Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1880-03-20

4
te Executive Mansion and claimed h
e. reward. Mr.. Hayes appointed hi
IS one of the justices of the supreu
N court of New Mexico at a salary
n $4,000 per annum. His ability
is find in the law of Florida what
IS did not contain as well as what
l. did doubtless went a long way
n commanding him to the champio
If of civil-service reform as a prOpe
It person to discharge the duties of
a supreme judge. Such judicial proc
n igies as McLin are rare, and coul
s not, therefore, escape the attentio
s of one so bent, as Mr.. Hayes, o
:, civil-service reform when he was 1
g search of proper matererial for
e Judge. af
/. 1t will be remembered that as
t part of the plan to count Hayes il
: it became necessary to establish Al
order of men known in the histOr,
, Of that celebrated conspiracy as Wis
2 iting statesmen. The powers ant
} duties of these men have neVe
} been very clearly defined. Prior (,
: the time when il became necessary
! to defeat the will of the people by
the vaccinations of political return
ing boards, they were unknown K
I our history. No party in this coun
try had ever before had any use foi
the services of such men, for the
very good reason that no party 'haC
ever before deliberately determined
to defeat the verdict of the people
at the ballot-boX by fraud. McI.in
says that both before and after the
counting of the vote he, as a mem.
ber OF the returning board, was fire.
quently assured that Mr.. Hayes,
when inaugurated as President,
would take care of his friends in
Florida. Notably among the visit
ing statesmen who gave these assur-
ances were Governor Noyes, of Ohio,
and General Lew Wallace, of Indi-
ana. These two statesmen took par
ticular pains to impress on the Re
publican officials Of Florida that
they came to that State as the spe-
cial friends of Mr.. Hayes and at his
request. A few extracts from Nc
Lin's testimony before the Potter
committee will give an idea of the
mission, at least of .Noyes and Wal
lace:
@. Did he rGov. Noyesl say anything to
you or to DR.. Cowgirl with regard to the au-
spices under which he had come to Florida,
! the objects of his mission?
A. As well as remember he spoke Of 1t
in this way: that he himself had come, as
Well as other Republicans, to encourage us.
A. Well, L supposed at the time to rem
/ der moral influence, or something OF that
kind, that he could render by his presence,
OF that could be rendered by the presence of
/ other distinguished men of the party.
@. Did he state whether he had come I'm
pursuance Of general or specirl request of
A. 1 think be did, sir.
q. OF wnom?
A. OF the President.
q. OF the President of the United States (?
President Grant was then in Office.
A, No, Governor Hayes am speaking Of
q. He said that he had come at the spe-
claI request and instance OF Governor Hayes?
@. Did he state what his relations with
Governor Hayes were at the time, and what
they had been for some time
time.
@. And also political friendsg
A. Yes, sir; that they belonged to the
same political party.
@. And that he had come to the state of
Florida for the purpose of giving encourage
ment to Governor Hayess friends here in
reference TO the count in this Slater
A. Yes, sir; that the Others had come for
the purpose of giving counsel.
@. What others did he mention az having
also come at the instance of Governor
Hayes?
a; MI; Noyes did not say 50, but General
Wallace told me that he came at the special
request ofthe President.
q. That is, of Governor Hayes?
A. Yes, SIR.
Q. What, if anything, did Governor
Noyes say in that conversation, or any sub
sequent one, with regard to the carrying out
by Governor Hayes of sny promises made
A. AS stated on Saturday, do not re-
member that Governor NOyes directly made
promises OF anything further than that the
credit for the manner in which they had
conducted the campaign, and that the
members of the canVassing board would be
provided for; something Of that kind, but 1t
was rather in general way.
Mr.. Young, of Ohio. Does not
the gentleman from Tennessee
think it would be fair to state to the
House in this connection the testi-
mony of Governor Noyes himself
on this subject?
Mr.. House. Well, that would
take me good while. Mr.. Speaker,
/ read Governor Noyes's testimony,
and l read McLin's testimony, and
my opinion is that McLin told the
truth about the matter. If 1 were
to quote the whole of Governor
Noyes's testimony, I do not think
it would relieve him of the diff
Guilty by any means. / will say
this: Governor Noyes puts in a
qualified denial but the main fact
that he was there, claiming to be
the personal and intimate friend of
Mr.. Hayes, is not denied. McLin
adheres to his testimony, and he
states what Noyes told him.
Now, Mr.. Speaker, McLin gives
the following account of the part
taken by General Wallace in bracing
the spinal column of the men who
were relied on to count Florida for
Hayes:
@. WHAT did he General Wallacel say
was the reason of his coming TO Florida2
a. He said that he had been telegraphed
to by Governor Hayes and requested 10
o. q. Did he exhibit the telegram that he
had received iI
A. No, sir.
had requested him TO do?
A. To give counsel and aid in all the
manner he could.
o. What did General Wallace say to you
with regard to the course that Governor
Hayes would pursue with reference TO the
a. re sdfd fIt0t he E1teao Governor Hdyes
lceLl, and he aUas satisfied that n he became
President he 1oopld ploUfde, he lCon q take
l1Leaatti'e t1l providing, for The Republicans Of
Fl07'idd, a.t
q. At what time was tthat these oonver-
A. Prior to and afterth canvass.
O. Prior to and after the completion Of
| the canvass?
A. Yes, Sir. 1t was referred to on several
occasions.
These short extracts from McLin's
| testimony give us glimpse of the
peculiar duties which the visiting
statesmen were expected to perform
and did perform in promoting the
great Presidential frauds. This
novel band of political knights-er-
rant, it seems, were sent to the
States whose electoral vote 1t had
been determined to steal for the
purpose of giving their "moraf in
| fiuence'' to the Fascals who were to
commit the theft / have heard of
| aiders and abettors and aceompiices
in crimes and Of accessories before
and after the fact, but j think this
Is the first instance in which ever
heard the part played by an accom-
plice in crime, described as giving
t'moral influence" to the principal
criminal. But then it must not be
forgotten that the year 1875 wit
messed the first appearance of visit
| ing statesmen upon the political
Stage. The English language, like
the common law, must expand and
adapt itself to new situations and
the varying necessities of times and