Daily Los Angeles herald., 1878-08-09
Anosncr Confession.

Ing Justify at the Washington end
Of the line that they were inno'
cents who went to New Orleans on
. patriotic mission, did nothing
Z while there, and said nothing to
provoke consure or suspicion; were
wholly ignorant of what everybody
else knew, and held no special con-
ferenccs with the Returning Board,
their confederates at the other end
Of the line, without any motive
but to tell the truth, have exposed
the visiting Statesmen as the pro-
moters aud abettors of the con.
spiracy.
It has been established that the
Alldavlts Of intimidation and vio-
lencs upon which the Returning
BOARD counted Tilden and Nichols
out Of . majority of many thou.
sands, were fabricated and forged
and altered, and that the witnesses
brought to New Orleans were
bribed with public money. What
was known In 1876, and was moral
" proven before the Morrison and
Field Committees, has now been
made positive and certain by the
confession of accomplices, who
acted under the orders of the Re.
publican managers, and by wit
nesses upon whom Sherman relied
1t the time to sustain his false alle-
gatioHs.
Although the silence OF many of
the confederates in this villainy
has been purchased with office, es-
psclally in several notable cases
since the present Investigation bs-
gan, still there are honest Rspubli-
cans who have come forward man.
fully and revealed the secret ope-
rations OF the eonspiraters who
stole the eight votes of louisiana.
Disgustsd with the hypocrisy and
corruption under Hayes, they have
thought it only right that the
country should see the beneficiaries
Of the great fraud in their true
colors.
Just beflre the adjournment of
the sub committee al New ORLEANS,
nu important witness, who had oc-
supied posts under the State Gov.
ernment Of Kellogg to give him
abundant opportnni.ies t. know
NIL the mDveiusnts aaI iuteati uus
Of the leaders, national as well as
local, was called to the stand. He
was Mr.. Thomas II. Noland, and
he testified as follows:
II was chief Enrolling Clerk of
the Senate for three years, and af-
terwRrd Assistant Assessor for the
Third District Of New Orleans, and
Hfterward Tax Collector for lber-
Vile. | was asked by Mr..
Packard, Mr.. J. p. Harris, Il. l..
Weber, aud Commissioner Lane TO
go to the Custom House and assist
In the preparation of affidavits.
That wss before ths Returning
Board had begun its sessions, and
the preparation of affidavits was
continued until after they adjourn.
ed. These affidavIts were prepared
in several rooms in the Custom
House, in the Collectors office,
United States Court room, and up
stairs. The instructions to
the clerks were to get all they
could out of the witnesses for the
Republican side. There was no
special examination of the wit
nssses. Most of them were unable
to put their statements inc intel
liglble language, and other lam
guage was substituted. The state.
ments were made as strong as pos
sible. Very few witnesses knew
from personal knowledge what
they testified, but their statements
were set down as derived from ac-
tual observation. I have seen in
The rooms where affidavIts were be-
Ing prepared some of the visiting
statesmen, among them Hale,
Stoughton, and Garfield. Mr..
Stoughton was busy up stairs in
the third story. Mr.. Garfield came
nearly every morning to the Col
tector's office and took notes. Mr..
Hale spoke to me one morning in
regard to taking the testimony of
Col. Brooks. / did not read over
the affidavits to the witnesses, and
I do not know whether they Were
sworn.
'In the case of Vresinki's affida-
Wit 1t was read over to him, but the
portions making positive state
nents were skipped. He displayed
great reluctance in making any
affidavit.
'rhe news that the visiting
statesmen were coming produced
the impression that Grant would
sustain Packard. The Republicans
knew the State had gone Demo-
cratic at the polls, but it was deter
mined to throw out such a number
Of votes through the instrumental
ity of the Returning Board as
would reverse the results.o
Most OF the facts related by this
witness have been familiar to the
public since the Presidential elec.
tion, but they derive Importance as
coming from Republican who
held three offices of high trust
under the Kellogg Government,
who enjoyed the confidence of the
managers in louisiana, and whs
personally ofiiciated in the manu-.
featuring of affidavits. Mr.. No.
land makes 1t clear that the Re
publican leaders knew the State
had voted for Tilden, and then or
gunized the conspiracy to falsify