The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-05-22

the remark, Your action in afrestinp me will
Cosl you your commisi ion; shall see the Pre-
OF terWce.n replied TO her, "The President
ihprobably require some other fenson for NV
lll ohsnlssel ron service than the statement Of
10 satisfy me Of her intimacy with the presi.
dent and With the attaches at the White House
she entered into long and minute stat,,,nont 81
she had had with him. aasuring
me that he had Informed her that was 10 he
mustered out of service on the 18th of Novem.
Der; that Mr.: Stanton would not be retainedi In
the Cabinet beyond tho let ot January; that
many Of the Black Republican an1 Aboliuonist
oihceholders were to be removed, and che
knew who they werei that the President had in
formed her, on one occasion, that the Detective
Bureau was TO be broken up, and that Stanton's
friend, Baker, would retire into private life.
After listening ior more than an hour
to conversation o this character ] de.
took the pardon, as delivered by Mrs.
Cobb TO Captain Hiue; Mrs. Cobb's written
contract with Captain Hiue for procuring the
same, the marked $50 notes paid by Hine to Mrs.
Cobb and by her returned to me, and, leaving
Mrs, Cobb in charge of one of my officers /
went to the Executive mansion about O'Clock.
/ found the President alone In his room and
alter the usual salutatlon, said 'BIr Presi-
deut, have some papers here that / desire to
show You.n He said, Take q seat sir.n i'm
med'alely un'olded the pardon and laid it on
the table before him.. He put on his spectacles
looked at ", and said, "sir where did you get
thisW 81 got II from Mrs. Cobb" l then
handed TO him Mre. Cobb's written contract for
procuring said pardon He read It, when
exhibited to him the marked money. and
began detailed statement of all the facts
connected with the case. He interrupted
me In moment, and said, Where did
you get this pardon" / replied, From
Mrs. Cobb !" and WAS proceeding to mar
rate the circumstances, when he again inter-
rupted me, and added, We'll, what Is all this
aboutW 1 began a thhd time to relate the cir
cumstances, when be interrupted me- with
rising passion, This Is detective job, isn't it!n
| answered, Eyes, sir; and II you will listen TO
me moment VIII explain itr He raised the
pardon from the table ard said, "But what
business have you with this pardonr When
again attempted TO make an explanation, he
broke in by say ing, well, this is very strange
affair. This pardon has not been recorded.
You have no business with 1t, sir. There is no
oath OF amnesty attached TO it," then politely
requested the President to listen to me, stating
that would explain the whole matter. / had
not proceeded lar, however, when he became
very much excited, rose from his char and
said, "Sir, what business have you to inter-
lere here? What business has this woman TO
use my name in connection with this
matterg How did this pardon get out of the
Attorney.Generars Office without being re-
cordedg" Looking at the pardon, he remarked,
"This Is my signature. did not sign this pardon
until very late this afternoon, and here md Il
returned, as you say, througha pardon broker"
He called his son Robert, and inquired, "Ro-
bert, do you know anything about this pardon!"
Robert answered, "les, father; that is the par
He took the pardon from his drawer, unfoIded
it, and remarked, ''This is pretty business.
Where is Mrs. CobbW replied, cat my head
quarters" did you arrest her sir?" replied,
"No, sir / simply asked her to go TO my
headquarters to make an explanation.n
Again he became very much excited,
walked the room to and fro and sud-
denly turned ierociously upon me and
exclaimed, "Who employs you to interfere
with the duties of the President or the Attorney
Generalp Ny answer was, certainly intended
no wrong; did not CONCEIVE II to be possible
that he could know the real character of this
woman; my only desire was to exhibit 10 him
the character of the persons engaged in pro-
curing pardons and the means employed; and
IL had done wrong was very sorry. He be-
came more composed, and wanted to know who
this Mrs. Cobb was. l stated TO him, as far as
possible, who she was. He then asked me II
would request Mrs. Cobb to come and see him
the following evening at o'clock. i replied,
Certainly He also requested me TO come
and see him the next evening, which promised
TO Go, and, leaving the pardon and Mrs. Cobb's
! contract with Captain Howell In his possession.
returned to my headquarters.
But to return to Mrs. Cobb. On arriving at
my headquarters, informed her that she was
at liberty TO go home, and Immediately fur
nished herself and husband with a conveyance.
Before leaving, she reiterated her determination
to lay the whole matter before the President
and have me summarily dismissed the service.
She told me that she had very influential friends
in Washington, and she would go before the
Grand Jury and have me indicted for false i'm.
prisonment, etc.
In compliance with the Presidents request, I
went 70 his mansion the next evening and
found him in a state of great excitement. He
denounced my interference with matters at
the White House; Mrs. Cobb was respectable
virtuous lady, and had no right to interfere
with her occupation" had sincerely believed
| could render the President great service by
exposing the, character and business of this
woman. When, however, found that he was
determined to put wrong construction upon
my motives, and to sustain Mrs. Cobb, felt
mortified and indignant Never was there
greater contrast between anticpations and the
result II was coming down from the summit
OF human glory, when the unworthy ruler of
S vs eee ana ~ bs ,sa SSFe sp
Grand Jury of the District of Columbia then
being in session, on the following day, very
much TO my surprise, l learned that four
! indictments had been found against me
one for false Imprisonment OF Mrs Cobb; one
| for false imprisonment of Mr.. Cobb; one far
robbery In taking from her the 5000 I had
marked and given to Captain Howell and one for
extortion. Itwould be difficult 10 imagine how
Grand Jury could ever find evidence In this
case on which to base these indictments, but
when 1t Is recollected that nearly every mem
ber OF this Grand Jury was a secessiouist: that
many Of them, If not all, had at some hm0
during the previous four years fallen under
my official notice, these facts will perhaps
furnish an explanation. When It became
known that these indictments had been found
against me, the disloya press Throughout the
country hailed the event as one likely TO termi-
nate my Official connection with the Govern
ment, and declared that President Johnson
Wculd never permit himself to be compromised
by permitting the continuance OF the Detective
Bureau. Especially were pains taken by the
Associated Press to send the news broadcast
everywhere, that Colonel Baker had been
INDICTED for robbery, without giving any of the
circumstances in connection with the case.
To these reports / made no reply, determined
70 waIt ,pauently, satisaed that II an impartial