A VOICE FROM *iA PLAIN NARf{ATiYEJ«- -^;iJETTE, BEi'QUE AND eHOQUET,::- E33Sr O.A.XJSE -SATITia: THEIB, CLIEITT, O. E. F-A.R.ISBA.U. A Voice From A Victim. HOW HE HAS MKEN SWINOLKI) ItY JUS ATTORNEYS, ONE OE WHOM NOW SITS ON THE CAN A 1)1 A N JUDICIARY BENCH. After periisiii"^ the followino; facts, many will ask why I did not sooner make them public ? My answer is, they were with- held because I was promised by my attorneys, Messrs. Jette, Beique & Choquet that they would make a compromise with my creditors and secure my discharge as a bankrupt. Their tV.ilure to do so or make any effort towards that end makes it necessary for me to make the following explanations, that the public may see what treason, treachery and debasement my attorneys have been guilty of, and if I succeed in 2:)revcnting them from again practicing their nefarious jiursuits I think I would have rendered a great service to many. I am aware that I am not the only f)ne that has been thus rascally swindled by these attorneys. I feel the more grieved for that. I do not wish or mean any one harm and therefore I am the more sorry to see any one in such cunning hands. After I had purchased J. B. Chartier's lumber mill, etc., which he represented to invoice at least two-thirds more than its real market value, and endorsed his notes and gave my own for $90,000. 1 had an inventory made by Etieime Cliartier, V)rother of the c«;v and one of my employes, and fouiui that Rev. Chartier had by misrepresentation swindled me to such an extent that my financial ruin was only a (jucstion of time. I immediately repaired to the office of my attorneys, Jette, Beique & Chocjuet, and informed them of the state of my affairs, Mr. Beicpie with whom I held the interview, said he would consult with his associates, especially Mr. L, A. Jette, the senior member of the firm and requested me to call again. This was in the latter part of August or fust ot September, ISy,"). At our next interview a few days after, both Jette & Beique being pres- ent they said, they had examined my case and saw but two ways of escape, one was to assign my property for the benefit of my creditors. The other to sell as in.nny goods and as much proj)- erty as possible, collect all I could and flee to the United States, they advised the latter and offered to aid me in ct)llecting and disposing of such property as could be readily converted into cash. They advised me to be very discrete, and on my guard from thence till my departure, as if I were caught disposing of my properly with intent to defraud my creditors, I would be cast into- prison and they would be held etjually guilty for aiding and abetting me in the matter and would thereby be ruined forever, that their honor, integrity and reputation were at stake and if found out they would be expelled from the Montreal bar for malpractice. 18057 2 At thtir sujigestion I 'oej^aii disposing of what projoerty I could, sending large (juantities of goods to the auction rooms, more especially to those of Mr. .Shaw where I sold my piano, etc. They ailvised me to offer .i largi* discount to those who who owed me to induce them to pay sooner tlian they otherwise would. 1 had some mortgages on real estate whicii I could (hid no one U) buy until my attorneys spoke to Mr. F. X. lieaudry of St. Charles, Barromee street, who graciously consented to have them at 5c per cent discount, and I have little doubt iny worthy attorneys shared in the profits of this transaction, their conduct since has been such as would warrant me in believing it of them. The sale of real estate offered the most dilliculties, but my attorneys were experts, and the worthy trio was not the least pu//led. Mr. Beicpie had a friend and relative. I refer to Mr. ). G. Papineau, who like myself had unlimited confidence in his integrity, but where money was concerned Air. J?eiciue would sacrifice his best frienils and relatives as hejdid in this case, once and only once did a trcnior of remorse enter his callous heart when he wrote me on the 17th of February 1S7S. In speaking of Mr. Papineau who IJeique had most infamously d'luded and beguiled he saiti : Apn^s avoh-^pour vous servir, mis dans des enbairas serieux un ami iiitime et parent (Mr. J. G. Papineau) >^t ;;voir nK'ritc' ses reproclies Journaliers. etc. This Mr. Papineau was weak in health and I am informed has since been conlined to a Maiso)i de Saute, That