National Republican., 1874-06-01

| gress. 1t was one Of those vague, impslpabIe
y. through the air Until
that would reach out and gather these nebulOus
assertions and condense them, II possible, In the
The very hrst charge made By the memorialists
was one asserting that the District government
! and the Board OF Public Works, In eonnecIon
with eminent etizens OF the District, were guilty
Of the grave crime o. conspiracy, conspiracy 70
defraad their fellow-cItizens and the Government
St tse United States THIS ns was Ssys bsse
grayely considered before IL was submitted 20 this
committee and the oountry-the charge which, as
had hitherto passed in this community as blame
less, honorable, and upright men. do not agree
with Mr. Merrick that because man happens to
occupy an office he should be compelled, At every
turn and every twist, to show that he 10 gentle
man and that he is honest.
assume that the rule which has its founda-
tion, not alone in the law, but in reason, which
hnds q response In the sympathy Of every fair
minded man, that you shall believe no man guilty
apply rs much to public officer as to Q private
citizen 1t is one OF the fruitful sources 6fevl in
this country that too many men think that when
man steps aside from his private position as 9
citizen to accept the responsibilities of ofce that
he Is to be assumed O knave, and called upon to
vindicate himself. have but to observe that by
all the principles Of reason and fairness and jus
tice, the same feeling OF charity and faith in nno-
cence should surround q public of1eer as the pri-
that man, and. little desire to be possessed with
his soul, who sniffs up every rumor that floats
from the fsce pen Of the paid libeller, and takes
| tlenen memorialists themselves referred to the
charges that were abroad in reputable newspa-
pers, thusindorsing the outrage which yensl and
corrupt and lfceptious men had made against our
lest. They have chargedit directly; they have
three months this sS committee has been sitting,
reaching out it's arms Briareus-like, to gather in
| from the four quarters Of the globe those who
would swear to all they knew, all they heard,
and all they ever dreamed Of in order 70 make
! good the accusations made against the District
government. And yet submi: to you, as fair
| and candid men, running your finger over, page
| by page and line by line. these two thousand
pages OF printed testimony, whether you can point
the the par par. OF Of al any member or the Board Of Public
Works Who are these conspirators7 John D.
Evans, HAllet Kilbourn, John L. Kidwell, Moses
Clephane and Lewis S. FiIbert have heretofore
passed IN and out among their fellow-citlzens un-
suspected Of any such criminal practices. They
are men who have lived in this community, es-
tablished regulations for honor and integrity and
l submit ought not to have bean lightly assailed,
tns Of pIoo would tend to essbh
their charge. But, when sifted, the whole sccu-
saton rests upon the fact that some OF the parties
named therein have had contracts under the Board
of Public Works, and that one gentleman, in
merry, confidential mood, had written letter to
= person, since deceased, that happened to fall
honor that he made merchandise Of the dead mans
papers, and in the ordinary course of its corrupt
IraQe. lOuQQ way INTO Lne new 1OIk GUN, anu
thence waited back into this community to be the
predicate upon which the integrity and honor OF
gentlemen should be assailed. Private character
is worth something after life of laeorious toll in
which man seeks to gain the confidence Of his
fellow-men; II ought mott De readily shaken and
wantonly assaulted. This character, the law gives
every man. This character, faith In human nature
guarantees to every man. This character Is his
projection against the ipgs Of private vengeance.
