"NEW YORK, _September 16, 1871_.
"RICHARD B. CONNOLLY, ESQ.
"SIR,--I have considered the question which you have submitted to me;
and, to prevent the possibility of misapprehension, reduce my advice to
writing.
"1. On the assumption of your innocence of the charges made
against you, I do not consider resignation of your office as your
proper course. Your duty is to give every facility to the fullest
investigation, and to abide the result.
"2. In your answer to the request of Mayor Hall for your resignation,
you have stated that your official acts which have been impeached were
'supervised and approved by the superior vigilance' of Mayor Hall;
that equal responsibility for them attaches to him, and that, in his
affidavits in the pending litigation, those acts were adopted and
vindicated by him.
"Even if you are conscious of having done wrong in your trust, you owe
it to the community not to commit another wrong, but to make every
reparation within your power.
"To surrender your office into the hands of a confederate would be a
fresh betrayal of your trust; and, while it might damage yourself,
would fail of doing justice to the community. You practically make
your own successor. As the law now stands, he can assume your office
only by an arrangement to which you are a party to create a vacancy
for him. The man you give place to ought not to be the tool of those
implicated in the transactions which excite the public distrust and
alarm. He should be the nominee of the citizens now seeking to protect
the people. In that way alone can he have the confidence of the public,
or sustain the credit of the city.
"No man selected by Mayor Hall can, without some other moral support
from the community, have the public confidence. He will be compromised
by a previous understanding with the Rodin of the 'ring' or by the
acceptance of the favor.
"Fortunately, the law affords a perfect solution of the case. By sec.
3, chap. 574 of the laws of 1871, you are authorized to appoint a
deputy comptroller who, in addition to his other powers, possesses
every power and shall perform every duty belonging to the office
of comptroller whenever the said comptroller shall by due written
authority, and during a period to be specified in such authority,
'designate and authorize the said deputy comptroller to possess the
power and perform the duty aforesaid.'
"My advice to you is to forthwith appoint Andrew H. Green as such
deputy comptroller; to leave him to exercise the full powers of your
office without conditions and without interference; with complete
custody of all books and papers belonging to your office; with the
appointment of all persons whom he may think necessary to protect the
public property and interests, and to enable him to carry out the most
searching investigations, and to aid the committees appointed for that
purpose.
"I have carefully considered the selection I recommend. Mr. Green has
knowledge and experience in the affairs of the city; has the most
reliable character for integrity; has no relations which could mislead
him by bad influences, and is strong in the public confidence. If you
adopt my advice I shall insist on his accepting the disagreeable duty
for the sake of the public interest."