to, Fuster Dewey, lormerly Tweed's secretary, as follows: I shnll closo the first of next week. Sec thnt no word n Srdi to a s.ul until I get back to-morrow. Bryant. That it might nat become a matter for reporters' comment that Tweed was receiving telegrams and correspondence, corres-pondence, the name of Luke Grant i was selected as one under which to 'address him, and on March 27th he received from Bryant the following: Buckingham Hotel. Luke Grant, 17 Luttlow St.: Solid. Sec mo at eleven. The mon-oral(?J mon-oral(?J later. G. Usios. Sure enough, ou the name day you appeared at Ludlow street jail with youcjides achates Bryant. This was an interview impressed by Bryant on two days, one that I was to know nothing about, and you never alluded lo until I expressed my astuniahment to you that I was not informed of your intention. Then you pretended to know nothing about Bryant, and had thought he was Tweed's friend This was a weak explanation. Tweed save that at this inti-rview you whowed no interest, except on the subjects of Senator Woodiu and a certain newspaper news-paper editor, about whom you weie particularly eager. You carried off a certain statement which he made about them and havo not returned it. Please do so. Tweed in formed only lo save himself, not to ruiu anybody else. It was not intended that bis confeBaiou st-ouid be used for uny political purpoie, and he regretted that you said you wished to make political capital out of it, but he was powerless. The next day you called again and took papers which you still have, and which Tweed wishes. The - same day Bryant cailed and -got a fuller sworn statement about Wood in "and the editor, and carried it away with many checks, saying they were for O'Conor and you. O'Conor denies that he ever aaw them or wanted them. Bryant Bry-ant has told me and Tweed that Tilden had them. Bryant again telegraphed Tweed the next day, reassuringly. I got a note from Bryant on March 20th, at the Grand Union, which indicated indi-cated that the papers had been taken to Albany by you, who thought they were "precious treaurea and would ho vahiablo. You atBUred me, about April 2d, that if Tweed made a lull confession and restored all the prop erty he had, he would be released aud not otherwise. John Kelly told me you made tho - same statement to him. This, Townsend says, was the reason rea-son he hehevod the attorney general was sincere. Bryant kept telegraphing favorably. Townsend elaborates on the difficulties of preparing honeat aud truthful statements of things about which Tweed had forgotten much. After the statement was prepared Kelly read it and considered it complete com-plete and satisfactory, and on ihe 16th of April he (Townsend) started with it to Albany and preseuted it, extracting extract-ing from Fairchild a promise to return it to him without making or publishing any extracts from it whatever. Fairchild nrnmisnd that it should be sacred to all eyes but Samuel J. Tilden's and Fairchild's lather's, who were advisen. It was understood tnat if these pledges were broken Tweed should bo released. Tweed in his statement starts out by sayiue all things iu it are true, so tar as he knows, and what he has on in forma tion he believes. Twetd does not ask nolU pn3. of the case, nor his release from liability, but asks Lis release trom jail on his own recognisance, and that his properly betaken in part payment of the judgment ot six millions, mil-lions, and iu return for such treat meut he w;!i give full evidence wher ever the attorney general may desire it relative to bis connection with the Irauda of his own or others. The length of this and the lateness of the hour compel; us to break off here. Els. Heuald J |