New-York tribune., 1873-02-12


DEECE AGAINST HIh'
ny TELEGRAPH TO THB TRlBuEBl
WIsuYNGToN Feb. 11-Mr. Hale opened Mr.. Col
fsx's defense by long CrOss-examination OF MI
Ames He began to 60 over his whole testimony
not coH1ining himself to that concerning MI Ooi
fax for the purpose of involving Mr.. Ames III oV.
tradictons and pressing every possible ha" ~ ''-'
testimony, however trihing. .io,.o
Judge Poland, who has been prodlgy oi Po P'-.i..
and good nature throughout the tedious nsesue
ton fairly out of humor at this stopped M La
.o,,orol ,inoos saving that the Committee nau MI
A,nos,s evidence before them, and coulo Juuge ioi
,ho,nselvas 40 70 whether it was contradictory Al
- go bo said sharply: I'VE are having great
,aeal 81 senseless chatter bere; and at announcer
when Mr. Clark, who sat at MI Amess eloo"
,b,onohont and acted as his lawyer got into con-
troversy with Mr. Hale, he threatened TO have them
eoth put out of the room.
He and the other committeeman were clearly out
Of all patience with the the two lawyers and De-
leved that the more they were allowed to tax tne
less clear the case would become. Mr.. Halo made
aothing out of Mr. Ames in the course of two hours
tross-examination. 1t did not trouble hr. Ames at
all to have his first statement compared with his
rubseouent more explicit testimony. he explained
AL discrepancies by saying he had not time 10 re-
fresh his memory when he made the first statement
and that he was then willing TO believe what MT
Colfax and the others said, and was ANXIOUS 10 Ie'
them off as easy as he could.
Mr. Hale's first witness for the defense was Moses
Dillon. the cashier of Sergeantat-Arms Ordway'
His evidence sounded very much as If it had been
cooked up for the emergency. In his previous test
mony he had said that he had no recollection OIL
having paid the 81, 200 check marked D. Cr" ana
did not know to whom he had paid It, Now ne tes-
tifed that he had an indistinot recollection, or
hat Mr.
the money on it himself He would not swear that
be had, however. He said he had suggested to MI
Anes Yesterday, that he might have got the check
eashed himself, and that Mr. Ames replied, Very
likely" BY this time it about o'clock, and
the tired Committee adjourned for dinner.
They met again at in the evening Mr.. Colfax
made O speech in his own defense, In which he
brought in a great deal of irrelevant matter about
his business affairs He had at last however,
theory to account for the deposit of 81 200 In cur
rency in the First National Bank of Washington on
June o. 1863 two days after Mr. Ames testified that
be gave him q check on the Sergeant-at-Arms for
that exact sum. 1t would have been wiser If he had
accounted for this deposit before, but his explana-
ton was better late than never.
His statement diyested Of the superfluous verbi-
are with which be clothed it, and the elaborate de-
scriptiOn of petty details accompanying it, was that
he received $500 of the amount from his father-in-
law Mr.. Matthews who owed him for money lent
TO buy piano. The piano was purchased Mr.. Col
fax said at 80 per cent bel Ow the regular price, be-
cause the Messrs Steinway glad to have one IN
his house. and that the remaining $1,000 was sent
him about the middle of June 1868, by Geo. F. Mes
btt, wealthy printer and stationer IN New fork,
az a confidential political contribution.
The money came in the shape of 1000 bill, In
closed in letter. Mr. Nesbitt had since died. Mr..
Cofax said. and his executor could find no account
among his papers of this payment The letter came
when Mr. COlfax was at the breakfast table and was
opened and the money exhibited in the presence OF
his mother since dead his sister, and his father-in-
law. saying that il came just in time to pay de-
rnand on him from the Campaign Committee in In
diana He deposited the 81 900 in the bank with the
900 received from Mr.. Matthews, and soon after
sent draft to Indiana for $1,000.
Mr. Matthews was put on the stand to confirm Mr.
Colfax's statement about the $1,000 and the letter
from Mr. Nesbitt Mrs. HOllister Mr.. COfax's sister,
also recoIected the breakfast-table incident Both
remembered having heard him speak of the Credit
Mobiher stock being abandoned by him as long ago
az 1869. Mr.. Colfax repeated his former explicit de-
NAL that he had ever received the $1,000 dividend
or any other dividend from Oakes Ames In the
face of all Mr.. Ames's memoranda, he persisted In
his statement that he had thrown up his contract
for the stock after paying $500 it, and that be had
lost that amount
He referred to his South Bend speech and said
that il had been msquoted Of late. He had said
that neither Oakes Ames nor any other person had
offered 10 give him any stock in the Credit Mobier,
and the words TO give had been omitted in order
90 make il appear that he had made false state
ment As to the SEQ 75 which Mr.. Ames said he
paid him in January 1862 he had never heard of it
before and was as much surprised as if he had been
told that he had assassinated man at that time
This was the whole Of Mr.. Colfaxs defense. Be
side his own statement it consisted Of the testi
lnOny of two members of bis family that he took a
$1,000 bill out of letter and showed il TO them
about the time lac deposited the 81 200 in the bank
MI Ames's testimony remains unimpeached forti
fed by the entries on his memorandum book, the
check on the Sergeant alarms payable to IS. c."
and the coincidence of dates and amounts between
il and the deposit by Mr.. Colfax in the bank.
IfMr Colfax's explanation is true, he is the victim
ofa tram of circumstantial evidence almost unpara
leled in judicial history, and besides of criminal
design on the part of Mr.. Ames to involve him un-
Justly in the tCr6dit Mobiher business which must
have been conceived in 1868 and persisted in ever
snce and which alone could have induced Mr..
Ames 70 make the entries he exhibited to-day IN his
memorandum book. II is scarcely credible that he
made false entries on his book at the time that
he made entries of his dealings with Henry Wilson,
Messrs Dawes, Allison, }. f. Wilson, and Bingham
which all these gentlemen acknowledge to be correct
Personal STATEMENT OF Mr.. C0LFAX - AN
ELABORATE REVIEW or HIS CASE-WHAT
lie SAID LAST FALL AND WHAT he SAYS
NOW.
GENERAL PRESS DnsPATCHI
WASHINGTON, Feb. 1.-THE Poland Special
Committee reassembled, O'Clock this evening" and
Vice President CoaI read the following letter from
gentleman whom he declared be best parliamena
riaD IN the United States:
IN ria OUDfc