New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1878-06-03

.hawa we're impncacou IA ~
. -. MI. Sherman denies Tue a:ie-
sstions as far as they anec' nli'.
e" sherman took the stand, briefly to deny
he authenticity of the alleged letter rom n'm'
TUE ATTACK ON Mr.. SHERMAN.
e,.,,,s sroRY PURE FABRIcATl0N-HIs REV
:, .r,oS DAMAGING CHIEFLY TO HIMSELF.
,py TELEGRAPH 10 THE TRiBUSEl
..'c-ox lime 2.-Mr Potters committee
Vac. ;,s investigation started at last. Its first
has ~ 81 character entirely in keeping with the
sS ~. revolutionary movement OF which 1t Is the
instrument. ,,.;.,. o,.o-
The FIRST witness in regard to the Louisiana cleo
Am vas called yesterday, and he is the man by
hose testimony the Democratic revolutonists nope
~ ;mpeach Secretary Sherman, to defame senator
stanley Matthews, and to lay the foundation Tor the
removal Of President Hayes. James T. Anderson
formerly Of Louisiana, now OF fniadeiphia' VINO
~. -. hon advertised for months as the man who
hs,d the fate of the Nation IN his keeping,
LA his story yesterday. What that story is
shs renorts of the Associated Press will show at
,onotb Before fair-mnded people who read it shall
are their conclusions as to the effect of MIR. Ander-
.on,s testimony, and of the pretended letters and
aocnents which he produces, they Will do well TO
consider all the circumstances surrounding the man,
and TO remember that they must choose between two
Inconsistent statements made By the same witness;
fc n the testimony given by James E. Anderson yes
terday was trne his evidence before the lnvesgat-
Inc Committee of Congress must be false. The Re
mblicans are not done with Anderson. He has yet
10 face crucial cross-examination.
Anderson's testimony is important first, because
he seeks to impcate the Secretary OF the treasury
by showing that the latter obtained from him
knowledge of fraud forgery, and alteration in the
protest which ADdersonfied as Supervisor OF Regis
traton for East Feliciana Parish, and that knowing
Of this he approved it and promisedto reward the
criminal for his crime. failure to sustain this
accusation makes his whole testimony in regard to
Secretary Sherman, and all the documents he pro-
duced bearing upon Mr.. Shermans acts while in
Louisiana. comparatively of no account Now the
only opportunity which Mr.. Anderson asserts that
Senator Sherman had of knowing OF the frauds
to which Anderson now confesses himself
to have been party, was an alleged IN
terview one Sunday evening at Moreaus
restaurant on Canal-st. in New Orleans. Anderson
saws that at that time he saw Secretary Sherman,
at the request Of Weber, and he preteDds to have
communicated to Mr.. Sherman knowledge OF the
frauds of which he and the other Republicans had
been guilty in regard to the protest. Mr. StoughtOn
and D. B. Weber being present. Messrs. StOughton
and Sherman will undoubtedly swear that con-
Gated to either any knowledge of wrong in regard to
the election or the returns. Anderson does not say
that Mr.. Sherman an accomplice before the
fact The fraud had already been committed. The
f,lse protest had already been signed; and now he
attempts to make il appear that Mr.. Sherman, IN
order to prevent him from denouncing that fraud,
promised him Office and other valuable cOnsidera-
tons
This whole story will be shown to be sheer fabri
cation contradicted not only by Mr. SHERMAN. whose
word is certainly as good as that of a man who has
confessed himself to be perjurer but also by the
testimony of Anderson himself. As to Mr.. Sherman
having written such letter as Anderson attributes
10 him. exhorting him to stand firm in any wrong he
had committed, that will also be contradcted by the
Secretary. The existence Of such letter will prob
ably be proved by no witness except by Anderson
himself.
The whole gist and substance Of the accusation
against Mr.. Sherman, as now made. is to be found
In the assertion that the Republicans had forged by
alteration and interlineation, the protest filed by
Anderson on the 10th Of November. 1876, which
was made use of before the Returning Board to
give that board Jurisdiction to exclude the vote
Of East Felciapa Parish, and that Mr.. Sherman on
being informed Of this fraud approved It and urged
the perpetrators of ii to stand firmly by it. That
this preteDce of forgery is afterthought and the
result of conspiracy is conclusively shown by the
Orleans before s the Senate committee Of Which Mr.
Howe was chairman. and after Anderson had been
Aasailed in testimony taken before the Democratic
committee that had been there in December preced-
ing he in denial Of the alleged forgery OF his pro-
test and alteration of IT, in viDdcation OF himself
and Of the integrity OF the R9pubIleans in this
whole matter of the protest OF the lOtl OF N0vcm-
bcr testified as follows:
made my statement on the 10th Of November. !
ozf wrote out rough draft of my statement and then
Republican lawyer who would write II up in legal form.
lIs told me that be would get it done. II. was
ltoid MI Pitkn that would not sign It in that shape,
nasit rather stronger than cared about signing
several things par in stronger language than l
orsd sign. took and noted the corrections that
"a copy Of it made wrote the last clause of the
myself ana r ss ubae r o fsf
natter bad read very carefully the state
nent had made.
This is mere specimen Of the proofs that will be
brought to bear in regardto this. central point of
t1e attack. Other testimony Will show conclu-
9vely that the protest was made filed and used
before the Returning Board, and that the present
satsnent q Anderson 10 the result OF conspiracy
2 winch this whole investigation is founded.
LOW POLITICIANS CONSPIRACY
Those who listened to James z. Andersons tes.i-
mony yesterday. aud the papers he produced and
NE admissions he made, both in his direct and cross
Examinations, can reach only one conclusion. An
defson and his intimate friend Weber were the Su-
pfv'sofs Of Registry for the parishes of East and
"est Fcleiana. When the election was over it was
apparent that the success failure of the Republic
psf1 not only in that State. but in the Nation
- "tse might depend upon the returns from these
IVY pa1she& Anderson and Weber saw an oppor-
.an-!y that comes to men of their cabre only once
J. = nisfme, and made up their minds to profit by
in's Is proved conclusively not only by Ander-
'ns report, bis conversations with Governor Kel-
- ana other Louisiana Republicans, but also by
- version Of the alleged interview with Secretary
e'szmaH and the admi sion that he had been In me-
s,ai'cn with the Democrats to give the vote Of his