The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1880-04-07
From the Boston Herald.l
The Defense.

Councillors Fogg, Brown and Chase, who
served, or were supposed to serve, the State Of
Maine last year, had ample opportunity to ap-
pear before the Hale Committee which inves-
tigated the counting-ou business. For reasons
best known to themselves, they preferred not
to do so, but now the Legislature having ad-
journed and the reassembling of the commit
the being an event some months distant
Messrs. Fogg. Brown and Chase come to the
front with statement which the first of the
trio publishes in his paper over his name and
modestly entities "Hale's report disem,
boweled"
Mr.. Fogg starts out in his statment, which
would occupy six or seven columns of the Her
aid, with defiance of the existing admins
tration as revolutionary organization. The
ex-councillor brags because he was not ar
rested and brought before the committee.
Martyrdom was what he sought but did not
obtain. To be shut up in the Augusta jail
would make Mr.. Fogg, in his own esti-
nation, at least, a rival OF ST. Stephen and all
the other martyrs noble host. But the Re-
publicans did not grant him even this poor
satisfaction. They let him and his fellows
alone, until now three of them feel compelled
TO speak in self defence. Foster has deserted
them and the State. Parker is in the wilds of
pented and turned states evidence. Monroe
has-well, no matter. Fogg, Brown and
Chase are left The document which they
have put forth is not what anybody would call
"good, easy reading" 1t is largely verbiage
repetition, and fails to affect any mans opin-
ion The mind OF the public is made up. AID
no special pleading or denunciatory language
is going to alter it, The different cases of
counting out are discussed briefly by the coun-
cilor. His respects are first paid to the Lincoln
county senatorial case, and especially the town
of Somerville ON which the result in the county
was made to hinge. The unfortunate indiyid-
ual who was clerk of that town had sworn to
one set of facts, and now the persuasive Fogg
has somehow induced him to swear to another
The testimony of a man who swears both ways
might as well be counted out. AS to the JONES'
boro case and the Skowhegan cases, nobody
would read anything about them ifhe wrote it.
The day for argument has gone by. Mr.. Fogg
insinuates that the alleged alterations of re-
turns have been made since they passed into
the hands of the Republicans, and were made
by them for the sake Of discrediting and dam
aging their opponents. AS the Lewiston Jour-
nal observes: "The trouble with Mr.. Fogg's
allegations that corrections and alterations in
returns have been made by Republicans is
that these corrections and changes must have
been made before the council canvassed them,
because they were counted by the Governor
and council as corrected and changed. 1t is
presuming too much on popular credulity to
argue that Republicans changed the returns to
count out Republicans"
The trouble with Mr.. Fogg's defence is, first,
that it is too long, too verbose, too fiippant,
written apparently, without any adequate con-
ception of the gravity of the charge made
against Gov. Garcelons councillors, or any
knowledge of what the result of their action is
to be, and second, that the councillor thinks,
by raising dust and binding temporarily the
eyes of the people, he can confuse them and
make them forget the questionsswhich so much
concern them. He should not have bothered
himself about Robespierre or Torquemada.
The White bribery case did not concern him.
A plain. straightforward answer to the charges
of the Hale committee might have been made
to carry weight. The document which Mr.
Fogg issues, after consultation with his wicked
partners will not help him or them.