Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-11-13
THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE FORGED LET
TER INCIDENT

marked influence upon the Presidential
election. 1t is asserted, aud with consid-
cradle plausibility, that it SO far changed
opinion in this State as to give the major
ity of its electoral vote to General Han
cock. And common experience testities to
the prevalence of belief in the genuine
ness of the letter notwithstanding all the
evidence against it. In the light OF these
facts it becomes expedient to inquire care
fully into the causes and reasons OF this
popular credulity. It is not sufficient to
get rid of the question by postulating popu-
lar stupidity. What is most to be desired
is that similar errors should be excluded IN
the future, and before we can discover how
this may be effected we must understand
how the error which has here occurred
came to be committed. The circumstance
that the Mercy forgery was not at all sub
tie or skillful renders its success the more
remarks able, for it tends to show that a
very simple fraud, if it be only put for
ward with sufficient hardwood, is capa-
Bile OF effecting the most important polit-
ical changes. Of course the demonstration
of such a fact must be attended with con-
siderable danger; the danger, we mean,
that the success of such frauds will cause
them to be resorted to habitually. But
this, together with all the periis which
L
spring from defective education, must be
faced boldly, and the lesson mast be eu-
forced that for every political stumbling
block of the kind the one available remedy
is increase of light. 1t is true enough that
more knowledge does not guarantee moral
soundness The most depraved inclina-
tions may subsist with the highest cultiva-
ton of the intellect. Popular education
cannot extinguish dishonesty in the leaders
of men, therefore. But what it can and
will do is to protect the masses against the
coarser and more apparent deceptlons OF
demaeogues. In the case before us those
who were persuaded of the genuineness OF
the Morey letter showed themselves to be
destitute of the capacity of discrimination
which belongs to intelligent ludg-
ment When letter is put forward as
having been written by well-known
statesman on topic of public interest.
and there is controversy as to its genuine
ness, it becomes necessary to apply
to the case certain rules of evidence. 1t is
not, of course, to be expected that every
man can analyze the case with the &C
umen and method of trained lawyer,
but every man ought to be able to apply
certain common-sense considerations to the
subject. For example, it should occur 10
the ordinarily Intelligent citizen to In
Whether the sentiments ascribed
to the alleged writer of the letter are in
harmony with those which he is known
positively to have expressed at other times
on the same topic Whether it is certain
that any such person as the letter purports
to be addressed to, exists, or did exist, at
the alleged date of the letter: Whether
i'm the present case) it was probable that
General Garfield, writing to stranger,
would have Endorsed his letter personal
and confidential F." Whether the hand
writing resembled General Garfeld's
acknowledged handwriting Whether the
errors of spelling in the letter were likely to
have been committed by man of General
Garfeld's education and epistelary expert
ence Whether the appearance of the let
ter, so near the end of the campaign, and
under such peculiar circumstances, was
not suspicious. Such interrogatories as
these would, or should, naturally have
suggested themselves to persons of very
ordinary intelligence, and who were not
accustomed to sift evidence scientifically.
That no such methods of reaching sound
Judgment could have been resorted to by
those who adopted the belief that the
Morey letter was genuine. is, however,
self-evident. They must have accepted it
despite the swarming evidences of its
spuriousness which surrounded the whole
case, and the presumption is that they
were honestly convinced of its truth.
Some were very probably influenced by the
consideration that nobody would venture
to fabricate letter of this kind. Not
few were probably deceived by the bold
stroke of the Democratic National Com
mittee in causing the forgery to be en-
graved and spread broadcast over the
country. It is impossible that any of
them should have reasoned about the mat.
ter, because whoever once began to reason
about it must have ended by becoming
persuaded that the thing was a forgery.
OF course this does not affect the results
or their bearings. The fact remains that
Presidential election was very nearly
carried by forged letter, and this not
withstanding popular experience of cam
paign devices. Evidently if the govern
fment of the country can be made to depend
upon such tricks, there never can be any
security. In such case argument and
principle and reason must be thrust into
the background, and political jugglery OF
the eoarsest kind will take the ascendant.
But this is not a tenable view, since it
involves the degradation of our civilization
and the supremacy of our inferior ele-
ments. The truth is that the peculiarly
close nature of the late contest brought
into special prominence those elements
which in an ordinary case would have
remained in obscurity. A great deal was
made to devolve upon the least intelligent
classes, and they acted as they might have
been expected to act, that is TO say, they
delivered themselves up an easy prey to
demagogues. They were incapable of
reasoning, and therefore they did not
reason. But they were not incapable of