Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1880-09-30

| tUOLl, UuL tHeIe was uOUOuy III the Inner
room but himself.
"Some of the men who were getting up
statements about other parishes came in
there, but the room was assigned to me.
(Applause.) There you have it an inner
room reached only by passing through an
other room from the public hall, and he
occupied it and received the Witnesses there,
as will proceed to prove. So the ques-
ton. What did he do in the inner room
and that question was asked him under
oath. @. What did you do? A. took
all thosesFpapers, commencing with the pro-
test, and read them carefully and made
a careful brief of their contents, Civ
! ing the summary of each witness in my own
way, as I would if were lawyer in the
case (Applause.) There is Garfield at
New Orleans-the man that asks to preside
in the chief Office of this great nation.
There is Garfield sitting in that inner room
of the custom house, where the light Of
day and the judgment of the American
people was cut off and receiving the evil
dence that turned the parish of West Fell
ciana and examining them as though he
was lawyer in the case, and so he swears.
when had completed that felt great
deal of anxiety to see the men who had tes.
titled, if 1 could Now, notice what he has
sworn to: That he occupied that room
and thatlwhen the testimony was handed to
him relating to the parish of West Fell
ciana, he examined it and the testimony and
he made out list of one-half or two thirds
of the witnesses and he sent for them one
by one. He examined them, and when
their testimonySwas not as full as he de-
sired he prepared additional interroga-
tories which went, in some cases at least,
before the returning board. The summary
in the testimony in the case of West Fell
ciana was prepared by him. A little fur
ther about what he did: Some of these
affidavits l notice in the West Feliciana
case were made after you arrived in New
Orleans. Did you have anything to do
with them yourself-in taking them? A.
Nothing. Except that in some instances,
as I have already related, prepared inter-
| rogatories.' Now, gentlemen, he mentions
as the most remarkable case in which he
prepared the questions for the witnesses the
case OF Amy Mitchell, so l will read what
-arfeld swore to in regard to that case.
"'Q. AS regards the case of Amy Mitch
| ell, which made an impression on you, can
you tell whether it was before or after you
were furnished with copy Of her affidavit
| that you had the conversation with her?
A. 1t was afterward. 1t was the reading
of the affidavit that impressed me, and |
| asked to have her sent to me-
$50. l see that the affidavit appears to
have been sworn to the thirtieth of Novem-
Der? A. advised them to take fuller
statement by interrogatories from Amy
Mitchell, and 1 thinl 2ropounded por-
ton of the interrogatories. The prelim-
mary statement, the simple affidavit was
earlier Now, gentlemen,.I will turn over
page and see what the case of Amy
Mitchell was turning the leaves of book.
| She first made an affidavit in the custom
house, where she was examined privately
by james A. Garfield That affidavit
was not full enough. He prepared addi-
tional interrogatories to be propounded to
her, and she answered those. .interrogatories,
and in her testimony before this same COM
mittee she afterward herself swore that
there was no truth in the statement given
in response to Gar6eld's interrog&tories. In
answer to a question propounded by Gov
ernor Cox, of Ohio, who is Republican,
Amy Mitchell said-she repeated her di
rect testimony-that every statement con-
tanned in the affidavit was false; that she
did not say anything because she knew it,
but said what they told her to say. Her
testimony also showed that she had been
| trained in the custom house to testify be-
fore the committee. don't say that Gar
| field was present when she swore to the an
swers to interrogatories, but he prepared
the interrogatories that were answered, and
he prepared the interrogatories after he
had an interview with that colored woman,
when there was no person sbesides them
selves present, and the same woman comes
before the committee of Congress, not in an
inner room, not where the light of Gods
! day is shut off, but she comes before the
committee of Democrats and Republicans,
and in that testimony, given under oath
and under the test of a cross-examination
| by the Republican members of the COM
mittee, she says there was not word of
| truth in the testimony which she gave in
answer to Garfeld's questions. (Applause.)
The next purpose, gentlemen, have in
my mind is to ask why did Garfield spend
eighteen days in the inner room in the
custom house? Why did he have private
interviews with the colored and white peo-
pie whoss testimony was to be taken to be
used before the returning board? and why
did he prepare interrogatories for the wit
nesses? / will answer in his own words:
"Q. But don't you understand that in
rogatories should be prepared instead OF
the evidence they were to go before the
returning board A. Yes, sir
Sand when his work of taking the testi-
mony was completed he turned his atten-
ton to the preparation OF brief. A
brief, as you all know, is lawyers argu-