weakness of body and mind suited admirably tlie purposes of my attor- neys and they used them to further their nefarious business as much and as often as the end sought demantled; one of the properties sold was a three-story brick building, St. Laurent street, St. Jean Haptiste \^illage, west of the Market, the other was a four cut stone dwelling house on St. George street near Dorchester. Mr. Papineau had the proj)erties examined and appraised by Mr. Joseph Barsolou. He did not wish to pur- chase and made supreme eflort to escape the great bargain^ but my attorneys were too much for the sick mail and Paml intime, he had to yield and bought the properties. The deed was passed before Mr. Isaacson, Senior, N. P., Mr, Beique dictating the wordings. Mr. Isaacson seemed to understand the circumstan- ces, but being a parfait goitilhoniine he kept still and did not even charge any fees, this was September 14, 1875. As we emerged from Mr. Isaacson's office, the dark chilly autumn rains seemed to make more dark and gloomy the thoughts of each and we walked in silence tr Miejcornerof Notre Dame and St. Francis Xavier streets, whc" each feeling as a conspirator and afraid to speak lest the least sound would betray the dark thoughts which were passing in the breast of all, we parted with a low hon solr. A few d;iys previous to this my attorneys informed me that a subscription was being raised to secure the discharge and re- turn of Mr. Dessaulle (Mr. Beique's father-in-law) who had left the province, and that Mr. Papineau was at head of the mouve- ment and that if I were to subscribe ^$1000,00 they could and would Induce him (Mr. Papincau) to purchase the properties. I done so, Mr. Papineau made the purchase and my attorneys pocketed the thousand doUars. This was the first thousand dolhirs they beat me out of. Aside their share in the mortgage transaction with Mr. Beauch'y. When Mr. Papineau bought the properties he could not pay all the money down, mv attor- neys had him to give his notes for about $2000.00, secured by a mortgage on the properties sold, they knowing well, that the notes could not be paid without a discharge of the mortgage be given and the mortgage could not be collected, except upon the surrender of the notes. Furthermore to induce Mr. Papineau to buy, my attorneys told him that the sale was not serious, he woukl have to hold tlie properties but a short time, when it would be taken back from him. When Mr. Papineau discovered that he had been most shamefully deceived by his ami intimc and parent, he threatened to sue them for $30,000.00 damages and bring them before the counsel of the Montreal bar. The following extracts from letters will explain. Montreal, 20th December, 1878. Dear Sir: By the by. there is here a party by the name of J. G. Papineau, N. P., to whom you sold some real estate, that tells me he is holding it for you, that was the understanding with Bei(iuc when he bought, and he is anxious to reconvey the property to you. [Signed] W. II. IIaht. MoNTKKAi,, 2 i^th March, 1879. Dear Sir: lie (Mr. Papineau) said that the note never was discounted and that \ understood the nature of the transaction very well, and the moment I moved to collect he would take an action of damages for $30,000.00 against some parties holding high position here, but there you know who tliey are, said he, (Jettt' & Beiquc) thev led me into this. Yours [SignedJ W, T. IIaut. But here is my attorney's own ((?:■<'?<) admission, anil they want me to buy back the property. MoNTiiEAL, 20 Octobre, 1S77. Mon clier Mr. Mr. Papineau a ('tr nialade depuis assez louRteinps. I'ourquoi lie ferie/ vous pas achetor la proprii'ti' par Ambroise ou phitot par sa fenune, ou encore si votre tils est dans les affaires et qiril en ait les moyens, pouniuoi ne Cerait-il pas aclieter la proprirte par la feniine d'Ambroise in tri(st pour liii. IJien a vous. [SigiK'l F. li. Bt'i(iue. In an other letter lie says: Si toutel'ois voas nVtes pas en ('tat do fairo vdchrkv la proprit'ti', il esp^re (Air. Papineau) que voiis voudrez bieu iirendre sa ixmlion en considrration et lui fj ire remise des biUets que vous avez en mains. Vous le comprenez comme nioi les rdallons ofi je suis avec ivlr. Papineau/ojif que je .srji.s beaucoup la pi^nible position dans kuiuelle il se trouve place. Bien a vous. [Signi-] F. L. 13ei(iue. $6,ooo slidp: into .my atioiinhys' i'oikkts. The