National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-04-30
GARBLED STATEMENTS.

GARBLED STATEMENTS
-asDavid said in his haste oil men are
liars. q Had the Psalmist lived in this
degenerate age he might have uttered that
remark at his kingiy leisure. and still have
had little to apologize for, judging nom the
abbreviated reports ofthe testimony taken BY
the District Investigating Committee which
are sent from this city to the Metropolitan
and selfstyled independent press. It has
been several times stated u these columns
that these reports were Misrepresentation
of the facts and a comparison of them hes
been invited with the verbatim reports as
printed In TIE NATIONAL REPUBLICAN.
Tho latter are taken down by some of the
best stenogrsphers in the country, and may
be relied upon for accuracy. They have
been printed in fill In this Journal at greet
expense, for the express purpose Of afford
ing our readers. who could not attend the
daily sessions of the committee, full and
correct view of the evidence which the
blatant memorialists were able to produce
in substantiation Of their barefaced aud
wholesale ISLANDERS of the Board of Public
Works. Nothing has been kept back and
naught extenusted. aa.
But from the commencement Of the in
quiry to the present moment no opportunity
has been allowed to pass unimproved by
the specials" Of the opposition press In
which they could by garbllng and misrep-
rescutation expect to give color to or fasten
the stigma Of fraud and corruption upon
members Of the board. AL the ingenuity
of diabolfsm has been invoked In their aid,
and the weakest and meanest Of devices re.
sorted to Of insinuation, ;Iuendo and lying.
And when their errors have been pointed
out TO them and their lies have been ex-
posed by the record, they have not only
refused TO correct them, but have persisted
in their reiteration and have called upon
their journals to indorse them editorially.
This sort Of thing has become 90 bare
faced, 50 patent to every resident Of the
District whether temporary or permanent.
that the statements Of these correspondents
are no longer relied upon by them for cor
rectness in any matters Of public import
ance. The false cry Of ''wolf, ''wolf" In
the fable has finally reacted upon them to
the extent Of utter impeachment Of their
veracity in this vicinity.
The circulation OF these journals has been
quite materially affected by the unreliable
ity of their news, and the proprietors have
been advised in several instances to change
their representatives in this locality, and
endeavor to secure men of character and
veracity, wholly disconnected with the
lobby, and free from personal prejudices,
envy and jealousy.
The latest instance of the garbling of tes-
timony which has come under our notice
is from a letter in the Baltimore Sun of
yesterday, (29th of ApEill In pretending
to give the testimony of Mr.. Geo. II. Will
COX the correspondent says that Kirkland
remarked they had Chittenden on the
d" stand and he told pretty good story,
&c and don't intend to tell any more than
e ne Kirkland also told him that he did
mot receive sll the benefit of the 500, 900,
"and intinated that some of it had been
"given to a member of the Board of Public
Works and that ex-Gov. Cooke got q part
.Sof it,
The following extract from tho official re-
port of the testimony will show what Mr..
Wilcox did say upon this matter:
20. What did he say to you7 A. He said
that Mr.. Chittenden's testimony was very
fair statement Of matters, and his testimony
would not be In conflict with It. That was the
substance; not, perhaps, the words.
go. DID be tell you that he had received
notes TO the amount Of S72 900 for his own
benefit on the DeGolyer & Mcclellan contract
20. or that he bad mott A. He didn't tell
me whether be had or had not received notes
for 81, 900.
TO. Did he say 70 you whether or not he had
received the amounts spoken Of by Mr.. Chit
tender as having been paid TO him, or did he
say that somebody else shared in that fund.-
h The Witness. Do you mean since be has
been here this timei ..
"The Chairman. Yes, sir. .
GO The Witness. No, sir, he did not tell me
that.
: 40. At any time, theni A. Heretofore we
have had general conversations about various
matters, snd thnt also.
40. Did he say be hae shared any portion
of that money with any onei A. BE has told
me that be did not have the benefit Of al that
40. Did he tell you who hadi A. Not d.
20. DID he Indirectly, so as to lead you to
Infer that any one had shared with him that
money! A. should prefer not to answer that
question ct this time, because there are other
facts connected with u that should Ike to
explain.
The Chairman, The committee wiz 3D.
.Sourn 10 its private room, In order thai tbe
witness may be Examined upon this subject, %
fhat be VIII not Be involved IN any way"
The attention Of senatot Allison. chair
man Of the committee, having been called
70 the above stateme6i In the correspond
sence of the Sun g affecting member Of
the Board spd ex-governor Cooks, that
lgensenan su,phstiS1yrepiied that the Wit.
ness had made DO such statement and that
the report WIS untrue.
[ The above Z 9 hir specimen Of the
''intimAtions' that are sent from this city
all over the land o. evidence, for the pur.
pose Of convincing people abroad Of the
truth Of the allegations Of the memoriAltsts.
, The public can easily Judge from II what
reliance can be placed upon the statements
Of such "spscisls- ~ 49,