Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1878-11-15
The Chain of Evidence Oomplets.

THE Tribune, since the publication
of the cipher dispatches a few weeks
ago, has been at work to find out 1Cho u
1OdS that met Mr.. Weed in Baltimore
and has been rewarded with gratifying
success. We let the Tribune tell the
story in its own language:
The Tribune has already shown how
Smith M. Weed, leaving Columbia on
Saturday night, November 1S, did
arrive at Barnum's Hotel in Baltimore
early Monday morning, the goth, regis
tering there by his true name. 1t was
also shown, at the time of the publica-
ton of the dispatches, that there was
every reason to believe that the safe
man. met him with the stuff" ac-
cording to appointment, and that the
failure of the scheme was attributable
to other causes than neglect of the New
York parties to put up the money.
We have taken pains to verify GER
tain information which reached us two
weeks ago respecting this " safe man."
The chain of evidence is now complete.
the register of the Mount Vernon
Hotel, a small and quiet house in Balti-
more, where q person of retiring dis
position might be safe from curious
eyes, shows among the arrivals early
on Monday morning, November 20,
William 7. Pelton, of New York. At
ten o'clock Mr.. PeltOn, with a friend
who had accompanied him from this
city, took carriage. Early in the day
the friend was seen with Mr.. Smith
Weed at Barnum's Hotel. Itwas pro-
badly after this interview-to which it
would not be rash to assume that Mr..
PeltOn was also a party-that Smith
Weed sent his first cipher dispatch to
Columbia:
General J. B. Gordon, COlunlbid:
Matters arranged by Returning Board
agent. Inform Haskell, and telegraph news.
w.
What occurred during the day to dis
turb the arrangement is not known;
but in another dispatch to General Cor
don, Weed asked that the supreme
court might "hold on to the Electoral
vOtes,n because there might be "a lit
tie delay;' and then at night Pelton
and his friend and Weed all returned
to New York.
The fact that it was Colonel Pclton
who made the journey to Baltimore at
such busy and critical time, in COM
pliance with Weeds request that he
would bring the stuff himself if pru-
dent" is most important discovery.
Pelton assuredly would not have gone
there Just to tell Weed that his demand
for money could not be granted. If
FELTON, UGS the safe man IOtO 1Cent to meet
Weed dt Bdrf1UnI' Hotel, PettOn took 1Oith
him $50, 900 TO bug the South Carolina
Returning Board. That is morally GER
tain. Where did he get itp Here is
the act of bribery brought home, not to
secret agents, and clerks, and secre-
taries, and amateur negotiators, but to
some person or some organization in
the Democratic party high enough to
command great sum of money, and to
assume tremendous responsibility.
Democrats have tried to meet the dis
grace of the cipher disclosures by say
ing: 20, Marble was a fool; throw
him overheard. Coyle and Woolley
and Weed were politicians of low
grade, whose transactions were not
approved by their employers; throw
them overheard. Pelton was a pre-
suming and scheming rascal; throw
him overheard too" But for this new
development of the plot there must be
a different sort of answer. They can
not throw overheard a man with $50, 600
in his pocket. Who supplied him with
that big purseP Who sent him to Bal
timore to deliver it to the bribe brokerP
Whose hand invisibly moved this weak
and insignificant young man, and dis
patched him with "three parcels" one
of S65, 900, one of $4,000, and one of
$4,000, to buy the Presidency of the
United Statesp Until serious attempt
to find the answer to these questions is
made by the party for whose benefit
the crime was attempted, it is upon the
whole party that the crushing weight
of shame must rest.