The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1876-05-22
Mr.. Blaine and the Kansas
Pacific.
Mr.. Stewards Reply to Mr.. Rid
die.
No Bonds ever Paid to
Mr. Blaine.
Mr.. Gibson says KnOwlt0n's Denial
was Complete and UnequivOcal.

New YORK, May 2o-Joseph 81 Stewart,
formerly partner of A. G. Riddle, prints a
letter in the Tribune in which he says
j. II. Stewards Statement.
"For some time past there has been in circu-
lation through the medium OF the press and
otherwise false and slanderous statements to
the effect that paid to Hon. james G. Blaine
certain bonds of the Union Pacific railroad
eastern division), and that Mr.. Blaine called
at my Office and received those bonds Upon
the first announcement of this statement some
time in February, 1873, contradicted it in
card to the public, and when it was repeated, l
sent on the I'd of April letter to Mr.. Blaine,
at Washington, for him to use if he saw fiji.
In my card in 1873 and in my letter to Mr.
Blaine of April 2, stated that he never was in
my law Office, or the office of Stewart & Rid
die, or Stewart & Stevens, in the city of Wash
iugtoD, and that l never had any business
transactions with him, in any shape, manner
or form, in my life. That statement J. now re-
peat and denounce as false every statement
To the contrary, let it come from what source it
may" After giving documentary evidence IN
proof of his assertion, Mr.. Stewart closes by
saying that he has no unkindness for his late
partner (Riddle), whose zeal for his house.
hold has led him to do wrong to others, nor
does he (StewarD believe Mr.. Knowlton in
tended to misrepresent any one, bnt mistook
some one of the many persons visiting Stewart
at that time for Mr. Blaine, and he feels sure
it was George W. Chase, instead of Mr.. Blaine,
that Knowlton SO coDfounded, as the latter
was called ON to witness many Of their business
transactions.
A. M. Gibson's Statement.
WASHINGTON, May 20.-Mr. A. M. Gibson of
the New York Sun, has written an open letter
to Mr.. A. u. Riddle in answer to the one
written by the latter to Mr.. Blaine, in which
he (MT. Gibson) in speaking of the manner
and time in which he received his information
from Mr.. KpowltOn, says:
Let us see. l assert unequivocally that I
never overheard the story, but that Mr.. Knowl-
ton told it to me in substantially the form Gen.
Boynton gives it in his letter to you-not once
or twice, but several times-that he told it to
me publicly in lhe presence Of witnesses, and
without any sort of caution that it should not
be used. Moreover, assert that he told it in
the same open, unrestricted manner to almost
every other correspondent in Washington with
whom he was acquainted. 1t was with the
knowledge that the story was nearly as COM
mon as barroom jest, that printed a mere
allusion to it on February /, 1873 Had it been
so profound secret as you would now have it
believed, l would certainly have stated every
fact and circumstance connected with it at
first, and not have given mere hint to put any
rival news gatherer on the scent.
Now reconcile, if you can, these facts with
your theory that KnowIton was enabled to
come to me and conscientiously deny the story
mad printed, because it was not strictly accu-
rate. Your hypothesis is tenable in one way
only, namelY-that my knowledge OF the facts
and circumstances was confined to what you
assume from Boynton's statement overheard
in Kno lions Office. The truth is, as every
man who knows me will not deny, that Mr..
Knowlton could not have imposed upon me in
that way. In justice to his memory, which is
likely to suffer much at the hands of indlscreet
defenders like yourself, 1 am bound to say that
he attempted nothing Of the kind. He came
to me with all the outward appearance of
frankness and told me that he was now salts
fed that he had mistaken another man for Mr..
Blaine. Seeing that was still incredulous,
and knowing that having unearthed the Credit
Mobilier scandal, L was in hot pursuit of all
the public men in any way concerned in that
gigantic conspiracy to rob the government he
entered into explanations to satisfy me that he
was not trying to deceive me. He succeeded
in convincing me that he was not only in earn
est about testifying that Blaine was not the
man he had seen in Stewart & Riddles office,
but he satisfied me that he was honestly desr
GUS of remedying the wrong for the commits
sion of which he knew very well he was prim-
arily responsible.