Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1880-06-16

at the Merchants last evening, being en- r0ut
to his farm in Stevens county. A GLOBE re
| porter met him soon after his arrival and a
once proceeded to interview him. Mr.
Donnelly was in excellent spirits and talked
quite freely.
@. When did you leave Washington? wal
tie first query.
A. On Thursday evening. 1 remained ir
Philadelphia until Saturday night and ar
rived at Hastings this morning.
@. What is the status of your case?
A. think it is III very good shape. 1t will
come up in December as soon as Congress
reassembles, and have every reason to be-
lieve that will win. l should have won il
it had come to vote during this session
despite Springer's opposition.
Q. What was the trouble with Springeri
A. Money. He was bought. l have no
more doubt of this than l have Of my own
existence. He was earnestly in my favor,
my principal advocate on the committee up
to about the end of February and beginning
of March. He then Topped as quick as
lightning. He is bankrupt; at that very
time he was trying case in the United
States Supreme Court, involving his right to
his homestead in Springfield, Illinois, which
had been sold for two or three thousand dol
lars for unpaid internal revenue taxes. He
owned o lot of wildcat mining stock and
was being called on for assessments. He
was hard Up and Bill King was at his elbow.
Bill came to Washington February %, and
remained until the 4th of March. Springer
admits that he had aa intorv view during this
time with Bill in the basement of the Capt.
tol, but Ihe pretends that he was not ac-
quainted with Bill, although he had served
with him in the Forty fourth Congress, and
it is we'll known that Bill was the most con-
spicuous man in that Congress. On the day
Bill left Washington the anonymous letter
was written; it was carried in somebody's
pocket (probably Washburn's) until tho 8th
of March, when it was mailed. 1t was the
putting into the form of a promissory note
Of the agreement made in the basement of
the capitol, in these words. eff you will
keep Washburn in his seat in spite of the
Democrats we will pay Mrs. S. $5,0O0."
Bill returned to Washington March 25th
and remained until the 1st of April, the dag
the final cote aods taken S7o the committee.
Then having seen that Springer had deliv-
cred the goods Bill folded his tent and
stole away. Bill did not register his name
at the hotels while IN Washington. One of
the reasons he gave for this was that he
once wrote his name so badly on hotel
register that he was ever after ashamed to
register. This was probably in Canada.
@. Do all these things appear in the
printed testimony?
Q. What made Springer say that Finley
wrote the anonymous letter?
A. That is one of the queerest parts of the
whole transaction. Springer said that he
was confident that the letter did not come
from Washburn that he did not think it
possibles that any friend of Washburn's
could have sent it, and yet he says he ap-
proved of every part of the sub committees
report, except the Isanti county question,
and that report declares that 305 cases of
bribery were proved against Washburn, and
over 100 of them traced right to himself.
And yet Springer, while asserting to the
truth of all this, could not think it possible
that the man who bought 305 men in Min
nesota, could attempt to buy one man in
Washington of the name of Springer.
@. How about the experts
A. There were seven examined, but one of
these, McLeuran, clerk in the treasury de-
partment, testified that he was no expert
that he had never claimed to be such, and had,
never been examined as such in
any court. Setting him aside the remain
ing six were equally divided-three thought
Finley might have written it and three that
King might have written it. We could have
produced half dozen more If it was neces-
sary. It was stand off between the experts,
and on the other side there was the absence
of any motive on Finley's part to have writ
ten such letter. Moreover the experts all
agreed that the anonymous letter was in
an atndSsguised, natural hand. Now Finley
sent long letter to Springer which arrived
the same day the anonymous letter did; it
was also in natural, undisguSsed hand.
Can anybody believe that Finley would, with
out Disgusting his hand, write Springer the
anonymous letter and then send him another
letter, also undisguised, over his own sigma
ture, to compare it with? The thing is too
absurd. It : was mere afterthought of
Springer to extricate himself from the ter
rible dilemma in which his wife had i'm
prudently placed him. He was bought and
paid for Just as sure as there
10 0OO Ill hcdtShs OoA uuOCl-
stand how Springer might have opposed me
honestly; how he might even have honestly
changed his mind and opposed me after sup
porting me, but no honest man ever would
have resorted to the boundless treacheries
and duplicities of which he was guilty.
Only two or three days before the final vote
was taken he furnished Gen. Manning with
a statement in his own writing showing just
how the members of the committee would
vote, and his, Springer's, name was among
those who would vote to seat me.
@. Was that proven?
A. Certainly. Manning produced the
original memorandum, in Springer's own
and Springer did not deny it.
@. At what point did he throw down his
disguise and openly oppose you?
A. Not until the final vote was taken.
Manning has stated, in published letter to
his constituents, that only five. minutes before
the committee commenced to take the final
vote april 1sD Springer led him to believe
by his conversation that he was about to
vote to seat me. When he voted against me
Manning was thunderstruck and when he
recovered his breath he denounced Springer
in unmeasured terms, and the newspaper re-
ports say that he even shook his fist under
Sprlnger's nose.
@. But what reason had Springer for
such duplicity?