next important transaction was the sale of my interest '\n ihc ramrl /and concern. I had paid towards it in difTei'cnt times $6,000 cash. A few months previous my failure 1 had refused $S,ooo for my interest in that concern. My attorneys had a hand in this concern as every one in Montreal may remember, especially Mr. \'ictor Hudon, and wanted to buy my interest themselves but feared it might not look well when my affairs were looked into afterwards, and so got Mr. E. Z. Paradis, of St. John P. Q. to buy it for $4,000, and he gave his notes for the whole amount. My attorneys told me they had put Mr. Paradis an courant of my difficulties and he acted so far that if it ever liecame necessary to do so, he could swear he was a bo)ia fide purchaser of the property, my attorneys got the notes ami never paid me a cent on them, all I got was $400, which Mr. Paradis paid me through a lioston bank, the deed was passed before Mr. J. B. Iloule N. P. October 1875. Previous to this 1 had given my note to Mr. ]?eique foi- $750, it being under- stood that he was to take care of it when it fell due, but it matured before my departure. I did not want to pay it. lie told me he could not pay it himself and that Jette hail no money. It would look bad for us all to let it go to protest, he said and might r,;ise suspicion and get us all into trouble. I paid the note at the Hocheloga Bank, 15th of October (or about) 1S75. Mr. Beicpic was around the bardi most oftliatdayto sec if I would jjay it. While at the bank I met Bcique there, he smiled and saiil: Ccst bon notis arranocrons tout ccla en- semble avcc Ic rcstant. About 1873 1 bought from Mr. Beiiiue a mortgage which a Mr. St. Marie had given to Beiciue's father, paying him $700, the full face for it. I had the mortgage forclosed and made part of my assets al the time of my failure. In this matter my attorneys had things their own way and had one of their crea- tures, a Mr. H. A. Poulain, avocat, bid it in for a nominal price ($125) when it was sold by tiie assignee. In answer to a (|uery of mine about this mortgage Mr. Hart wrote me. "Vou ask about, a mortgage made by one St. Marie, in reply I would say it was sokl by the assignee on December 7th, 1877 to H. A. Poulain, avocat of Ste. ^larie de Mannoir, Rom- ville County for $135 cash. I am inclined to think there has been some collusion between that party and Jette «.*v: Beiqut- and I shall make inipiiry and should such prove to be the case I shall get the sale set aside." [Signed] W. T.Hart. For their services in this matter I paid my attorneys $50. The expenses .so paid together with interest and face of mort- gage amounted to over $900. Two or three weeks before my departure, we had a law skirmish with Mr. C. B. Falardeau whose lawyer Mr. C. C. de Lorimier at a certain point threatened to take an action en cession de bicns against me, which threat if carried into execution would have ruined us, but the Hon. L. A. Jette told so many big lies to Mr. de Lorimier and the latter taking his word of honor that there was nothing wrong with his cHentParis- eau, brought them to a compromise which Hon. Jeltt5 drew up, 5 the main condition of wliiL'h \v;is, tiiat I unyaj^ed to pay I'alaiclcall $1^300 the Monday Ibllowinj;;, which I diti on the i8th (or about) October. This precious document was solemidy sit^ncd bv all concerned. I left my copy with my attorneys who ; scoundrely Ivinfj a(^. Lettue D" adieu-. A few days before leaving mv attorneys (old me that before going I would have to write them a lettrc (.raiiieu, so that they could show Mr. C. C de Lorimier and tbe public that they knew nothing of my dithculties ;md were innocent as lambs, ami gave me the substance of such a letter as they wished me to write. I wrote that lettre d'adieu wliich was pul)lished in some of the Montreal papers at the time, and had il sent to them and they made good use of it, they were the gentlemen who knew the importance of such a document. On Monday, October 2^, the dav my departure was made public. Hon. L. A. (ette armed with the letter went to Mr. de Lorimier's ollice and put- ting on a face for the occasion, informed him of what had hap- pened, swearing his great (iod that he knew nothing about it and was just as puzzled how to explain my conduct as any one. Furthermore, he added, he had come to him immediately upon the receipt of the letter that he might protect his