The Portland daily press., 1867-06-10
Co. -
The Assnssinuticn of s.iuco,r.
BEFORE THE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
-LCnrresnonlence Of .hn D;......---- :. ..----.--

/
precaution was taken to battle the consnira,
tors, Though no clue had been obtained rs to
| who these were. .r-.t.
Wilkes Booth was in Washington at tho
time. Having known Mr.. johnson in Nash
| vile, be called upon him the day after Mr..
| JohnSuns arrival here. During the exercises
| at the Capitol Booth was in the building.
80 certain were the authorities that an at
| tempt to kill Mir. Lincoln was to be made that
| every avenue within the building, by which an
| assassin could escape, was carefully ruarded.-
Booths own observation of the situation may
have deferred him from the act in contempla-
ton.
From November to February %, Booth was
in Washington seven times, the periods OF his
absence varying from two to ten days each On
the 1st OF March, 1865, he arrived again, and
upon the three succeeding days called at
eight a. M, oy his own express orders.
| BOOTH AT NASHVILLE
/ After the Republican party had nominated
ITS ticket, Booth passed some time in Nash
vile. There he Was well acquainted with Mir.
Johnson. Both had mistresses there, and
these mistresses were said to be sis
ters. Booth was also well acquainted with Mr..
Brow5mng' the private secretary Of ths Vice
4 BETRAYnNG THE PARTY.
There is abundant evidence that ftom tho
first 1t was Mr.. Johnson's settled determina-
ton to betray the Republican party Promi-
nent rebels seem to have understood the ter
rihc anath emas against traitors as simple
no other satisfactory explanation.
| AT Cincinnati, when on his way to Washing
ton, be expressed himself decidedly that if the
country was to he saved at all it could only be
| saved through the reorganization of the Demo-
| cratic party.
A few weeks before the assassination. he d.
| clafed with an oath, to friend that II he was
ever PRESIDENT he would crush out all Yankoe
| influence from the Government. Soon alter
| The assassination meeting the same friend he
SAID: do you recollect what told you when
| we met last? Well, l am President now and
this Yankee influence shall be crushed out"
| These remarks are pertinent as showing that
| from the first the purpose was to beI1y his
party. 1t is by no means all the evidence upon
which This charge rests.
/ BROWNING AND ELECTION RETURNS.
The private secretary above referred To was
talking to friend when the returns Of tho
Presdert t1al election were coming in Enouoh
pad been received TO make the result turn on
Indiana When the despatch came showing
;nas ,ne Stse naa gone Kepubiiesn Brown
good for a second term, and ii he dies we have
got just as good man to put in his place.
| On several occasions, when intoxicated after
| his arrival IN Washington, and when discuss-
ing political matters, he exclaimed, "Well.
| walt till Mr.. johnson Is President he will
show you Yankee Abolitionists how to manage
| things Browning and Booth saw each other
frequently, and were intimate.
BOOTHS COMMUNICATIONS WITH RICHMOND.
| Booth made several trips between Washing-
ton and Canada On one occasion, while IN
| this city, he received q package OF documents
from Csnada. One OF these was for Mr.. Jot n
| son. This Booth delivered. Subsequently he
received an answer TO it, and this, i. is sa1, he
| despatched to Richmond, and its character, if
known, has not been allowed to transpne.
MOVEMENTS AROUND THE KIRKwooD HOUSE,
| 1t wall be remembered that the Vice Presi-
dent Boarded at the Kirkwood House. and that
Atzerott who it was alleged was to kill him,
| had room at the same hotel. tT e. ...-
Early In the evening OF April ID, Mr.. john
son sent word to the office that he could not lie
seen by any one for any purpose whatever. So
| particular was he about the matter as after
| ward to go himself to see whether the order
| was fully understood. In the afternoon as is
KIN Jwn, Boo,h called and left his card
| 1t is now sad that Mr. Johson saw Booth sf-
| ter that card was put in his box Tue pistol
| and kuife found IN Atserott's bed were put
| there by Booth, according TO a statement made
| by Atzerott wn1le being tskon to abe saliows.
