The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-06-09

AudersOn's Testimony il TO he RE-
butted.
Especial Correspondence Of tho Democrat
RrGds EIoUaE.
Washington. D. C.. June 4. 1878.
When
JIM ANDERSON
launched his brOadsd0 Of letterg kilograms
and damnatiOn generally at the devoted
head Of the fraudulent administration and oil
its belongings on Saturday there was per
ceptible llutter all along the line, and, strange
to say, though not one man who heard or
read 1t saw in 1t anything beyond coniirma-
ton or cOrrOboratiOn OF what he had already
known almost as II it had been household
words for year and q half, still it had most
IL not all the effects of revelation. The diff
ference between mere "COmmOn report" and
absolute proof, between currently accepted
hearsay and solemn evidence was never
more clearly Illustrated
ANUERsONs CAREER
had not indeed been such as to impnrt
weight to what he might say. Under ordi-
nary circumstances such evidence as he gave
would not only have been received cunr grOnO
sails as coming from u man who had pre-
viOusy testified otherwise and whose ant0-
TO raise presumption against him, but the
circumstances under which he testified. to
wit: His attitude as a man sOurGd by dfsnD-
pointment and preiudced against those whom
he attacked by his own admission, all mill
tated against the force of his exposures and
tended logically to weaken his declara-
tions. But 50 immense was the preponder-
anCe Of presumption against the
defense and so clear was the antecedent tissue
of fact and Of inference growing out Of the
circumstances Of the count that his words
sunk Hate The public mind and were accepted
as inControvertible by even those whom he
assaiIed. The Inherent force and vitality Of
the truth in its own right were never better
manifested. II any witness could be held sus-
ceptibe Of impeachment under the common
rules Of evidence, IL was Anderson, because, II
for no other reason, testimony from his lips
was already on file in the archives OF the Sen
ate, taken by the committee OF 1877, during
the electoral count, TO combat what he was
saying in 1873.
And yet everybody accepted his later tcsti-
mOny as implicitly rs II he had never been
discredited. as If he had always enjoyed the
reputation of George Washington, and as If
been suspected felOns and indicted knaves
Then for the first time men who had hitherto
held vague ideas as to
THE VULNEKABTLITY or THE FRAUDULENT
ADMINISTRATION
began to realize fully It's utter weakness in
the hour OF test and trial; its incapacity to
stand the light Of day, the fimSinoSs of its
foundation in law, and the mcretriCiOus hum
bug Of its existence in fact
However, / determined to wait until the !
defense could have opportunity of
CROSS EXAMINATION,
before proceeding to draw conclusions I was
told with divers winks of mystery, and with
Sundry mods Of confidence, and with stray
nudges OF deep meaning, that something as |
tonl5hing would be shown upon Cro8s-exam-
inatiOn; that Andprson's evidence would |
appear in much different light after it had !
been subjected to the inquisitoriaI ingenuity |
of the Radical members Of the committee from
what 1t appeared to be under the friendly |
manipulation OF the Democrats Accordingly |
waited. Maybe the Radicals We're going to .
show by AnderBOn's own testimony on cross
examination that Anderson was not Anderson |
at all, but some base emissary of the late !
rebellion in Disguise Maybe they would !
make him swear that John Sherman was
really an apostle OF the gospel Of reform .
stoned like another Stephen by the ungodlY,
of whom he himself was the chief Maybe .
they would show that all the current notion
and counted for Hayes by fraud perjury and .
forgery was a horrible nightmare from which |
the country was to be awakened at last and |
its eyes opened to true sense of the holiness
of Hayes and the Sanctity of StOuphtOn with
his clerical errors!
All this and more the Radicals would make
us believe in their talk about
INfPEACHING ANDEHSONs TESTIMONY.
Well, the CrOss-examination began to-day,
as you have already been advised by tele-
graph. 1t was conducted by Reed, a leathery,
atrabiliOuS Yankee from Maine, with shreWd
legal instincts and no idea Of moral right and
wrong except according to the lexicon of the
brazenest and basest craftsmanship and sec
tiOnalism In his estimation that which
transpires In Louisiana for the benefit of her
own people is necessarily wrong and nothing
can happen right in Louisiana except such
things as may rebound to the welfare of
Maine.
Mr., Reed took his place and called his wit
ness. The cTOSS-cXAminatiOn lasted about an
hour, during which Reed alternately played
the parts OF pettifOgger, bully, detective and
ruftan, winding up with series of studied
insults which brought the rest of the commit
Tee 10 the protection of the witness, and
which, L venture to say, Mr. Reed will not
dare to repeat to Mr.. Anderson in the middle
OF the grounds Of the Capitol, at any consid-
cradle distance from a policeman. The
whole exhibition was miserable, disgust
ing and Illuminating. 1t put Presi-
dent and Secretary of the Treasury in
the attitude OF employing a disreputabIe
Shyster to defend them by the cOmmOnest
of the police court AS a result
appeared to be a gentleman bv
with his antagonist, and the effect
OF Reeds CrOSs-eXamlnatiOn, which had been
SO much Wanted beforehand, was that of en- 7
HANGING the value and strengthening the :
volume of the testimony given on Saturday.
In fact, the defense has abandoned the idea /