THE COURIER
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A PfoEA FOR MOSHER.
The Napoleon of Finance Finds a Real Defender.
'HE following letter by a correspondent whoso real name wo aro
requested to withhold is cheerfully published by TiieCoukiek
in the hope that it may throw some light on dark places, and
advertise in a proper manner the martyrdom of poor Mr. Mosher.
Let me say in the beginning that my friend Mr. Mosher is one of
the purest men I know. He is shamefully abused. Why, I have
6een him stop many a time on the street and give a nickel that ho
had just taken from a pile of the state's or the county's money, to a
blind man. He has a very tender heart. I have seen him stand
before mottoes on the wall such as "Honesty is the Best Policy," and
"God Bless Our Home," and tears would come in his eyes, and ho
would be sad for several minutes. Yet people say all manner of
mean things about him, and to read the newspapers one would really
imagine that Mr. Mosher is a dishonest man. Progressive men are
always abused. Look at Christopher Columbus and Robert Fulton
and Morse and Anthony Comstock.
One of the newspapers charged that Mr. Mosher made a specialty
of robbing poor depositors. It said that when an applo woman or a
candy man would come into the Capital National bank and doposit
a thousand dollars Mr. Mosher would make a grab for the money and
have half of it in his pocket before tho apple woman or the candy
man was out of the bank. I know that this is not true. Mr. Mosher
told mo so.
It sometimes happened, when Mr. Mosher was about to lock up
the bank at night, that he would discover he didn't havo any change
about him. Then ho would go to the vault and take a few thousand
dollars of tho stato deposit, or Hargreaves deposit or some big ac
count, intending, of course, to put the money back tho next morning.
Once in a while he may have forgotten to return thj money he took in
this way. If so, it was owing to his absent mindedness. Mr. Mosher
has a very poor memory as to some things. But he never borrowed
any money belonging to the poor depositors. I am positive of this.
And if, by reason of his defective memory, there was an occasional
loss, it seems to mo it is pretty tough to blame Mr. Mosher for it.
It isn't his fault that his memory is bad.
Tho newspapers have displayed a mean spirit in this matter. Mr.
Mosher was very liberal with the newspapers. He helped start one
of the papers in this city,and whenever it was to his interest to
do so, ho willingly bought editors and publishers and did not hesi
tate to pay a good price for them. Ho did a good deal for the news
papers in this way, and now see what thantcs he gets! They inti
mate that he is no gentleman and some of them seem to be glad ho
is in the penitentiary. Even Mr. Rosewater is against him. Yet I
remember when Rosey and Mr. Mosher were on very intimate and
cordial terms. Newspapers ought to be abolished. They stand in the
way of progress. If they had only kept quiet Mr. Mosher would
probably havo been acquitted, and would now bo living in.his beau
tiful house in this city, purchased with the savings of years, and he
would have the opportunity daily of sympathising with the people
who lost money in the Capital National bank. If they would only
keep quiet now maybe Mr. Mosher would be pardoned.
These vampires are now after Mr. Griffith. Mr. Griffith was Mr.
Mosher's particular friend and helped him through many a tight
' place. He was very useful to Mr. Mosher, and he is a nice man, and
it's a shame for the newspapers to pitch into him just because he
stood by his friend. It would have been a mean thing in Mr. Griffith
to have told what he knew about Mr. Mosher, especially after all
that Mr. Mosher had done for him. But the newspapers must abuse
him. What if the depositors did suffer? They never did anything
for Mr. Griffith. Mr. Mosher was always doing kind things for him.
I suppose somebody will want to know about those Western
Manufacturing company notes. Mr. Mosher assures me that he
really realized less than $500,000 by this means, and I don't think
Lincoln people ought to object to that. He made it a point to sell
the notes outside of this city, so he had a constant stream of money,
coming into Lincoln. Anybody will say that it is a good thing for
everybody in the town to have money coming in. Besides Mr.