AtzerottS connection with the conspiracy
| seems TO be reduced nearly to what he declared
| IL to be in his Confession, namely: That he had
| been party to the first project of kidnapping.
| but had positively refused TO have anything TO
| DO with the subsequent plot to assassinate,
and that he had no desire TO kill MIR. johnson:
and further that he could have done so after
| Booth had shot Mir. lincoln, as he saw Mr.
| johnson on one or two occasions later in the
evening. He was probably party so far as to
aid in creating the impression that it was part
of the plan to kill the Vice President.
| AT THE ARSENAL '-i
A strange thing connected with the impris-
onment of the conspiratOrs at the Arsenal was
| that the attendants were most strictly CHARGED
| to hold no communication whatever with Che
prisoners, and especially to ask no questions
One of the attendants says the caufion was in
the form of an oath, and that copies of il are
in existence, and will be produced. Payne, it
is said, made a written confession but no trace
OF this paper can now be found. All the pris-
onerS expected TO be reprieved up to the very
moment they were swung off, aud when the or
der OF execution was taken in to be read, some
| OF tnem were IN great gee, supposing the re-
| prleve had certainly come. There are grave
| r asons for supposIng that some of the prison.
ers believed reprieve and final pardon to be ell
ements In the plot.
| THE TRIAL
Those familiar with the trial viii not fail to
remember that several occasions efforts
Were made by the defence to introduce state
ments and confessions made by several of the
prisoners to their attendants and also to int o.
duce some declarations of Booths made SUBJ
sequent to the assassination, as evidence. The
authorities now have partial knowledge of
these statements, aud the bearing of them can
be more readily seen at this time. 1t was un-
derstood anu believed at the tine of the trial
that there were about one hundred armed men
in Washington on the night of April IA, in the
| laterestof the assassins. 1t seems strange that
no attempt was made to learn who any OF tlese
parties were, an that no reward Mas Cffer.d Tor
their apprehension.
1t is also known that one of the prosecutors
on the trial felt convinced, at the time of the
trial, that personages connected with the
government, and those beyond suspicion IN
T the minds of most, had some previous knowl-
edge OF the attempt to murder Mr.. Lincoln
The deiay of two months In taking any steps
TO arrest Surratt, after his Whereabouts was
known, and an offer had been made to deliver
/ him up, is, to say the least, suspicious.
WIDESPREAD KNOWLEDGE OF THE PLOT.
One OF the most sing uiar matters brought to
light by the investigation is the tact that not
only was the plot knownln distant parts of the
country, but that it was understood who were
to be the victims There is much evidence so-
ing to substantiate the supposition that there
was no intention of taking Mr.. Johnson's life,
f and that all the movements aronnd the Kirk
wood House were simply made to mislead.
The following will suffice as specimens of this
: kind OF evidences:
: AT a town in Minnesota, at five O'clock in
the afternoon OF April 14,a citizen stated TO lis
!, friends that Mr. Lincoln and Secretary Sew
, ard had been assassinated. At .welve o o'clock,
: noon, April IA, in another town of Minnesota,
several citizens came to the postmaster to in
: quire whether any news had been received OF
the assassination of Mr.. Lincoln and Secre-
tary Seward. In neither case was the name of
the Vice President mentioned. The statemeat
OF Harold 1t midnight after the assassna-
ton, when, with Booth, he stopped at Lloyds
tavern at SIrrattsville, as it appears III the
| evidence taken upon the trial, was this: well,
+ am pretty certain that we have assassnated
. the President and Mr.. Seward" Fleeing as
: they did, instantly after the shot fred in the
theatre, how could they have known that the
I, plot had failed SO far Mr.. johnson was con-
cerned, provided there was any intention to
kill him?
4 Besides these, there is evidence to the Same
! effect, from portions of the country widely
: | separated from those mentioned above whore
? a knowledge of the tact that MIR. Lincoln and
Secretary Seward were to be assassinated was
, in the possession of quite number OF per-
! | sons.
: Some circumstances connected with the
n hasty execution of the conspirators-as il
, there was an anxiety to get them under ground
at the earliest moment-have excited attention
T and inquiry.
In conclusion, it may be said that the above
!. | presents fair statement of the kind OF matter
. which, so far as it has not been already done,
y will, in due time, be presented to the proper
u persons to receive the same. 1t is beheVeu 10
q be but small portion of similar matter III t,le
hands of those who are using IL 10 remove tno
mystery of the great conspiracy
y, The remains OF MaHin, the illustrious We
n malta, natriot. now buried in France, where he
x d;oa IN ox;le are to be exhumed, and in Sep
.o,s,,,ar next they will be conveyed with ma
l., .,,o, honors to Venice The remains will b.
an .aton from the family vault of AIRY Schefer, a
Montmartre, where they now rest, and con-
ut veved to Marseilles by railroad. At Marseile:
an Italian war steamer will receive them snd
es win reach Venice on the morning of Manin'
is birthday, the 22d of September. A COMMITTEES
a. of the Venetian municipality will supervis