client, Mr. Falardeau. Could anything be more brazen faced than this ? All the foregoing facts, it will be seen arc supported and backed by self evidences. These attorneys and myself have had some correspondence since I left Canada. The object of this correspondence was to make some arrangements with my creditors, whereby I would be discharged as a bankrupt. Mr. F. L. Beii[ue wdio generally wrote made some elFort towards this end, but did not succeed , and I suspect that lie tlid not wish for or expect sncccsswhcn he jindcriook the case. For had he succeeded I conld leturn to Cana(hi and demand a return of the several suni>< he and his jjarlners swindleil me out of. Therefore heinj^ /->//< V('.s7t' J in my not ffettinjj a dischar<:^c it was .an easy and natural thing for them to act slowly and nnsuccessfidlv. In this thev showed the same selfish cntmitiir and cn'/i/ij/a/ deceit which characterized their former course. As a furtlier proof of their treachery and criminality I herewith subjoin a few extracts from letters written hy them whicli are now in my possession. MOXTItEAL. 28 Dec, 1H7((. Mr. An aiijet ei(|ue. Messrs. yetf(\ Beiqne <(.' CJioquet^ my altornevs and spi)il- crs, do not believe in restitution, that virtue is consiilered hy them a myth, they have the spoils and keep them. They are lookin/«(A- to pay the composition aiul hope to <;et $20,000.00 out of the future candidate and rcniplacant of Ilo)i. L. A. ydtc. failing- in their expectation in the election scheme thev now turn their eves towards a subscription for the support of the News-paper "Zr Natiotial^^ where they are not more successful, they do not vet despair, some under-works are in view. Let the reader ylance over the following letter and judire for mimself. 's>^ JSIONTUKAT., Janvier, 1877. Mon cher Air. J'ai reyu votre dernii're ce matin, j'ai peu de doute am" la possibilitc' d'un rrglement de|vos all'aires mais en prenant l)ean- coup de pn'caution et un peu de temps, lie moyen done je vous parlais et (lui m'a t'ehappr pour le moment, mais qui pent se presenter de nouveau avant long-temp;s est celui-ci. U ('tait rnineur de la nom- ination de Mr. L. A. Jette comme juge, sa nomination cri'ait une vacance dans la division-est et |)om' engager (lueliiu'un a lui sncci'-der il ('tait important d'assnrer les depenses li'gilimea dTdection, quelqnes milliers de piastres l^'ons savez alors sur combien d'inlluence je pouvais compter pour regler vos affaires en jnvmetUuit (/i(t7(y»c,s •JuiUkrs de piastres. Une autre occasion du meme genre se presente encore, c'est au sujet d'nne souscription pour le '■''National'' qu'on vent avoir vingt milles piastres, mais malheureusement, Thibeaudeau qui ponrrait le plus surement pousser la chose refuse de s'en mc'der a inoins que Dontre ne soit nomme a la cour supn'me il y tient morclicus et 11 essaie meme de tuer le mouvement. C'est bieu danmage par-ce- que la chose eut rtt' fjicile il me sciuhle jc iic siiia si ,je in* teiitenii pas . le inoyen i)ar (riiiitrc il ii'oiil tnmvc t-iicoit' -iiic stpl niilles piiistit'S. Uicii a voiis, |Si;fii, I F. I,. l{t'i(|iic. I''niin tliat Jaiiiiaiy letter till ()ii()l»cr, iSyy, the corrcspoii- (leiiee was .s/nz^ ami /J/cni; rr. My attonievs were eertaiiilv nol seritjus ami tliey likely tliDUijlit I was (|iiite iiiexpe. ieiiced to still believe in their .svo'/wj,''.''', yd tliry pro[)i)se(l some iinpractieahle ami air-hiiill plans, just to kill time, in Septeiuhei' 1877, they vvr(jtc nie they had seen Falardeau and that he woukl si^ii the eomposition sheet, il" 'riiiheaudeau sij^jncd it, hut the latter could not si,!Lj;n just then. Sonu' lime al'tei' thini^^rs took a luin, Thiheamleau would then siL;ii it with pleasure if I'\ilardeau signed llrst, hut he refused to sign. Later on I received iVoni nn attorneys the folloNv ing letter which speaks for itself. :M()NTUKAL, lit) Octoln'e, 1877. Moil Cher Moiis. J"ai eiiliii ohteiiu inie rei)Oiise de Messrs. Thibeau- deau, ces Messrs. pour le principe de hi ciiose, disent-ils, out dc'cidi' de lie pas accei)ter Tolfre I'aite. .le doute ]Hiiirtaiit uii pen delenrs priii- cipes je eroisplulot (pie le vi'ritable iimt't' du lelus resulte de leur espoir d'obtenir davaiilage, car je suls iufonn'' par Falardeau (pie Thibeaudeau cssaiera d'ici a ((uekpies jours de t'aire exi'cnler oii vons ('■tes le Jiit^einent ((uMl a recemineiit obtenn contrc voiis. Ainsi