The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1880-04-09
THE PRESS.
FRIDAY MORNING. APRIL 8.
The Reports of the Hale Commit
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We publish this morning the full text OF
the majority and minority reports OF the
committee appointed by the Legislature to
investigate the frauds connected with the
election returns and the illegal expenditure
and withdrawal of the money of the people
by the late Governor and Council. The
report is voluminous, and we at first con-
tented ourselves with publishing a full alb
stract, intending to.wait for the official publ
cation of the report by the committee before
laying it before our readers. But the bold
and mendacious efforts of some of the late
Council to pervert and garble the report and
the testimony upon which it is founded, and
the republication of these efforts by the
Democratic and Greenback papers OF the
State renders necessary at this time the pub
LEGATION of thGsery able and impartial state
ments of the labors of the Committee and
the results at which they arrived, contained
in the reports.
The committee was made up of the ablest
men of both parties to be found in the Leg
islature. Their character and standing pre-
cluded the idea that any dishonest act
would be done or permitted while the re-
turns were in their hands, even if such
thing could be accomplished without detec-
ton. From the Fusion party there were ,ap-
pointed Henry ingalls, of Wiscasset, law
yer and life long Democrat, George F. Hill
of Corinth, National Greenbacker, and
Lyman S. Strick land of Houlton, lawyer
of eminence and Democrat. On the Re
publican side the committee was composed
of gentlemen of eminence in the professions
and as business men, and the work en-
trusted to their hands was performed with
courtesy, fairness and ability which won the
commentator of men of all parties.
At the outset the committee were placed
under great disadvantage in obtaining the
testimony to unravel the huge scheme of po
ers, but after the Smith government col
lapsed, and the law was passed making ita fell
ony to destroy, deface, mutilate, conceal or
retain any documents belonging to the State
department, the election returns were de-
livered by Mr.. Sawyer into the hands of the
Secretary of State, they were carefully
guarded by him and after they came into the
hands of the committee they were so pro-
tected as to preclude any possibility of their
being stolen or tempered with. The COM
substitutions, erasures, and alterations of re-
turns and finally were enabled to summon
witnesses and at length to bring to light the
whole plot and rascality concocted and perpe-
trated by the Council. In this report is sat
isfactorily explained the conduct of the
fusion leaders Immediately after the election;
why they were so averse to showing the re-
turns to parties having right to see them;
why they denied admittance to any but their
own crew while the counting and tabulation
was in progress; why the Council was so
busy and carried about such an air of mys-
terry; why they ignored the statute of 1877
and refused to allow any evidence to correct
errors; why they established new rules and
insisted upon frivolous technicalities, never
before heard of in counting votes; why they
refused any investigation of the substitution
of fraudulent returns, when their attention
was called to the matter by Mr.. Rounds
of Calais and testimony was offered to sup
port the charges; why they ignored all efforts
to correct their mischievous plottings; why
they brazenly protested that they were hon
est and were proceeding according to law,
and paraded the Jonesboro and other cases
as instances of their law-abiding wisdom;
why they wantonly lied at their publicm meet
ings and avowed their innocence, and finally
why they so desperately adhered to their
programme to establish by fraud a State
government, stife inquiry by Withholding
the returns, and obtain by force, if necessa-
ry, what they were in no sense entitled to
by law and justice.
A perusal of this report will show how
weak and wicked are the attempts of Fogg
and his fellow conspirators to lie down the
public indignation which greets the infa-
nous betrayal of public trust disclosed by
the testimony, the correctness of which is
not denied by the minority. The thanks of
all honest men are due to the men of both
parties on the committee by whose untiring
labors this most foul attempt against
honest government has been uncovered and
exposed to the indignant condemnation of
decent men of all par ties.