invoke Il for these gentlemen % we'll known and
ISubmit to the committee that, in proof Of that
chInge. there has not been submitted one iotA OF
sidsths proven @ fSct, to lend Your Imagination to
the assistance OF their weaknesses; to imagine
crimes where they are not shown, and guilt where
protection that You yourselves would demand,
namely, o clears vigorous denunciRtion Of the
charge made BY the he nsmoTialists. NITSG -
questions propounded to him by the committee Is
construed as an acknowledgment Of the guilt Of
' S
objection to his responding to the inquiry pro;
pounded, because we knew that In no event could
him it is not my province to know, but 1 may
fairly assume that you did not compel him to an
swer for one Of two reasons: First that the COM
mIttee itself believed It had no right to compel
him to answer the question, or else that It was not
pertinent question touching the issues before
the cOmmIt;ss II # was , not proper @ question,
ing to answer, and If the committee had no right
to put the question, be was equally correct in re-
lusiDR 10 answer. 90 NOT uQQ6IstanQ why Il0
witness did decline to answer, since can see no
reason why he should not disclose his esstui que
trust, but do protest that when witness hon. |
esty believes himself protected by the principles
OF the law that his refusal to answer the Ques |
tion shall not be construed as evidence against
party uninterested in that answer: nor am pre- |
pared to say that, placed in the same situation as
the witness, would disclose. Certainly should |
hesitate very much IN developing, even before an |
invessigatinE COMMITTEES. my private atfsir. M IN
tert to be Investigated. Mr.. Kilbourn's business
capacity and business standing are too we'll |
from the unfair and unjust insinuatons Of counsel
from the other side. Mr.. Kiloourn never pre- |
tended to forget; he simply declined to gratify |
into fhS ths plTSPs ar otSeT
was another case Of refusal to answer, about |
which tee Learned counsel S remained strangely
and confidential adviser, Gibson, who was called,
strange spectacle, to refute the testimony Of
m ham A1S whs he t9e5s me Question WSs
upon which he had based charges involving the
integrity Of members Of Congress and the In
Next TO the ptiable sight Of the former engineer
OF the board was the whitehead, ashen-hued
countenance Of the professional lbeler, caugbt In
the tolls and held up TO the execration Of all hon.
orable men Now, here was q case clearly within
the province of the committee, where . man upon
his own responsibility had charged directly that
one of your honorable associates in the House was
interested in the contracts let under the Board Of
Public Works, and was thereby part OF the con-
sptrAcy. ne cOmmlLtee QlQ not press, counsel
not press him to answer for of course the commit
tee RneS, Of course Che community knew, Of
course the witness knew that when ne made the
false and for The dSliberats purpose Of injuring a
fellOW-man whom he did not even know. 1t but
demonstrates the condition Of our people and the
pitiAbls depth to which man may descend.
For him and his charges We entertain the pro-
foundest contempt, and therefore did not seek to
have this COMMITTEES dignity him BY further IN;
by the viciousnes. Of his life, the vileness Of his
thoughts, as the paid lbslsr Of men more virtuous
than himself.
The testimony Of the Governor in regard to the
alleged conspiracy upon this point is as follows:
Q. State what knowledge you have, If any, Of
organized between certain parties for tho purpose
OF securing and obtaining contracts from the
Board Of Public Works, and the reasons why con-
tracts were awarded TO those gentlemen. A.
have no knowledge Of any conspiracy in the
awarding of contracts between the parties named |
and the Board Of Public Works; nor do believe
there was any. The contracts that were awarded
these parties were given them on account Of their
standing. their business capacity, their ability to
sfs BosES Il PGSs work and the
ID testimony e Ex-Governor Henry D. Cooke
y Ss ns
edge Of an arrangement or conspiracy, entered
into about the 25th Of August between yourself
trEcts in the District Of Columbia I believe you
were then Governor Of the District, were you
not? A. Yes, sir.
O. Did you have any conservation with any Of
these gentlemen named in reference to the
method Of letting contracts by the Board Of Pub
lie Works at that time? A. No, sir. / wish 10
state explicitly that have no knowledge what
ever, and never had any knowledge of any con-
spiracy Of the kind referred to, OF any effort or
intention to form ring to get contracts; that no
one ever spoke TO me on that subject; that had
been in entire ignorance Of any such purpose or
intent.
Q. Did you have any interest in any of these
contracts? A. No, sir; not dollar. /
Q. At no timer A. No, sir.
Mr.. John l. kidWell was called and responded
as follows:
Q. 1t is alleged, that in August, ls71, you en-
tered into . conspiracy with Moses Kelly, Lewis
Clephane, John D. Evans, and others, for the Pur-
pose Of obtaining contracts from the Board Of
Public WORKS. State whether that ts so or not.
A. / entered into no conspiracy at that date, or
any other date, in reference To any contracts with
the Board Of Public Works.
@. Had you any knowledge Of any such con-
Ipracy being In existence? A. had not
O. Were you interested with these gentlemen
in any contracts with the board? A. Which gen.
tlemen do you mean3
o. Moses Kelly, John o. Evans and Lewis OLE
phaneH A. Neither Of them had no interest
In any contract.
O. The names are John q. Evans Hallet Kill
bourn, William S. Huntington, Moses Kelly,
Lewis Clephane, Samuel p. Brown, Henry ID.
Cooke, and Lewis s. FIlbert. A. had not, sir.
Lewis Clephane, recalled and examined.
@. You are charged in the first charge Of the