The Leavenworth weekly times., 1878-06-27
THE LINCOLN TRAGEDY.
An Interview With Mr.. Benn
Pi,man.
Startling Details of The Secret
Trial.
IBy TELEGRAPH TO THE HEnALD.l

BY TELEGRAPH TO THE HERALD.
CINCINNATI, Ohio, June Is, 1878.
Benn Pitman, the we'll known phonogra-
pher, Of this city, was interviewed to-day as
10 his personal knowledge concerning the
trial ani execution Of Mrs Surratt, for the
assassination ii Abraham Lincoln. HIS
attention Was fIr-I called Ia the s,a'emert
Of Mr.. John T. Ford, the electrical man
ager, relative 10 the innocence Of Nrs Sur
ratI, and, in answer - the Hsyaif cores
pondeutS questions, AT. Sitiman commu-
nicated the iollovins iui 5r,aaiIun: He
said that he was TIE official reporter for TIE
United S!ate1 government in the assassina-
tiOn trial, the Sons oi Liberty investigation
and the Congressional inquiries into the
New Orleans and VI mphis riots, and sub
sequently OF the Ku klux trials, all Of
which gave him peculiar insight into the
Vet unwrittcn history Of those rnomentous
events. / have no doubt said Mr..
Pitman, "of the correctnes OF Mr.. Ford's
statement. Of Mrs. Surratt's innocence; the
grave biunders which grew out Of the As
sassiuation trial were due TO the theory Mr..
Stanton entertained, that Booth was the ac-
tive instrument in great conspiracy, the
dict atory power OF which was the rebel gov
ernment Mrs. Surratt was hanged Tor
completely in the assassination plot, OF
which she was entirely ignorant, and poor
Spangier Was sert TO the Dry Tortugss be-
cau-e Il long rope was found in his carpet
| sack, with which il was supposed Mr.. Lin
| coin was TO be bound, when in fact, no
! other use was to he made OF it than the
catching of crabs Spangler had simply
borrowed the rope from Ford's theatre for
| that purpose.
MRS. sURRATT NOT GUILTY.
1t was not until after my return from
| Washington, with all the testimony of the
| 450 witnesses at the trial and my compia-
| ton in narrative form of the facts testified
\ TO by those witnesses, that | came to the
conviction that Mrs Surratt, though aware
| OF previous plots 10 abduct the President
| and take HIM to Richmond, was entirely
| uninfOrmei Of the sudden resolve OF Booth
| TO kill him. The only direct testimony
| that seemed TO implicate her was that OF
the drunken, unreliable witness, LLOYD, who
| kept the tavern at Surraitsville. Her pre-
| vious life anu history, the testimony OF
those who knew her we'll, and Catholic
priests OF known probity and honor, all
went to show her utter incapacity TO engage
IN so diabolical a plot.
WHAT THE TESTIMONY SHOWED.
The testimony went TO show that the Is
sassination of Lincoln was sudden resolh-
tion of Booth on finding that the President
was 10 visit the theatre that night, and the
hasty conspiracy hatched up with Payne,
Atzerodt and Herold, was confined exclu-
sively to their knowledge and participation
| The fact is that Mr.. Stanton, Judge Advo-
cate Holt, Bingham and Burnett and other
| officers OF the government engaged in the
prosecution were somewhat unbalanced by
the imagined greatness of conspiracy
which did not exist. Nothing but such
| belief would justify the treatment 10 which
the prisoners were subjected.
A SECRET TRIAL.
The trial for the first two weeks was con-
| Quoted in secret, and the prisoners-Herold,
Payne, AtZorOdt and | think two others
were masked IL close fitting helmetlike
white cap which just LETT breathing hole
| for the mouth and nostrils. They were
| besides mauaclsd at The wrists and ankles
and 10 the lat er were attached heavy
| bail and chain. Mrs. Surratt was rot thus
| masked, but she was manacled at the feet
| throughout the trial. The masks were re-
moved when the trial became public after
| the expiration of two weeks, when admis-
( sion was obtained to tie Court only bv the
I per-Onal sanction OF General Hunter by
| card.
STANTON 4 DESPoT.
Correspondent-Do you think the govern
ment sanctioned this severity toward the
\ prisoners?
Mr.. Pic.man-MT. Stanton was the gov
srnment at that time. He was man for
whom | stilll entertain profound admira-
ton: man Of the Cromwell type, strong
but Unfeeling, and who 10 obtain a desired
end would in IN enier5 5elcy play despOt-
strangely out OF place under a Republican
| form of government. For instance, what
| should be more sacred than the private cor
| respondence of Il citizen committed to the
public mails, yet by Mr.. Stanton orders
| ! assisted 20 open hundreds of letters that
passed through the General POst-O.ice 81
| Washington, Just after the assassination,
when every letter addressed to Canada was
| thus stopped. Mr.. Stanton's justification
WAS that the agents OF Jefferson Davis who
were then in Canada were the instigators
OF the assassination plot. The letters open
ell TO detect these supposed Vaccinations
led TO very curious results IL revealing
ether matters not directly sought Tor, and
many a brilliant career OF army officer aud
politician was stultiied by these revela-
tiOns, which they little suspected would
ever be seen by the powerful War Minis
er.
An ISSCCEST SIATRON HANGED.
The Recommendation TO mercy for Mrs.
Surratt, signed by members of the Court in
secret session, Andrew johnson affirmed he
never saw, and the efforts OF Miss Anna F.
Surratt to see President johnson in behalf
Of her unfortunate mother were somehow
cruelty frustrated. An innocent matron
was hanged, and history is dumb as to who
is responsible for the irreparable wrong
Frantic efforts were made to connect John
Surratt with the assassination plot; but,
fortunately for him, they were unsuccess-
ful.
H1asus Was Never More CrcGitabiy