Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1878-06-07
4 TALKATIVE WITNESS.
Continued from first page.J

IC0ftnted from HTSt page.
self from falling from virtue by letting hin
know that there was a proposition pending
to bride you? Ans.-Ges, SIT; | suspected
what WIS gong on; | had reason to suspect
that there was something wrong, and now
said |, | am going at one o'clock to see the
man; | believe 1t is all wrong, but possibly
there is nothing of the kind on hand.
Ques.-And still, for fear that there might
be something wrong, you went and conhdeo
the secret to Marshal PitkinP Ans.-1es
sir; you know that Louisiana virtue requires
to be carefully and tenderly treated
Mr. NJ Mahon-Do you speak from obser-
walton or from consciousness? Laughter.
the Witness-From both; both from rea.
son and experience; both demonstrate the
fact that Louisiana needs to be carefully
watched; there Is no doubt of that
| Laughter
| Witness-I am disposed to think you dc
not understand the matter fully, by the way
| you ask your questions.
Mr.. N 'Mahon-There may be difference
OF opinion on that subject.
Witness-Maybe so; l will help you all
can
Mr.. 'Mahon-Why did you not close with
Asher at the first interview by saying that you
would take two hundred thousand dollars,
| and say, Who is to pay the money, or how
am | to get 1t? what difficulty would there
have been in your subsequently. refusing to
take the money, after you discovered who the
| hackers were?
Witness-If you will tell me how was to
find who the hackers were after the money
| was paid, you will tell me something that is
| not plain at present.
Mr.. M'Mahon-You started with the pur-
pose of knowing who the hackers were?
Witness-That was theidea / had through
| out that transaction.
Mr.. M'Mahon-How did you expect to
find it out2
Witness-That | will explain when | tell
you of the subsequent Interview.
Mr.. M'Mahon-I am sticking at this first
interview.
| Witnessf cannot answer that question
without going to subsequent interviews; 1t
| will then come out how | found out consider
| able about it.
| Mr.. NJ 'Mahon-Then we will depart from
| that first interview.
| The Witness-Just as you say.
Mr.. M Mahon-Are you anxious to get on
! to the others?
The Witness-No; am perfectly satisfied
with this one.
Mr.. NJ Mahon-I only do it to relieve you.
| The Witness-Oh, 30; do not do it to re-
ieve me. Laughter.
| Mr.. M 'Mahon-Then let us go to the Sec
ond interview.
The Witness-What do you want to know
about the second interview?
Mr.. M 'Mahou-All that you know
Wituess-The second interview was ap-
| pointed when we separated, ct the close OF
| the first; it was appointed to be at the st.
| Charles hotel, the same evening, at seven
| o'clock. l think was in the rotunda when
Mr.. Asher came in. As soon as he saw that
| | discovered him he walked out and | went
| with him. We walked out of the door to the
sidewalk, and walked for two or three
squares together, and then [ believe
| the first thing that Asher said about the mat
ter in this interview 1.-THE secondly was that he
had changed the proposition; l made no
special response to that, or perhaps | asked
what the change was; he said that, instead
of proposing to me to refuse to accept my
certificate of election, his proposition would
be that / would cast my vote directly
for Mr.. Tilden; | remarked to him that
| that changed the proposition very materially;
that was very different thing from simple
refusal to accept the certificate of election,
and that would have to see about it; he
| concurred with me in that, and then | COM
menced asking him about the matter; l
said, ''It is scarcely worth while for
US to go any further unless we
know where the money is to
come from; want to know where it is, who
has it and how we are to get it, for it was
| Asher's understanding that he himself was
|
ever money was handled in the matter.
Asher thereupon said he would go to the
| hotel and see the gentlemen, or see a gentle
man there, and find out about the matter and
meet me again at the hotel in half an hour;
he accordingly went off, ! suppose to the no.
tel, and returned at the appointed time. He
| reclted to me what TRANSFERRED during the IN
| tervlew at the hotel. l asked him the name
of the man he had been to see, and he gave
me the name of Walter Pugh. Then, when
| asked him further about the money ques-
tion-or possibly he made this explanation
without my questioning him-he said
! eve will walk to the corner of Calondeet and
Common streets, and there we will see two
men standing in the glimmer Of the gaslight;
one of them will retire as we approach, and
| one remaining, you will understand the man
you are looking for" We went to the desg-
mated place, and found the men mentioned;
as'we approached, one withdrew so quickly
that had [ known him should not have recog-
| DlZen him; the person remaining was Joe
| Hernandez, broker in New Orleans; after
saluting him, and introducing Asher, who did
not know him, he invited US to his Office,
which was near by; upon arriving at his
Office | excused myself, and although Her
nandez insisted upon my going in, l went
| home, stating as left that there was no need
of my going in, as Asher could do all the
talking necessary. That closed the second
| and third interviews. Levisse met Herman
DEE afterward, and Hernandez told him one
hundred thousand dollars was the extent he
| could go, when Levisse said that it was not
worth while to longer talk about the matter;
Levisse said he was never bribed, nor did he
ever offer to bride anybody.
In reply to Mr.. M'Mahon be said that he
never made an affidavit of the affair, though
he entered into the matter as a means of po-
litical justice. Levisse said
HE VOTED FOR HAYES AND WHEELER.
Considerable discussion occurred in regard
| to the official returns from Louisiana, and
| those laid before the committee by the secre-
| tary of the senate were called for.
Witness said a portion of the documents
| shown him were not signed by him, although
purporting to be, and consequently were
| forgeries.
The witness, on another point, was asked
whether it had not been suggested to him
that he should get up speech and deliver il
in the electoral college. taking the high moral
ground that he could not vote for Hayes.
Witness smiling Yes, that was part OF
| Ashers talk first, after he had preached the
matter and found that did not take offense
at once. He said, ''You can make yourself
immortal in this country" laughter
SAID L thought it was rare thing that man
could be SO we'll paid for immortalizing him
self. Laughter Now, said he, the way to
do it would be to put that thing on high
moral gounds. Laughter Take the ground
that you were not elected refuse to accept
your certificate, and say to them in plain
terms that you believe that Tildei was elected
by one Louisiana Presidential elector.
The return, which was shown to the wit
ness, he identified as having been signed by
him on the day or the day after. the vote was
taken in the electoral college, about the sew
enth of December. The returns on which his
signature was not genuine bear the New Or
leans postmark of December %, 1876.
Adjourned.