Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1873-03-20
Mr.. Colfax at His Home In South
Bend.

AOHit Was 50 nearly, SO luJcuSt, So cAlIdOi-
binary in many of its features, that it can
be only rightly understood as the indig-
nant answer, by those who know the man
best, and who, through longyears of init
mate association, have learned to honor
and admire him, to what they consider a
pitiless and malignant persecution
There is an innate sense of Justice in the
American mind that asserts itself strongly
when reused by the idea that man is
uniustly abused, and it was this feeling
that found vent On Saturday, at South
Bend, in such an ovation as is rarely &C.
corded to any public man.
But the judgment of the country Will
be but slightly affected by the warmth of
the tributes of personal friends; it will look
10 the speech of Mr.. Colfax, and if that
answers the charges brought against
him, the ex-Vice President may be sure
that, sooner or later, the general verdict
Will confirm the voice of his neighbors,
and vlndlcate his reputation from the as
pensions that have been $50 merciless and
so persistent. There is some new and
very important evidence contained in the
address of Mr. Colfax, and candid men
will not hesitate to go over the case again
and review their judgments, if, in the
light of the facts, they have made up their
minds wrongfully.
The original charge against Mr.. Colfax
was that he was one of the twelve apos-
ties who had sold himself for 800, 600;
that he had been gioen by Cakes Ames a
certain number Of shares of Credit
MobIlier stock to bride him ''to put it's
corrupt schemes through Congress"
This was the specific charge, and to this
he responded in a speech at South Bend,
IN September last, in which he denied
that Mr.. Ames or anybody else had given
him any such shares of stock. There are
various opinions as to this speech, and it
is not important to examine them now.
Suffice it that Mr. Colfax believed it to
have been sufficient answer to the
charge made: and that its spirit did not
mlslead his accusers he thinks evident
from the fact that both the New York
and Chicago 119bu7les, of that date, did
not treat it as denial of ANYTHING more
than that the stock had been gicef him.
This is supported by quotations from
both these papers, and is strengthened by
the fact that the New York Tribune,
which has been the most shameless of his
traducers, found it necessary to garble
the South Bend speech, leaving out the
essential word give" in a published ex-
tract, IN order to make it the basis of re-
newed assaults.
But the original charge of bribery has
long since been abandoned, and the speci-
nc crime for which Mr. Colfax is TODAY
arraigned is that of false swearing in re
latlon to the reception of a dividend of
Sl,2oO from Cakes Ames, and to this the
major part OF his explanation is directed.
The payment of this dividend rests upon
the unsupported assertion of Mr.. Ames.
There g eprfair, CT o,,tio
IN The shape of 81, 200 check PAYABLE to
>. q. or bearer" and the record of a
deposit of $1,000 in bills in Washington
bank within two days of the date Of this
check-vlz.: June %, 1868 The day
after this check was produced before the
Poland Committee Mr.. Colfax, by coun-
sci, iterated his denial of ever having re.
celyed the dividend, and produced 9
draft Tor 81 900 sent to Hon A. H. Con
ner, Chairman of the Republican State
Committee of Indiana, stating that he
would connect that draft with the deposit
of June 90 Mr.. Ames, in the mean
time, had gone TO his home in Massachu.
sets to refresh his memory" but on the
instant OF his return Mr. Colfax was be.
fore the committee with an explanation
OF where he obtained the 81, 900 One
thousand of 1t he claimed to have come
from Mr.. Nesbitt, a wealthy New
orker, and $500 to have been paid him
on personal debt by his stepfathar Mr.
Matthews. The date of the receipJ of the
remittance from Mr. Nesbitt was fixed
by Mr.. Matthews, and other members of
Mr.. Colfax's family, as within three or
four days of the payment of his debt,
which was on the 10th or 18th of June.
These were the statements. What is
the evidence upon which they rest? Mr..
Ames' assertion of the payment is abso-
lutely unsupported, except by the initial
check. But there were eight Of these
Checks drawn tor the payment of the June
dividend Four had the names of the
payees IN full, and about these there is
no controversy; four others were with
initials simply, and each and all Of these
are disputed by the men to whom they
are alleged to have been paid. There are
two TO IS. Cone Mr.. Ames testified
as being for Scoteld, of PENNSYLVANIA
SO that the initials amount to nothing as
corroboratlve proof; and one of them
was drawn for 80. A, F" and sworn to be
intended for. Garfield, Of Ohio. None of
these initial checks are indorsed, not a
receipt can be produced from either of
the men to whom Ames said he paid
them, and all of them deny having re
H.
Of the Sergeant alarms, upon whom the
checks were drawn, swore that it was his
strong impression that all the initial
checks were paid to Mr. Ames himself
Mr.. Dillon also swore that within
thirty hours of the time of his testimony
before the committee he had asked Mr..
Ames II the check was not paid to him.
and Ames replied: "Iu was very likely y
Since that time, rs appears in Mr.. Dillon's
letter, his impressions have grown
stronger that the money on these initial
checks was drawn by Mr.. Ames In his
hrSt examination before the committee
Ames swore positively that he never paid
ColtaX any dividends; and after Mr. Col.
tax himself had testified Ames told his
confrere, John B. Alley. that Mr.. Col
tax's testimony was substantially correct.
and Mr.. Alley so swore before the com
mittee. Mr.. Ames told Mr.. L. L. Crounse
the correspondent of the New York Times
that the evidence of Mr. Colfax was cor
rect; and 10 gentleman at the Arlington
House, IN the presence of w. Scott Smith.
the correspondent of the New York
hoenb79 Post, Mr. Ames distinctly said
that he had been Cooking the matter up, y
and remembered clearly that Mr.. Colfax
had backed out of the transaction" be-
lore the transfer of any stock or the paw
ment OF any dividends, On the payment
OF the dividend this, then, is the evil
dence:
~ , care, e hs Payment. Agaiast he Payment.
MIR. AN0S' ttreyiSe1'rE Tba ooh ,s a.