New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1879-02-07
PLLLON,S CNNEEN>LONN.

There may lie worse witnesses than Colonel
/ Wi lam +. Pcltou, but we never saw one. lie
WAS on the stand Yesterday for eight hours
and - half and when he was dismissed there
was li:tlc or nothing left Of him. lie was not
oAIy drcadfully embarrassed, hcAtaiinE ana
I contradictory On the cIoss-cNAminau"n, but
even his direct testimony was a painful
exhibition from the very start At one time
| i'm tEr afternoon Mr.. Reed, in demonstrating
| AGAINST an interruption, took occasion 10 re-
mark that the witness was uSt then " mlddlln0
''yrilling" 70 answer. and he did not wish the
smell to be broken: but this is To be understood
only as one of those bright and GoOd-hum0rcd
Salii.S with which the genial gentleman
from Maine sometimes cnliytns the proceed
ings The witness seemed all through the
dav ike one who has much to conceal and
! although his testimony 80 far as 1t aiicctcd
| Mr.. Tldcn WIS certainly plain enough. the
| Imprs~ion which he produced upon the spec
tators was extremely unfortunate. We do not
mean this Us a criticism upon his evidence, bui
rs y description OF the effect Of his outward
dcmeanor, which he probably could not help.
Nearly all tlat he sad in reply 10 the QucS-
tion> Of his own side Was slowly dragged 0Gt
of him. and most Of what he sad 10 Mc,>rS.
Iliscuck and Reed was 50 lor@ ~ coming
we dcspaircl of it before it appeared.
He evaled he prcvaricated; he Stammrred;
he explained he involved himself hopcleNsiV
in mc.scs and muddlcS; hc was sometimes 1--WE
or ten minutes in answering yes or no; he man
aged to attract the finger of suspicion hy turns
to his uncle and TO Che Democratic National
Committee. On the whole ne probably did bis
side as much harm as any man is likely 70 DO
it In Il single day.
So far rs he spoke at all of the commences of
the dispatches and the accuracy Of the
TRANSACTIONS. Colonel Pcton fully confirmed
The TRIBrNE. Like Mr.. Smith Weed, he
had lost bis keys. lest his memory, and lost
his interest in the transactions of 1876 80 far
that he had taken no pains to verify the telc-
grams imputed to him. He would say nothing,
therefore. about the text of any dispatch
cxcept 81 do not remember or 81 cant
"say" But he freely admitted that the sense
of the TRANSACTIONS i'll all cases agreed with
such memory as remained to him. He acknOwl-
edged the signature "Denmark," acknowledged
receiving all the Henry llavemeyer kilograms,
! acknowledged, III Their fullest extent, the
| series of cipher communications in which he
| received and accepted the various propositions
! for the purchase OF the Florida Returning
Board He did reject Marbles first Offer at
the price of 100000. because it was too
! high. lie dd accept the subsequent offers
transmitted through Marble aud WoOley,
at the figure of $4,000 1t was true
! that his acceptance was received too late.
! The narrative OF the South Carolina bargain,
as told by TIE TRIBUNE and Smith Weed,
was also true. We do not remember that
MIR. Pclton found anything to criticiSc in
! The TmBC,E pamphlet except the subotitu-
ton of ,he word d" be- for "by' in a wholly
unlmpOrtant cIphcr-thc right word, however,
! being gwen IN the translation Just below 1t. We
| have 10 doubt that a number Ot similar, and
! even more important errors, will be discovered
! - TIE TRIBUNE. copies are compared with
| the Oh -iuais but after Che admissions made
! by Weed and the all-CmhrIrlng admission.
Of P,liOp, we presume that the substantial
accuracy OF the cipher publications and trans
| latlons viii be no longer called in question.
Mr. Potion declarcd-and this he Away,
said with alacrity-that he kept the knowledge
OF all these bargains from his uncle because
! bc knew bis uncle would not approve of them
| He acted on his own responsibility, and yet he
| had AN expectation, OF hope, or a shadoWy
/ be iet oil some kind, that the Democratic
| National Committee, or members OF It,
would furnish the money. lie had 10 o9iriai
connection with She Committee, bat he was
recognized in that body as the cont
( dental representative of Mr.. 1iden, and
| it was IN that capacity that hc sent
! Weed to South Carolina and Marble
| to FLORIDA aud took ecicIal charge of the
management OF the count. The particular
member, of the National Committee in whom
the confidential agent and nephew trusted to
| do what hc would not venture to propose TO
la, unclc, were Mr.. ". l.. Scott, of Erie,
aud Nh Edward Cooper. OF New York.