New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1866-08-07

ment and in pain, with their heads buried IN sort
of sack, devised to prevent their seeing In this
plight, from dark cells, they were brought to be
charged with having been melted by Mr.. Davis,
and they pleaded not guilty.
AS the Congressional committee believe
secrecy necessary, as The attorney general
tary of war orders it, so that court
praoticed it; and it was in secret, with closed
DOORS The perured reporter present, that the chief
testimony, alleged to implioate Mr.. Davis, was
taken; and this testimony would not now De
publicly known had it not been published in Gin
einnai through Pitman's violation of his oath.
Having arrived at the manner in which this ties
timony was taken, there now remains ior me only
to ascertain how fer it could be relied on, and
what it protested to.proye. 1t is theory OF courts
military that when the accused are hnproVluea
with counsel, the prosecutor; techmcahy Termed
% the Judge advocate" shall defend tle accused
as well as ulead the aCcusation-in fact be sort
of uSeuS eltiiB not only to the court, but to the
accused. MeSsrs Dsyis, Clay, Thompson, ct al,
had No counsel, of course, and the only lawyer for
the other accused capable OF grasping the subject
was insulted by the court in manner so repug-
nant to personal selffespect and professional dig
nifty that he left it, and in lieu of eross-eNamnng
testimony was forced to commit himself TO the
production of an argument whose soundness has
been indorsed by the decision of the supreme
court in the habeas corpus case of MiigaR, Bowles
and HoFsey. The lawyer so insulted and SO feared
was a Senator of the United States, whose reputa
ton is second to none in this countryonce an at
Z =
the leader of its bar.
That should be jealousy excluded by the com
mittee from investigating testimony Reverdy
johnson was thus prevented from testing; that
the gentleman from Massachusetts, and the chair
man of the committee, should use towards me the
very same measures and means adopted by Cen
erals Hunter and Harris must, it would seem, be
| due to their acting under similar motives
I 1t was therefore, natural that in trying to IN
vestigate the charge OF completely made against
MIR. Davis this continual attempt at secrecy, these
unusual means to prevent any searching eNamlna-
| ton into the reliability of the testimony, SHOULD
lead me to suspect that these charges were hastily
| and lightly made and that the President hal been
msinior1ned and wiifully or recklessly misled
| when he Illuminated n charge so dire against men
SO prominent, and Just then the observed of the
nation This secrecy on the part of the court
this avoidance of legitimate scrutiny, led me tc
conclude that my first duty was to ascertain the
character of the witnesses, to sift it thoroughly
I and to ascertain by what, if any, motives they
were actuated in the delivery of their oral EVIL
dence and written affidavits.
1 Sanford Conover, the principal witness and orig
inator eli the oral testimony relevant procured by
the bureau Of military Justice to establish tn
guilt Of Davis was examined by the committee g
the Judiciary. The method Of his examination
was this: The testimony he had given at tn
mock trial on the goth day of May 1865, was rea!
to him and he said it was all true. In that testi
mony he was asked, being duly sworn:
!, Q. State your full name and present plaos o
, residence.
A. Sanford Conover Montreal Canada.
On the stb of June find he swors upon the
Holy Evangelist that his name was not SANFORD
ConoYer, but James Watson Wallace, and in the
same positive manner, he denies, under oath. il
Canada 4all he swore to in Washington, and end
by making the following proposition:
Five hundred dollars reward will be given fol
the arrest, so that can bring to punishment il
Canada the infamous aud perjured seoundrel who
recently personated me under the name of SANFORD
Conover, and deposed to tissue of falsehoods be
f fore the military m a WaGknptnD
4 JAMES W. WALLACE
Conover having finally admitted that he ant
4 Wallace were one man with two names, and Wal
lace swearing that Conoyer is a scoundreI whose
testimony before the military commission was bu
tissue of falsehoods, might well relieve me from
all analysis of the testimony given by him unit
such crime as perjury in two courts, delivered
4 from any motive, becomes certificate of truth
4 telling in the other
Il 1t were needless to detail here what Conover
alias Wallace, deposed to at the mock trial, anC
that is the testimony of his which Mr.. Holt for
warded to the judiciary committee. A garblet
report of it by Pitman bearing the unsatisfactory
Authorization Of Mr.. Holt and Mr.. Burnett will b
! found in Pitman's report page %. A report, cor
rect to word, taken by the reporters of the Sen
ate corps, and given by Holt to the ASSOCIATED
press, will be found in the associated press cop,
Of g The Conspiracy Trial. published in Philadel
, phia by 7. B. Peterson Il Bros. page 1877.