pi'enez en avis, car Falardeau tient hi chose de I'hibeandeau lui-inrine (pii lie iii'eii avail pas park' a moi. (^nant a Falardeau il n'a aueuii espoir de lie jamais toucher nil sou sur sa cn'ance a iiioins (pie rarraiigement proi)OS(' lie s,)it (^ft'ectuo. et il est, a cet tin, corps et ame dans vos iute'rets. -le crois (|ue nous lie devous par nous teiiir pour batlus. Kiitre- iious, Thibeaudeau ' par le temps (lui court des chagrins politiques ((ui le reiulent de fort mauvaise humeur et je eompte sur une occasion plus favorable. Je serais tivs certaimneut bieu content si Mr. ,J. Ci. Fapiiieau avait ses billets. liien a voiis, ISigiK'jr. J>. J5('iqiie. My lawyers have perjured themselves hy iiliiig sworn false claims against my estate, this I can prove without any dif- ficulty. I now give part of the proofs in my possession. MoNTiiKAi., 6 December, 1878. Dkak Sir : "In reply to your (pieiy as to whether any suspicion attaches to Jette & Bei([ue, the suspicion that A. J3. Steu-art the assignee of your estate, had of these parties, w\ms that you had paid on^ account of the propertv purchased from them, more money than they had given you credit for and that was simply through a remark of mine '-tnat on the Fri(iay you left Montreal you gave Beique the v$ 1,800 I drew f.iom the Exchange Bank." Yours truly, W. T. H. The doubts of Mr. Stewart became unfortunately accorii- plished filets and those facts leave no doubt on the culjoability of my attorneys. The following will throw light on this c^uestion. 8 MoNTKEAi., 14, December, 1S7S. Dear Sir; "I was prejiarcd for some important disclosures. Yet I must confess those you have made are so entirely difTerent to anything I expecteil that 1 recjuire breathing time to consider the situation. If Jette & IJeicjue are really desirous of acting dishonestly by you and take a mean advantage of 3'our position. I am afraid our task is a hard one. There is one thing I may mention though that aflbrd some degree of comfort, and that is, whatever the result may be to you, Beicpic is in a tight place. I can see wherein he is liable to a criminal action for perjury, and I think that as soon as he realizes his position he will be verv glad to carry out his promises to you." 'Yours, [.Signed] W. T. IIakt. These lawyers by their own letters and other evidences have proven themselves and are swindlers and criminals of the first degree and are more dangerous to the public on account of their high social and j^olitical standing, than they would other- wise be. They had been my trusted attorneys for years and I believ- ing my business troubles could not be confided to more trusty or honorable men, went to them for advice in my hour of trouble. Yet for the sake of extorting from me a few thousand dollars tiiey urged upon me a coin*se which placed me completely in their power and ends liy making me a jjoor banished exde doomed to live among strangers in a strange land. While they who are the guilty ones, are reveling in the luxury of their ill gotten gains and honored politically and socially by those who believe them to V^e honest and honorable men. That the public may know them as they are, and to prevent others from falling into their power, and moreover to vindicate my reputation and good name, which for more than twenty years that I have been in business in Montreal have been unstained, that that good name and reputation has been unblemished up to the time that I was unt"ortunate enough to listen and follow the advices of those dcj'eiisciirs dc la vcuvc ct dc rorp/icliii is the object of this circular. Notwithstanding the ilat refusal ofmy attorneys to make resti- tution of what they had swintlled me out of and then being unable to get my discharge Irom my creditors, I live in hope to return to dear Montreal sometime and make my attorneys Kcndrc gorgi\ don't you forget it. I aui still working hard and will succeed I hojje to earn enough money to enable me to offer my creditors a fair and under the circumstances an acceptable composition. Chari.f.s E. Pariseau. N. H. To my French friends it may seem strange tliat I have not addressed them in our native tongue, but if they stop a moment and reflect they will see that while nearly every Frenchman in Canada reatls and speaks English not one in ten of the English read French, and in order to reach them I had to publish my wrongs in their language. . , . ...