Mosher intended to make good all of these losses. He expected to
make a big deal and square everything, but was prevented by unto
ward circumstances. I think Mr. Mosher showed his devotion to
Lincoln moat strongly in this Western Manufacturing company busi
ness, and every clear minded person not prejudiced by the mean
newspapers will say that my explanation is entirely satisfactory.
Mr. Mosher was economical. Ho may havo occasionally bought
840,000 or 950,000 worth of legislators; but ho never spent over 800 a
year for clothes, and ho never threw money away as so many men do
on soda water and pop, etc. Ho could hardly bo oxcused of oxtrava
ganco in paying as high as 850,000 for a bunch of legislators. Ne
braska legislators aro mighty nico men. They aro worth something.
Then besides Mr. Mosher needed them in his business, and surely ho
had a right to buy what ho needed, especially as ho was bo careful
about tho luxuries. Mr. Mosher was intensely patriotic. He showed
this in a very delicato way by spending a great deal of monoy in
politics. He knew that it takes machinery to save the country and
that machinery can't be run properly without oil. Ho saw that the
wheels were greased.
My friend was very kind to tho widows and orphans who owned
stock in tho bank. These people-got in tho habit of expecting tho
bank to pay dividends, and Mr. Mosher, always tender hearted to a
fault, would not disappoint them. Sometimes Mr. Mosher was com
pelled to make such a heavy purchase of legislators or politicians or
newspapers that he would bo a little short of ready monoy when
dividend day came around. But tho good man took care of his
stockholders just the same. He just took some of the deposits and
gave this money to tho stockholders. Ho thought the latter needed
it tho most. Mr. Mosher was always thinking of other people in
this way. And yet this kind, good, man is confined in the peniren
tiary and people say harsh things about him.
Thero are people who complain because Mr. Mosher has got a lot
of money hidden away. My friend has never told mo just how much '
monoy he has left, but I imagine his cash capital is in tho neighbor
hood of 8500,000. Ho would have had twico this much, but he had a
lot of friends, and these friends had to live; so Mr. Mosher kindly
divided with them. He didn't care to havo any of them go back on
him and tell ugly stories about him. Ho preferred to cement their
friendship in some way. If monoy was necessary, then he gave it to
them freely. Mr. Mosher dislikes to have an intimate friend go back
on him. Then Mr. Mosher has been on pretty intimate terms with
a large number of judges, juries, dtstrict attorneys, marshals, jailors,
female friends, etc., in the last year, and this has cost a vast sum of
money. He certainly hasn't got over 8500,000 left. Surely ho
deserves this. Why he is worth fully a million dollars as an adver
tisement for Lincoln. Then look at his good deeds, and consider how
he cared for the widows and orphans, and headed base ball sub
scription lists, etc., etc. Money is a camtort to him, and after all ho
has suffered, if a paltry half million will do him any good, tho people
of Lincoln ought not to begrudge my poor persecuted friend this
small consolation..
Mr. Mosher is an upright, conscientious man. He is a good man
and a splendid citizen. His martyrdom entitles him to an extra
chapter in Fox's book. As a partial reparation for tho great injustice
that has been heaped upon this great and good man I propose that
the governor of Nebraska, on the part of the people of the state, de
mand his release from the government, and once released, that ho
be elected to the United States senate at the coming session of tho
legislature. Such talents as his have no chance in a pent-up Utica
like this state. In the broader field at Washington there is no tell
ing what he might not accomplish. He might succeed in securing
the passage of a bill for the encouragement of Napoleonic financiers
and the abolition of courts, jails and newspapers.
A True Friend of Poor Mr. Mosher.
"The Courier" Ieljiit.
We believe the public will agree with us that the designsf ort ho
new Courier are thoroughly original and highly artractive. It
gives us pleasure to state that they were made in this city by Messrs
Wallace & Lockwood, whose work always bears the impress or
originality and artistic finish.
One Woman In a Thousand.
"And your wife aimed at and struck your head with tho cup?"
"Yes, sir."
"Well, then, all I have to say is that you should be very proud of
her." Inter Ocean.
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