Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1866-08-07
Congress in it's Last Hours.

Just before the close. of the session of the
late iniquitous and unpatriotic Congress, Mr..
! Rogers of New Jersey, of the House Judi
! ciary Committee, presented the minority re-
port in reference to The completely of Jeffer-
son Davis and Others with tine assassination
OF President Lincoln. This report though
necessarily prepared in haste, on account Of
the unwarrantable exclusion of Mr.. Rogers,
one of the members of the committee, from
examining the testimony given, contains suffi-
cient to produce the inevitable conviction of
the existence and the fostering, the hireing
and the paying, of most wicked combna-
ton of perjurers. The report says:
/" One BY one 1 find each aud all of these
witnesses brought forward ut this So called
trial to duplicate Jefferson Davis, Clement q.
Clay, JaSOb I thompson und others, to be either
convicted perjurers or men of isfamuus life,
and therefore, the first conclusion to which [
arrived at is. that all the testimony taken to
establish said completely, under the preteuce
OF proving general conspiracy, is wholly
unworthy OF credit, and thatts ec p0rfe re-
ceptlOn, even hy that court, aud the protection
OF witnesses, was an act highly repreheuSible,
discreditaDle to the officers of the court. a dis
grace to the nation aud its military service.
under misapplication of the powers and
regulations of which this conspiracy to alarm
the people and jeopnrdize the reputat on, lib
erty, aud life OF innocent men was tUsteled
aud p'rtially consnnnlated.
81 do not say that Judge Holt did himself
originate the charges or organize the plot CT
the perjurers. because do not know that he
did. merely say that "a plur based on the
assassination, was formed against Davis Clay,
and others, aud that the pl tiers did and even
yet operate through the Bureau Of Military
Justice and that the argument forwarded by
MIR. Holt TO the COMMITTEE ON the j Judiciary
IOuked to me like "a shield extended over the
plotters; extended. it may be, from no per-
soAaf luminosity to Messrs. Davis, lay. umd
the others; extended, it may be. with de-
sire to save certain officers Of the Govern
ment fir. III the charge of having been be-
tr'yed into the mistakes of vague appre-
henSl"n, the btunders OF an excitement. which
it was their province TO allay "r CONTROL not
to increase ur share, but still extended over
acknowledged, selt-convicted, most wicked
perjury; and the fact that Mr.. Holt did him.
self pay money to more than one of them may
awaken suspicion that there was bribery as
well as perjury; perhaps not conscious bribe-
ry. but the payment tur false testimony was
committed; though it may have been donc
rnn"centy, it produced the usual effect OF
suhornatIon Of perjury"
Upon the action Of the committee in this
case, the N"hO""t IrteU'ycmcer remarks:
The whole proceeding in his matter-the
secrecy with which, from BEGINNING to end,
it has been enshrouded, the earne;t efforts of
the Judge Advocate General to convince the
committee of tie truth of charges based en-
tireIy upon testimony proved comclusiveIy to
be false; the efforts of the Radical majority
Of the judiciary Committee to excluue a
member of that committee up to the very last
day of the session from any ex animation of
the papers i'll the case the payuieut of large
sums of money to oseliicuutessed perjurers; the
permission gwen to the perjurers to go ut
large-ali tend to arouse suspicious of II guilty
knowledge somewhere OF the existence and
character of the conspiracy alleged and de-
uand. for the credit of the Government aud
the Justification of some Of its officers. fur.
ther rigid investigation into all the facts in
volved III this affair.