Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1878-06-21
The Great Florida Bubble.

The Great Florida Bubble.
THE so-called confession of Samuel
b. McLin, late member of the Florida
Board of Canvassers, was originally
published in April. Its appearance was
hailed by the fraud-shriekers with every
demonstration of satisfaction. This,
they declared, was proof conclusive of
the existence of a plot to corrupt the
returns of Florida in the interest of
Hayes. The Democrats did not even
pause TO examine the F" confession. "
They only knew that this man, who was
Republican and who had been a
member of the Board of Canvassers,
had confessed" At least it was
reported that he had; and the
newspapers in which this document
was printed invariably included the
word concession somewhere in the
headlines over it. This was all
natural enough. McLin fancied that
he had something to confess; and he
made the most of it. He approached
the subject of his statement with GER
tain solemnity which was designed to
create profound impression. He
thundered in the index. But the sub
stance of his tale was meager and un.
satisfactory. If other events had not
speedily followed the unbosoming OF
McLin, his story would have been rid
died so completely that he would have
been dropped in disgust by the Demo.
Gratis, who would have turned their at.
tentiOn elsewhere for material for politi-
cal purposes.
Now, what did McLin actually con.
fess? In the first place, he said that
he was surrounded by large number
of Republicans who besought him to be
true to his party. He confessed that
he was not certain how far his action
had been influenced by the intense
partisan zeal about him. Particularly
he said: "Neither can l say how fal
my course was influenced by the prom.
ise made by Noyes that if Mr. Hayes be-
came President l should be rewarded. -
These are words which should prelude
the admission of some grave error, to
say the least. And the penitent, goaded
by the pricking of a quickened con
science, declares (before the Clerk OF
Thomas County, Georgia, no date)
that he feels sin looking back at that
time that there was combination of in
tiuences that must have operated most
powerfully in binding my [his1 iudg-
ment." This is all very well, as far as
it goes, but why does not the man come
to the pointP After all, we find no con-
fession whatever in the whole OF
McLin's statement. He does ICON
fess' other peoples sins. He confesses
that one J. Bell confessed that PIG
votes were surreptitiously added to the
Archer Precinct return; and he had
since learned from the parties who
made it, that there was something
wrong with the Baker County return.
And after he had confessed all these
confessions into one symmetrical con-
fession, he drew this moral: "The
conclusion, therefore, is irresistible that
MIR. Tilden was entitled to the electo-
raj vote of Florida, and not MIR.
Hayes" But this is matter of opinion,
not of the facts, not even on the admis-
sioRs of others, so far as we know.
Certainly, this conclusion was not
reached by McLin on the guilty knowl.
edge of any acts which he had done.
Sitting the twaddle and bosh which
this sniveling pretender palmed off as
confession, it is impossible to find a
sclntilla OF evidence against himself.
Nevertheless, this long-heralded docu-
ment was the basis of an indictment
publicly presented in the House of Rep
resentatives by Clarkson N. Potter
against Noyes. 1t should not be for
gotten that Potter never pretended to
have any evidence on which to found
his monstrous accusation against ex-
Gov. NOyes other than the random as
sertions of McLin. We have above
quoted one statement of McLin bearing
on the case against Moves. He said
that he was not sure how much he was
influenced by "the promise made by
Noyes." But he did not say what he
was influenced to do. OF course, the
inference is that he was influenced to
talsify or corrupt somebody or some
thing. But he does not admit that he
falsified or corrupted anybody or any,
thing. From that day to this he has
made no such admission. To be sure,
he charges that Tom, Dick or Harry, ir
to him (McLin) that they had played
wild pranks with the returns. But did
Mr.. Potter assume, in his arraignment
of Gov. Noyes, that Tom, Dick or Har-
ry had done wickedly because Noyes
had promised to reward McLinP
1t is pertinent to recall this now that
we have the result of the House COM
mittee's examination in Florida before
us. 1t should be observed that McLin
was supposed to have confessed that he
corrupted elections, and that he did so
ot sna Of Gov Mnxrac
With the original confession and the
recent examination of McLin under
consideration, we assert that McLin
has never admitted any wrongful act
on his part, and that he has never ad-
mitted that he knew (of his own knowl-
edge) of any wrongful act of other per-
sons with relation to the Florida vote,
election returns, or canvass of the
electoral vote. If this man knows of
any wrong, why does he not deliver
himself of his guilty secret and have
done with itP
AS for Gov. NOyes' part in this mat
ter, now that McLin has been particu-
larly examined by the subcommittee
of the House on the subject, it is COM
ical to see TO what pitiful dimensions
Mr.. Potter's prodigious sensation has
shrunk. In his original confession Nc
Lin said that Zone gentleman particu-
larly, Gov. Noyes, of Ohio, was under
stood TO represent him (Mr. Hayes,
and speak with the authority of warm
personal friend, commissioned with
power TO act in his behalf" That is
to say, local gossip and rumor credited
GOV. Noyes with being the special
agent of Mr.. Hayes. How far this spe-
cial agent influenced the guileless Nc