New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-05-03
A RELIC or THE AL1BIuI C.iMPiIGN. /

| Special Agent Hester il not the sort of per-
son whom under ordinary circumstances We
should welcome 10 the hospitality OF our
| columns, but he has lately written us n letter
which we have determined to print, panty rs n
! curiosity and partly as hint to the new AttOr-
nry General. Hester Was sent 10 Alabama IA
! Special Agent of the pOSt-Ofice To investigate
tho murder of Route-Agcnt Ivy, aud wh6
ostcnsibly engaged in this business he estab-
! li.hcd the most remarkable system of political
intimidation ever Witnessed in IA civilized com
munity. He never found the murderers Of iSy,
! though he sent several Incn two or three hun
dred miles in Landculis TO Mobile, vhe,o they
were discharged for lack Of evidence. But
being left, as he says, to operate on
his own judgment. and knowing very
we'll that tho principal duty of a Fed
eral Office holder is to carry elections,
he set himself with zeal to the task of reject
ing tho Hon. Charles Hays to Congress. At
tho critical period of the campaign he made
wholesale seizures of the most active and in
flueniial Conservatives. on fictitious charges Of
constructive conspiracy to iniilrc him. He ar
rested whole Sherfr's posse Of AZ men for
constructive interference with Il negro boy and
a pony while tho two were carrying the United
States mail. lie secured two counties arrest
Ing or threatening person, suspected OF tho
sladowy Off.nSe Of intimidation; and though
there was II Federal Commissioner close at
hand before whom his prisoners ought to have
been taken no chose to send them a costly
journey of 800 miles for preliminary examina-
ton at Mobile. 1t was supposed at the time
that he did this because the Commissioner ut
Mobile was q more active partisan than his
brother Republican functionary in Sumter
County but We presume it was really device
tO make an arrest equivalent to punishment,
whether the accused should be held or dis
charged, and thus TO increase the terror OF his
proceedings. Many Of the prisoners were poor
men who could not Afford to bring their wit
nesses 40 far, could not get bail OF Mobile,
and even if they were allowed their liberty
pending APPOINTMENTS OF the examination, had
no means of support during their enforced So
journ SO far from home. Moreover this pro-
cess was sure to keep the men out OF the way
during the last days of the campaign.
IL we are not mistaken, all Mr.. Testers
prisoners wcro finally discharged. there being
no case against any Of them. Some were 70
leased at once others, by adjournment OF the
hearing, were held until after the election. In
the course of the examinations the fact was
disclosed that some Of the arrests had been
obtained upon ali llyits dated mces or tr0
before the alleged o6enSc, and further inquiry,
stimulated by this revelation, resulted In the
discovery that Hester had been using in his
conspiracy and intimidation cases old deposi-
tons relating TO the Ivy affair which he hap
pened TO have on hand. 1t may also
loo rccollccted that an interesting in
cident in Testers personal history was
brought to light at the same time. for Raphael
Stmmcs recognized him in court one OF the
crew of the Alabama, who had escaped from the
ship at Gibraltar after killing one Of his mess
mates Az soon as the campaign was over the
pursuit of the Ivy murderer5 WAS abandoned,
and Mr. Hester went back to Washington,
| where for oil we know to the contrary, he
may he still in the government service. If he
is, we commend him to the special notice of
| the POstmaster-G General.
| The planning and direction of political cam
paigns Like that in Alabama formed consid
erable part of the business of Attorney-Gen-
cral Williams and everybody knows, except
PERHAPS Gen. Grant That all such operations
turned out disastro,lsly for the Administration.
We hope for the sake Of the President him
self, as we'll rs for tho sake of the country,
that the new Attorney General will have sense
and independence enough to tell Gen. Grant.
when the occasion arises, that these scandals
must not be repeated. We arc a wonderfully
patient people; but when We do get roused We
make OuI selves very daagrceable, and it does
not seem possible that tho Republican party
could live through tho Oiun of another cam
! pagn like that of last Autumn.