New-York tribune., 1879-03-06
PEpnRLICAA CIPHkRS.
liberties.

Mr.. Potter received so high a compliment
from the Republican minority OF his Commit
fee for the fairness and courtesy of his be-
bayior during the investigation, that we can
only account for n certain passage IN MS
report by assuming that ne has not mad" MN
self perfectly familiar with the contents OF
the cipher dispatches already brought 20
light. or the history of other dispatches, not
yet published, which are known to be III
existence. He assumes that messages reflect
ing seriously upon the conduct of the Repub-
hcan party must have been in the bundle OF
telegrams obtained from the Western Union
Company, and that during fourteen months
of "watchful, competent and intelligent
BIPARTISAN custody" they were carefully
picked ont and destroyed before the others
were given to the world. This Is like the
logic of the Democratic reasoning on bribery;
1t has been proved that Democrats tried to
buy the Returning Boards but the attempt
did not succeed; therefore Republicans did
buy The Returning Boards. Similarly Mr.
Potter argues: The cipher dispatches dis
credit none but Democrats; but If they had
discredlted the Republican narty, Republicans
would have destroyed them; therefore the
hcpuDUCanS tllu SORT thtIl, anu DulH al WV
evidence against themselves.
To state this argument il enough TO show
IT. absuIdty. Di,igeut search has failed To dis
cover any trace OF the transaction which Mr.
Potter takes for granted. There Is no indlca-
tion anywhere that dispatches of the character
presumed have ever existed; and IN the con-
tdential tglegram~ of the Democratic agents
who negotiated with the CanyasSing Boards,
there is not So much as hint that bribery
was attempted on the other side. And II 1t
be suggested that Republicans may have
DESTROYED all those Democratic dispatches
which contained evidence of Republican ras-
calIty. The conclusive reply Is that when the
ciphcrs were surrendered to InE TRIBUNE
for publication neither the persons VINO had
had the custody Of them, nor anyone else
except the seuders and receivers, had the
least idea of their contents. The "watchful,
"competent and intelligent pdrtisans" who
held them Tor fourteen months could not read
them.
But this is not all. Mr.. Potter and his Com
mittee have had a large number OF Rcpubl-
can dispatches III their possession for con-
siderable time. They are well aware that
many more, sent to the Republican head
quarters in New-YOrk during the progress of
the count, have been preserved and could be
had without much trouble If the messages
deposited in the telegraph Office were de-
stroyed the messages delivered from the tele-
graph Office were not destroyed. Why were
these not ootained2 WHY were not the writer's
of the batch OF originals turned over to the
Committee summoned 10 explain them 7 And
if the " watchlul. complacent and intelligent
"partisans' destroyed other Republican dis
patches. how came they to save thesef Iheir
meaning was unknown. Ii there was wicked
ness hidden anywhere, 1t might as well
have been hidden in these telegrams a. IN
others 1t may be more convenient FOR the
Democracy to leave them untransated and un-
published but we submit that II iS suspicious
and ridiculous for them 60 cry, Oh, the Re-
publican iucriunatng dispatches have all
been destroyed" when there are Republican
cphers within their reach which thcy seem to
have DO desire To read.