Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1867-08-17

| testimony ana thcreOy assure '"0 49,
templated impeachment of the President
have now been blown on by one who wa
particeps criminis with them in thu
monstrous crime, by which the chief ex
ecutiye officer Of a nation was to be Ju'
dicialIy murdered. It is true that Como
yer is not entitled to belief, on his owl
upsustained assertions But he has beer
indorsed by Holt q Co., his associates in
crime, as worthy Of being pardoned by
Mr.. johnson himself, against whom the
grave crime was attempted, for his SER
vices in aiding 10 convict Surratt, another
probably innocent man. With all the
unfairness and malpractice unknown to
American history in the civil courts, BY
which the lite Of Surratt was attempted,
and with oil the influence which power
full talents and government influence,
and Judge scarcely less cruel or inta-
nous than the English Jeffries, could
bring to bear against him in the
shameful trial, which to read must
make the blood of every freeman
boil within him, the cOnUiction failed,
and eight out of twelve Jurors, selected
by the government, declared him inno'
cent Why WAS it that ConovGr was
convicted of perjury He was doubtless
guilty. Bat why was he SO urgently and
promptly prosecuted by these very men
with whom, if the circum stances do not
lie, he was an accomplish in crime.
That is what we would get at Was it
not because these scoundrels wanted to
discredit him, and get him out of the
way, so that if he should tell on them,
their high talents, position and influence
would be able to overcome his testimony
Why, again, having thus succeeded IN
puttine Conover out Of the way, and in.
the penitentiary, did they seek TO pro
cure a pardon for him. Was it not to
prevent his exposing the plot against the
President, which they knew, that, al
though incarcerated, was still in his
power to accomplish, to their own great
distress at least, and, possibly, to their
ruin ? Why, also, does Ashley, as the
probable agent for others with himself,
exhibit such anxiety to get back the
letters, if it is not because they contain
the damning evidence of crime And,
now that the exposure is made, why
should il not be believed? Because
Conover is unworthy of belief2 The
circumstances, which are individually
proved, would establish the fact of the
statement as prinsa facie real and true,
even though made by known liar
If man of average reputation for
veracisy should tell you that he had killed
some carniverous animal in the woods
where no one saw him, and that the ami
NAL weighed FIVE hundred pounds, or had
a paw which to the first joint weighed ten
pounds, you would doubt the assertion.
But suppose he should tell you that he
shot at such creature and missed him,
would you think the tale necessarily false
only because a Conover had told it2
Suppose liar should tell you that two
men met and one fell; you would not
believe it because he told it. But if after
wards you should ind the very man dead,
whom he had represented to have fallen,
would you doubt that he had told the
truth for once? No matter if he was
liar, if he asserts and offers to prove that
a man, who seemed very nervously anx-
ious to put him out of the way, was par
ticeps criminis with him self in crime,
would you doubt then that his testimony
was worthy of sufficient respect to war
rant the investigation necessary to verify
its truth or falsehoed2
Conover charges that these men con-
spired with himself to destroy the Presi-
dent Of the United States. The circum-
stances detailed by him look true. Men
are governed by motives. The motive
to escape exposure and the possible con-
sequent disgrace and punishment which
would or might follow that exposure, is
motive enough to control men in any
station, and to account for the nervous
and urgent letters Of Ashley, who was
doubtless only the agent for Holt, But
Ter, Riddle and Matchett, and
perhaps also for Stanton, Wade,
Chase, Sumner, Stevens and others. The
whole matter demands investigation
and foundation is laid to hold Ashley 4
Co. for trial. Prof. Webster was arrested
and held for trial in Boston for killing
Parkman, on lighter circumstances than
these, and afterwards convicted and ex.
ecuted.
So the three Kaapps, for the murder
of old man White, by Crowningshield, in
the same city, whom they had hired to do
the deed, were held for trial on no other
circumstances than the fact that they
would be gamers by the deed, and were
the only men who had motive to it. 1t
afterwards turned out that they watched
in the streets, wrapped in cloaks, while
| Crowningsheild entered the house and
committed the act for $1,000, which they
had become bound to pay him. That
Ashley & Co. conspired with Conover to
make up false case Of crime for the