The testimony of Conover, had it been credible
would establish the guilt of Jefferson Davis, Geo
j..
DR.. Blackburn, Beverly Tucker VIM. G. Ceary
, Lewis Castleman, the Rev. Mr.. Cameron, Mr.
Porterheld, DR.. NJ. A. Palm. Capt, Magruder
Gen. Frost and Gen. Carroll, with whom, he says
he was intimately acquainted in Montreal, Canada
where he had resided from October, 1864. H.
says he saw Surratt on the 18th of April, 1865
describes him, andsays he heard conversation be
tween him and Jacob Thompson in the room 0
the latter, whence it appeared that Surratt ha
brought Thompson dispatches from Richmond
one from Benjamin. and also a letter in cipha
from Mr.. Davis. 'tPrevlous to that says Como
yer, D." / had a conversation with Mr. Thompson
relative to the plot to assassnate Mr.. Lincoln AM
his cabinet and had been invited by Mr.. Thomp
son to participate in the enterprise Thomp
son laid his hand on the dispatche
brought by Surratt, Conoyer asserts, an
said, 4" This makes the thing all right, !" referring
to the assent of the rebel authorities. Mr. Lincoln
Mr.. Johnson the secretaries of war and state
Judge Chase and General Grant were to be tht
victims ConoYer asserts his first interview viii
Thompson was in February 1865, and that at tha
first interview Thompson said to him, Some Of
cur boys are going to play grand joke on Abe
and andy The joke Thompson explained tc
! Gonover at this first interview was to Kill them
| and at the same interview Conover says thai
/ Thompson explained to him that the killing of
| tyTant was no murder-that it was only remOva
| from Office. Thompson told Gonoyer, too, that he
| had commissioned Booth, and all engaged to d.
! the killing would receive commissions and if they
escaped to Canada, they could not be successfully
claimed under the extradition treaty.
! Conover states further, that the very day Of thu
assassination, or the day before, he had CONVEX
| sation with Cleary, at the ST. Lawrence Hotel
Montreal They spoke of the rejoicings in thu
North over the surrender of Lee, and Cleary, &C
cording to Conover, said they would put the laugl
on the other side Of their mouths in day or two
4 and, adds Conoyer, " The conspiracy was talket
Of az that time about as commonly as one woult
speakiof the weather"
! ConoVer asserts also, that Sanders spoke to hin
freely about Booth, and feared the latter woult
| make a tizzle, he being reckless and dissipated.
Il Conoyer said he was all this time correspondent
Of the New York Tribune.
Conoyer further deposed to proposition beinl
made to destroy the Croton dam at New York, Il
distress manufactures, and to distress the peop
\ generally, to Hhompson's saying that the who'll
city would soon be destroyed by fire.
4 fConOver said he saw neither Payne nor Altered
in Canada, nor did he there ever hear the name o
Mary e. Surratt. He said that while in Canada ht
went by the name of James Watson Wallace.
Mr. Thompson had told Conover, he says, tina
he thought the assassination of Mr.. Lincoln am
the cabinet would meet the approval of the gov
ernnent at Richmond; that was in February, AM
in April, when 'Snrratt arrived from Richmond
A Mr., thompson says Conoyer referred to the dis
patches brought as having furnished the assent
Having thus testified to q connection between
| the government at Richmond and the assassins il
Washington, via Canada, Conover next testlfieB t.
the infection plot. .-.s
He says one DR.. Blackburn packed a number Q
4 trunks with infected clothing. Blackburn repre-
/ scented himself as en- agent of the G. S. A.. a
Thompson did. Blackburn offered according t.