The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1877-01-10
AN OPEN LETTER.
Gov. Ames' HmpeachmenG...N
statements of the Admins.Ira
ton Agent BEFORE Ihc Sem
fOriaI InveSIiSaIing
Committee.
JACKSON, January 81, 1877.

by the Senate to investigate the Missis-
sippi election of 1875, regret that | did
not have opportunity 20 again appear
before it to testify in rebuttal of numerous
misstatements of Mr. G. X Chase, the
agent of the Administration. Some of
them relate to me personally, and are
embraced in the following extract from
his tt stimony:
O Had you any conversation with George
| or trksdala after the election? 4. hau 4.
Q. You may state what occurred. so far
as this public business is concerned, be-
| tween you after thatf A. Before the cleo
| ton and the day after the election Governor
| Ames wanted to resign he was determined
to resign. told them that Ames was go
| ing TO resign sure.
Q. Told whom? a Told Barksdale and
| George, and they ihsi, ted that should per-
suade Ames not TO resign, that he would
have a future there, that he was an honest
man, and they had no objection To him per-
| sonaIy: Only objected To some of the men
| about him When the election went the
| way it did Gov. Ames insisted on esigniug
| and went and saw them the next day aud
| told them that Ames was going TO resign,
and Barksdale made point of it that he
| should not resign; that lie would be all
| right; that they would be satisfied with
| the result of the election; that they had
| nothing against him personally; they
| wanted 10 get the acknowledgements ont; ;
| and if he resigned the lieutenant-gO governor
would be governor, and that would not suit
| them.
| When they came to realize few days after
| ward that they had the whole organization,
| then they did not talk SO freely as before.
| They had male me number OF promises
| in relation to Governor AmeS. When
| went back there the second time--ir De-
cember think il was--I asked them how it
was that they did not keep their pledge.
! They said that Ames had directly after the
election come up here to Washington and
| got Morton to hoist the ''bloody shirt" and
| 10 inVes.i gate them down there; so they
| felt justified in breaking any pledges that
| they had made. Barksdale in particular
| said this; that nov they were going to inn
| peach him and get him out that they had
| no idea when they had that talk with me
that they would have the whole Legislature;
did not think it was possible that they
could have got the Senate,
O. Did ANYTHING further occur at that
| time? a. [ told Major Banks laie that
Governor Ames had not seen Senator Nor
ton ; that lie did not start any iuves LEGATION.
Barksdale replied, If that is true, Ames is
the worst injured man in the world;' that
they intended to do as they had promised;
but it was now too late; that they had
thought him at the bottom OF Senator Nor
tons attempt TO investigate the Mississippi
elections.
The foregoing, so tar as L am concern
ed, is tissue of false statements and |
have no doubt Gen. George, the able
and efficient Chairman of the State
Democratic Executive Committee, can
say as much in his own behalf
1t is not true that Mr. Chase stated to
me, at any time-either before or after
the election-that "Gov Ames wanted to
resign" Consequently, could not have
''insisted' that he should persuade him
not to do So If such information had
been impaired to me, for numerous rea-
sons l would have ''insisted" in the be-
ginning, as did in the closing act of his
career in Mississippi, that he ought to
resign at once, and not stand upon the
order of his doing it. | certainly could
not have given, as reason, why | pre-
ferred that Gov. Ames should "not
resign" that the then Lit. Governor, A.
X. Davis, "would not suit" me. True
enough, he did not; but it was no
secret that between evils, greatly pre-
ferred Davis, whose malfeasance in Office
had not then been established, and well
knew that the people of Mississippi had
less to fear from his incomplete lcy than
from Ames' cool malignity. The
subject of the impeachment Of the latter
was never thought of, much less men
toned, before the election, because it
was not believed that the Democrats
would obtain majority of the Legisa-
ture sufficient to encourage such an
undertaking but without convcting
myself of wiIful Justification, could not
have said that he did not deserve i'm
parchment. l had demonstrated the
reverse thousand times over in discus
sing his conduct as Governor.
Mr. Chase, on his return from Wash
ington after the election, to appear as a
witness against Maj. Allyn, for loaning
the cannon to the Democrats, did complain
of the course Of the CLARION in urging
the impeachment of Gov. Ames. To
this complaint, the reply was made that
his conduct in office justified such pro-
ceeding, and that moreover he had for
feited any claim to indulgence from the
Legislature when he fastened to Wash |
ington after the election, to publish the |
calumny that it had been carried by |
fraud and violence, and to instigate the |
Boutwell, investigation. His testimony |
delivered con the 9th
April, 1876 Astounding in exag-
gerated statements and calumnious !
against the white people of
the State, has fully justified the infer
ence which was drawn atthe time Though |
it was denied by Mr.. Chase that he was
the chief inspirer of the vindictive pro-
ceeding on the part of the Republican
majority in the Senate; and it was con
elusive that there could be nc peace be-
tween him and the people for whom
he had assiduously cultivated spirit
of hatred and revenge
In another part of Mr.. Chase's testi-
mony the following passage occurs:
Question. What did you mean by
saying that ''they made me a number of
promises in relation to what they would
DO, !" referring to Barksdale and George?
They intimated to me, and think told
me, that they would prefer Ames for
Governor and stand by and sustain him
provided he would give them good men
good men as Chancellors and
Judges. (2nd Vol. p. 1850
This ia eoua1Iv false with the rest So