The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-06-10
THE SENATORIAL WITNESSES.

The witnesses who are engaged In airing
their own and Kellogg 8 infamy, with the non
chalance peculiar to the professional Radical
witness, are neither worse nor better than
their fellows. Such recitals would not surprise
US In police court, but only In such place
would we expect to hear such testimony or to
be confronted with such class Of witnesses.
That we should find them before committee
of the Senate of the United States,
and possessed OF the information necessary
to qualify them as witnesses In matters OF
such Importance as the contest over q seat
In that body, Is conclusive proof OF the
thorough rottenness and corruption Of the
party that made such things possible. Wedo
not suppose that there is q man on the COM
mittee engaged In this investigation who be-
lieves them incapable Of any amount Of per-
jury, or that In giving their testimony they are
governed by any moral obligations whatever.
In reaching their conclusions the members Of
the committee will be influenced less by what
these creatures swear to than by the just and
reasonable Prescriptions created by their
character, as these reflect upon the man who
was their political associate and who used
them for the attainment Of his own personal
aims and secured his bad eminenee through
their yenality and crime. Nor do we see
that their perjury and for swearing must
necessarily affect disastrously Judge Spot
ford's case. The natural and just pre-
sumption would be that men capable Of
such open and shameless perjury would ha-
bitually and invariably act only from the
basest motives, that men who would lie
~
would not hesitate at any other sort Of In
fanny that might be profitable to them. The
fact that they have forsworn their affidavits
made In New Orleans, is but evidence that
Kellogg has been using the same corrupt
means to procure them to testify as he de-
sires before the committee that he resorted to
In order to obtain their votes In the first in
stance. There IL not one presumption that
can arise from this shameful spectacle that is
not fatal to the pretensions Of Kellogg Every
falsehood that they utter clings to him and
plainly indicates him as It's inspirer and pro-
curer. No good and clean thing could posi-
bly, come from such source, and every act
Of such creatures must, In the very nature Ut
things. be imputed to the worst Of motives
and the basest Of Inspirations. The testi-
mony contained In the af1davits which these
witnesses have gone back on has been re-
peatedly offered to different parties, to
our knowledge, In this city during
the past several months. Purveyors
have been taking around these wares for
months and finding no takers on their terms
In order to make them merchantable and
procure anything for them they came for.
ward at last and voluntarily made these aft
davits, and then proceeded to hawk their re.
carnations. with what success we now see
These are facts which we have no doubt will
be made to appear. Both the original affida.
Wits and the recantations are before the com
mittee and 1t will be at liberty, as will the
Senate, to accept the more probable story
This we insist Is the more corrupt and infar
NOUS version. 1t better COMFORTS with the
character of the witnesses and Of Kellogg.