Daily Los Angeles herald., 1880-11-14
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AdaIsss Of tne Democratic N tioaai
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NEW YORK, Nov. 13.-The Ex-
ecutive Com mittee OF the Demo-
cratic National Committee has is
sued an address to the effect that
neither the con1mittee nor the SUBJ
committee has ever taken any ac
tion In regard to the Morey letter;
that the cOmmittee did not know
Of Its existence until the evening
before its publication in the Truth,
that il the letter was forged or any
false evidence given in connection
with X, IT. was without the knowl-
edge Of the committee, and It APP
proves ofevery honest measure to
arrive at the truth Of the affair.
With regard to the alleged frauds
In the recent election in New York
and elsewhere, the committee dis
claims Jurisdiction over violations
of the. election law and reco N mends
an Investigation by the several
State Committees.
Phnp Hs,d fsr. Ex .maussi . Bssers
- shs 0rHnd Jasy-Jndxe Dssts's
n DscisiOn.
(, New YORK, Nov. 13th.-Judge
Davis this morning rendered an
elaborate decision in the case OF
Philip. The accused IL charged
with two offsnses, fret, that he
wrote the so-called Morey letter,
counterfeiting the signature OF
Garfield thereto, and second tnat
after Garfield made u public denial
Of having written such letter, the
accused wrote an editorial and as
serted that Gar cid was ac:liar In
denying the authorship OF it. 1t is
apparent, his Honor says, that nc
such person as Henry l.. Morey ex.
listed at Lynn, Massachusetts,; the
letter IL uuquestionabiy a forgery
md not in the handwriting OF Gar
field. The'question Of the guilt OF
innocence of Philip must be left to
y jury to determine. The defend.
ant 10 held to answer the charge oil
criminal libel and must be com
mitted or give bail.
The genuineness of the Morey
letter 10 . very i'm portant factor in
the case. Philip must be held to
answer unless he can show thai
Garfield wrote the letter. Judge
Davis said Mr.. Hewitts come C ior
With the transaction Is uf the mos
extraordinary character. Hair
tes' flied that when he received tht
letter In the very singular way In
which it reached him his uspi.
cions were aroused. He saw the
importance Of the letter, II genu
Inc, as q weapon Of deadly power
in the hands of Garfield's politica
foes. He was not satisfied to pub
lish 1t upon the examination whict
he and his editorial staff coulC
make, and therefore took the lettei
and envelope TO the Democratic
National Committee for iDspec
tion. He there saw Hewitt, Ran
dali, Bnrnum and several others
Mr.. Hart sho wed them the papel
and said In substance that he die
not want to publish the letter IL il
was . forgery, but If II was genuine
he did, aud wanted no. other pa pei
to get ahead of him. He says i
was examined by all the person.
named, but Mr.. Hewitt made tht
closest and most careful examina
ton and then pronounced the let
ter, both body and signature, to bt
in the Handwriting of Garfield
Photographs were then taken fo
the use OF the National Com m lite,
and Hart returned with the Iettel
to his office; but his mind was no
fully satisfied and go, late in tn,
evening, he sought and found Mr.
Hewitt again, aud was assured BY
Hewitt, who had examined largs
number Of General Garfield's let
tiers, that the Morey letter wa,
genuine, and this was olinched BY
impressing Mr.. Harris mind witt
the idea that he would have made
1t out forgery il he could. 1t i,
not very surprising that Hart, with
the usual anxiety Of newspaper
publishers to be ahead of theil
neighbors. should have published
the letter without further inquiry
but 1t IL astounding that man O
known sagacity and experience IL
business and public affairs, anc
who 10 supposed to have q dscenI
respect for truth and justice, anc
who speaks as an expert in writ
ing, with all the suspicious circum
stances that attended the reception
Of the letter, with the envelope ant
Its erasures before him, with TIT
city Postoffice and station STAN d.
on Its back, with the letter m ark cd
personal and confidential" and
addressed to some person whom be
certainly did not know; with the
letter before him, the contents OF
which, II true, would be greatly
Injurious, aud il false would wrong
his most intimate friend, as u base
and wicked assassin. That he
should have thought it just to press
and cause Its publication, without
first removing ell doubt as to 1t.
character Is Incredible. However
much an equitable decision NAV
leave to Others, upon Mr.. Hewitt
must rest.the Iarger part of the re.
sponsibility Of the FIST publication
OF the base and shameful forgery,
and his subsequent relation to the
forgery does not lift q single re.
proach from hts conduct. He wa.
y member OF the National Com
mittee. He doubtless knew the
extent and purposes for which, Il
was taken aud used by that com
mittee, and that 1t went forth to
the country with The sanction OF
his enforcement. He knew beyond
question that it met speedily with
the Indignant denial of General
Garfield, who denounced the letter
IA "a bAee and stuni1 for0arvv ,,1