The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-05-08

for highly respectable and ali OF them older than
the latter named gentleman. One other gentle
man, Colonel William Poia, stated 70 Mr.. Gales, q
the Register, that the facts stated IN the AeNan-
der report were IN the main true, "th ugn ne
thought there were errors TO the name OF the
secretary &c, aud said that ne should "probaby
be able to correct these,n &c He accordingly
wrote 70 MS friends IN Mecklenburg, and obtained
the statements OF the ave VINO declare that Bre
ward was me secretary, TO the exclusion OF Alex
ander. And hereby hangs tale.
TAMPRRING WITH THE DOCUMENT
have assumed all along thar the so-called re-
port OF Mr.. Alexander, as il comes aown to Us in
a pamphlet published by order OF the Legislature
In 1881, under the supervision OF Governor Stokes
and committee or that body, Is identical with
the paper which appeared In the Raleigh Register
April 80 1919. Ii purports 10 be so. At its head
stands the reference TO that journal In the usual
form. And yet even here | ind that there has
been an unwarrantable liberty taken, 10 call IL by
no harsher name, which or itself would destroy
the confidence OF all fair minded men in the genu
ineness OF the pretended report. As published In
1919 the report was snorn, as we have SEEN OF the
important certificate made by It's author, John
hcKnirt Alexander, TO the fact that ne wrote 10
from memory in September, 1900. the original
record having been destroyed by IRE In April pre-
ceding. 1t was thus made by It's manipulatora to
appear, at least to careless readers. as genuine
contemporaneous report, written, As well as Dated
May 20, 1875. But this suppression was not the
only alteration that the document underwent;
for, as 1t appeared IN the Register, IL was Coonel
Adam Alexander, and not Colonel T. Polk who
Through solicitation issued an order 10
each captains company In the county to
elect delegates to the Convention, &c. In the
pamphlet the name OF Colonel T. Polk appears In
place OF Colonel Adam Alexander. No explana-
ton is given OF this alteration OF an ociai report
OF the proceedings nfty-dve years alter the date
IL bears, and no mention made OF 10. Can IL %
believed that those VINO took the liberty OF sub
stituting the name OF Polk for that OF Alexander,
regarded the report as genuine This alteration
must have been made by Governor Stokes, or by
the Legislative Committee; and we are forced to
conclude that there was outside testimony on
which more reliance was to be placed than on the
pretended record Ana III word, as learn rom
. highly respectable source, the change OF names
was made on the demand OF Colonel William Polk,
OF Raleigh VINO insisted on having justice done to
the memory OF his father. He was less tenacious
about the secretaryship, but produced, as We
have seen, abundant testimony to the fact that
DR.. Brevard and not John McKnitt Alexander,
filled that place. Have we not here another con-
elusive proof that the pretended report OF May 20
Is spurious, and in It's present shape no better
than lorgeryf
or the fourteen Witnesses adduced who say
they ere present, and doubtless were, at some
one OF the meetings which took place in the
spring OF 1875, seven, Dust half remember that the
event occurred, as stated in the report, on May
20. But OF this number Mr. Alexander himself Is
one and ali the other six had seen his statement,
and mona OF item were delegates. or the other
seven eJe- witnesses six remember that the event
occurred in May, IT'S, or, as two OF them say,
during that year. One of them, and one OF the
most intelligent, was a delegate and colleague
from The same captains company with Mr.. Alex
ander, and yet ne neither remembers the cate
nor Mr.. Alexander's sfcretarysnlp. Another OF
tue fourteen, Colonel William Polk, gave no GER.
tincats, or, more accurately, none has been pub
nshed.
could add an indefinite number OF contem.
poraneous facts which are utterly incongruous
with the assumed reality OF this "Meckenburg
Declaration Of Independence" or May 90 Bat I
should trespass too lar on the patience OF my
readers II we're TO state them. / therefore de-
sist being conscious that this controversy upon
matter OF local Revolutionary history has far less
interest for the great majority oi the country than
II has for the people OF North Carolina
DANIEL &. GOODBYE, Warrenton, n. @.