Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1880-11-14

i
needed into the publishers waste basket.
All the facts above enumerated, which dis
close so clearly the character of this enve
ope, bear with no less force upon the que.
tiou. Is the letter forgery
lh is next to impossible th.
they can be true and the letter b
genuine. But they are reinforced by othe
facts which remove from my mind the leas
shadow of doubt. There was no such pei
son as @John w. Goodall, of Lynn, Mass,
| by whom the letter which accompanied tn
| Horey letter to Mr.. Hart parports to hav
been written. It is proved most clearly tina
! no such person IS Henry l.. Morey, as beinl
the person to whom the letter purports to b
| addressed, ever existed. The experts OF
! both sides all agree that the Morey letter
| both in body and signature, was written b,
| the same person, some of them declarins
there can be no doubt about it. An exam
ination of the letter itself shows this fact Il
every person who is free from obliquity o.
vision or perversion of judgment.
Mr.. Hewitt's connection with the letter
and transactions that have grown out of it
are, to say the least, of most sxtraordi
nary character. According to the testimony
of Mr.. Hart, when he received the letter, in
the very singular manner in which it reached
him, his suspicious were aroused. He saw
its Importance if genuine, as q weapon OF
deadly power in the hands of Garfield politi-
cal foes. He was not satisfied to publish it
upon the examination, which he and his ed-
torial staff could make, and therefore took
the letter and envelope to the Democratic
National committee for inspection. He there
saw Mr.. Hewitt, Barnum, Randall, and sew
eral others. Mr.. Hart showed them the
papers, and said, in substance, that he did
not want to publish the letter if it was for
gerry, but, if genuine, he did, and wanted no
other papers to get ahead of him in its pub
lication. He says it was examined by all the
persons named, but Mr.. Hewitt made The
closest and most careful examination, and
spent fully half an hour in its examination,
and then pronounced the letter. both bo dy
and signature, to be in the handwriting or
General Garfield. Photographs were then
taken for use of the National committee,
and MIR. Hart returned with the letter to his
office. But his mind was not fully satisfied,
and SO, late IN the evening, he sought and
found Mr.. Hewitt again, and was again as
sured that Hewitt had examined a large
number of Gen. Garfeld's letters, and that
the Morey letter was genuine; and that this
was clincher. By impressing Mr. Hart's
mind with the idea that he would have made
is out forgery if he could. It is not very
surprising that MIR. Hart, with the usual
anxiety of newspaper publishers, to be
ahead of their neighbors, should have pub
llshed the letter with further inquiry, but it
is astounding that man of known sagacity,
of great experience in business, and in pub
lie affairs, and who is supposed to have de-
cent respect for truth and justice, and who
speaks as On expert in writing-with all the
suspicious circumstances that attended the
reception of the letter, with the envelope
and its erasures before him, with the city
postoffice and station stamps on its back,
with the letter marked personal and conf
dential," and addressed to some person
whom he certainly did not know-with let
ter before him, the contents of which if true
would be greatly injurious, and if false would
do wrong to his intimate friends, as base and
wicked as an Rssassin's stab-could have
thought it just to press and cause its publi-
cation without first removing all doubt rs to
its character. However much an equitable
division may leave for others, upon Mr..
Hewitt must rest the larger share of respon-
sibility of the first publication of the base
and shameful forgery, and his subsequent
relation to the forgery does not lift a single
shadow from his conduct. He was mem.
Der of the National committee. He doubt
less knew the extent and purposes for which
it was taken and used by that committee,
and that it went forth to the country with the
sanction of his endorsement. He knew that
it met with the indignant denial of Gen.
Garfield, who denounced the letter as base
and stupid forgery, and Its sentiments as
brutal.
Under our statutes the utterer Of forged
instrument, with knowledge of its falsity, is
placed in the same rank of criminaIity with
the fOrger. Had the subject of the forgery
In this case been an instrument purporting
to be an obligation of Gen. Garfield, and he
had publicly declared them to be forgeries,
who could thereafter send them forth and
circulate them throughout the common
wealth with his representation of their genu-
ineness, without mourning the penalties of
the law The difference is purely statutory
and IN moral form wholly vanishes.
Judge Davis also says: "My mind has
received a clear conviction that the so-calIed
Morey letter in body, signature and all its
parts is not in the handwriting of Gen. Gar
field, but is altogether forgery, perpetrated
by some person or body of persons for the
purpose of deceiving the people and defraud-
ing them and Gen. Garfield of their votes.
The evidence bearing upon Philips guilt or
innocence of the forgery is voluminous and
would demand careful analysis. Taken
in connection with other evidence in the
case it tends to establish conspiracy to ac-
complish a national crime The conspiracy
points to men in other quarters and of far
higher positions, of whom he may have been
an accomplice or only dupe and tool. 1t
was better, therefore, that the question of
actual guilt of the forgery be left to the CON :
sideration of jury, before whom additional
and perhaps more decisive evidence may be
brought.
"It must be the wish of all honorable minds
that this case will lead not only to the dis
covery and exposure of the guilty bat to the
enactment of laws which will prevent or &C.
verely punish offenders of this character
Whoever be guilty in this case, right think
ing men everywhere must look upon the &C,
as an appalling crime, wholly at war with
the safety and sanctity of popular govern
nent Fortunately no committee and body
of men hold in their hands the conscience OF
the people and none strong enough to inter-
pret the sense Of censure which all honest
men pronounce on such guilt, The worst
criminals in this case may not be reached by
the hand of justice, but they will find no
y, ortu xuiIIipv IN haor o,1 eboro xr;tL xL.-