Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1866-07-30
THE ASSASSINATION PLOT.
Minority Report of Judiciary Commit

&c
Hon. A. J. Rogers, q member Of the Judiciary
Commlftee, TO which was J, ferred an investi.
cation as y what completely, if any, Jefferson
Davis, Clement c. Clay, George N. Sanders,
Lincoln, on Saturday In..de a minority report
to the House Of Represen 'atives, from which
we make the folio owing extracts: 60.
knowing the entire >unreiiability Of any
testimony whose origin cannot be traced be.
yona professional detesr,Ee especially when
large rewards stand out in placarded prospec.
I've, determined, as t. me lay. to give
ough an examination as / mis::. oe capable of
bestowing upon it, and in this spirit, with no
oeslre 10 convict or to acquit capahis of mas
terlnR my wish te educs the truth, tried TO
ascertain it; and this report is the result of the
ssvfi. - ...-. ,-.... -
"For sorne reason or reasons not FLY stated,
the majority Of The committee determined to
not only In any assistance might try to rem
der them in what i considered common task
upon us by the House, but p. =, IN my work.
lug out any conclusion myseiL when 1t be-
came evident that in this thing they not only
would have none of my assistance or fellow
ship, but resented deeply any attempt OF mine
to render any.
IL felt must work out my own con victions
not with the committee, but in So .te of il. The
papers were put away from r9s, locked in
boxes, hidden; and when / asked to see them,
L was told, day after day, and week after
week, that L could net. All sorts Of reasons
were assigned for this. sometimes one. some
times another; and, finally, / was told, /
should not.
The House will recoilect brought the mat
ter before il, and that the Speaker decided i
was not entitled 10 see tis pagers on which
my opinions. as member of that committee,
must be based. till such time IS the other men,
bers Of the committee chose 10 allow me- by
saying they Were done with them; and it was
not till l2 O'Clock yesterday that was allowed
freely to look through them and derive any
knowledge, based upon examination, for the
purposes of this report. II was said the inter-
ests OF the Government required that none
should see these papers save and only Mr..
boutwell,. the honorable member from Massa-
chusetts, who was preparing the majority re.
port, l felt hurt at this, hu: should not ha We
alluded TO this strange action the part Of the
committee but thatIt was necessary TO explain
any lack OF brevity and clearzess that may be
apparent IL portions, or In the whole, of this
report which. awaiting the right to see the pa
pers, or. rather. the power, did not Commence
till too late. If, therefore this report be longer
than IL need 10 have cen, or if il be less clear
than such report ought to be- the cause must
be found in those reasons which induced my
colleagues OF the committee TO endea vor TO keep
me In The dark till il was too late for me TO use
the light. I
0"As the members Of the committee are men,
bers OF this House, will not presume 10 say
they had any fear of an Investigation OF their
doings in their examinations. As they are
gentlemen, and bound by that character not to
hide the truth. or any part of il. will not say
they kept me in the dark 10 the last hour to
preventmy making any report at all; but this
allowed me to use the usual privileges from
which they excluded me, this report would
have been OF more benefit TO the cause of JUS
nee ana OF truth than l can now hope to make
II. should also have accompanied the de-
ductions of this report with ampler extracts
OF the testimony, showing conclusiyely the cx-
istence and fostering the hiring and the pay
ing, of the most wicked combination of PERU
rers the world has ever known.
"The main portions Of the testimony alleged
TO connect Mr.. Davis and others with the as
I.in Ill folra
the absence Of Mr. Davis and of any counsel
for him, and Of any person capable OF cross.
examining and explaining the testimony. In
! OF the evidence upon winch they are based
Were obtained en- payte, without notice to the
accused, and whilst they were In custody in
military. prlsons Their pubIication might
wrong the Government-mark, the Govern
ment not the accused. The Secretary of War;
February z, lS66, writes TO the President that
the publication OF the reports Of the Judge Ad-
yocafe General on this matter lis incompati-
BILE with the public interests This report, in
the testimony II quotes, will show that the in
terests OF the country would never have suf.
fered by the dispensing with illegal secrecy,
but that the interests and fame Of the Jud9e
Advocate General himself would suffer in the
eyes Of all the th-loving and justice seek
ing people on earth.
.Secrecy has surrounded and shrouded. not
to say protected, every step of these examina.
tions, and even in the committee room 1 seemed
10 be acting with sort of secret counsel of in :.
quisiter, and grand inquisitor, too.
How such an un- American mode Of pro-
cedure for the discovery and prosecution Of
crimes cognfZable by the civil tribunsls OF
the country could ever exist in 1t, find 1t i'm.
possible to fully understand or explain. u
,w"Thel SUBSTANCE Of the testimony rendered
before the committee, rird roce and documen-
larry, Is fresh in my memory. and also the re-
suit OF some Of the investigations made into
It's credi biiity. II was In ascertaining the lat
ter that found my self forced to travel over
the nebutous and extended region Of the So
called assassin trial .rssfr r-9
There are two reports of this trial-one an.
proved bv Mr.. Holt. revised by Mr.. Burnett,
ana the Associated Press report, published BY
Peterson Co. Of Philadelphia. Whatever OF
suspicion NAV naturally astach to the fermer.
none can 10 the latter. -
"it will be pmembsrea by the House that
four person were hung by-fhe unconstftution.
sl tYDouDa1 referred 70, and that IL was before
This house. court, commission. or whatever
you may choose TO cail ~, that Jefferson Davis
was, after rhe military manner, charged with