New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1864-03-29

The Richmond Sentinel oil Marcn IL puDHsncS
two letters, one from J. p. Benjamin, who
styles himself Secretary of State; the other from
S. II. Mallory, calling himself Secretary OF the
Navy, and both confirming the statement
of NJ. f. Maury, made in The London
Times, that document published in De.
cember last, and purporting to be the
Report of Secretary Mallory, is u forgery. This
report first appeared in The Sun of this city. II
our memory serves US, it was not reprinted IN
any other Of the New-York morning papers
ut the same time with other Official
documents emanatng from the Rebel
Government at the opening Of its Congress,
ard was not published at all in the columns oil
THE TRIBUNE Not finding it in our own files
of Richmond papers, We were not sure enough
of IFS authenticity TO reproduce it; but as those
| files are often necessarily imperfect, it was
quite possible that other journals might receive
paper containing the report which wethad
failed to get In not reproducing it we were
only governed BY our usual caution in hesitating
TO give creditto a document which appeared in
u somewhat irregular way, and of which, of our
own knowledge, we know nothing.
But if this document is forgery, who forged
liz The mere fact that the Rebel authorities
declare it TO be 80 is not to be accepted as proof
that they did not put, or cause 1t to be put, IN
circulation. The evidence, indeed, IL the other
way. 1t is quite possible that they may have
81 IN, tr.t
document a wide circulation, and then, by de-
nouncng il as forgery, to dScredit all that
might thereafter appear in relation to the affairs
of the Rebels, with Maury's broad assertion that
the yankees were ia the habit Of making fac
simile copies of Richmond papers" If it was
not a cheat of their own concoting or one
which, at least, they were quite willing
should be imposed upon the public, why have
they not exposed it belore' The New-iork
papers are received at Richmond with great
deal more regularity than the Richmond jour
! nails are here. Why did they wait three months
after the preparation of the fraud, if fraud 1t
| is. before thcy exposed it, Or was II no fraud
at alll Mr.. Mauy's duty in London is to look
sharply amer Rebel Interests, and it is by no
means improbable that he found this report OF
Secretary Mallory so damaging that the easiest
and the only way to deal with il was to de-
nounce it as forgery. On such point the
Richmond authorities would deierto Mr.. Maurys
Judgment, and would follow his sailing
idircctionsp-with more eXactness than he was
accustomed to command when at the head Of
another sort of Obsensiory-by strengthening
his assertion. When We remember that the L.
Butler King letter was, without doubt, forg-
- ~--s- 18th a. o.. sl,. sasa. 90 So
umed writer and a. to the facts il pretended to
state-the theory that this bogus report va
Of Rebel contriyance to be repudiated when the
proper time came, or else necessarily repudiated
a. the best way to dispose of mischieyous doe
umeni seems tie most reasonable. In the eat
aloguc Of crimes of which these Rebel gentlemen
have been guilty, forgery may be ranked as only
pcccadillo.