Ellsworth American., 1880-04-15
from the Boston Herald I
The Defense.

Councillors Fogg, Brown and Chase, who
served, or we're supposed 10 serve. the State
OF Name last year, had ample opportunity
To appear before the Hale Committee which
Investigated the counting out business For
reasons best known to themselves. they pre-
ferred not 10 do so, but nov the Legislature
having adjourned, and the reassembling Of
the committee being an event some months
distant, Messrs. Fogg, Brown and Chas.
come TO the front with a statement which the
hrst OF the 'rlo publishes IN his parcr over
his name and modestly entities "Hale's re-
port disembo~ sled."
Mr.. Fogg starts out IN his statement
which would occupy si- or seven columns ,,f
the Herald. with 1, defiance Of the exiting
administration D.. revolutionary organixa-
ton The ~A-councillor brags because k.
vas not arrested and brough, before the
comun.ttee. Mar,yrdom was what st.e .ough,
b., did not obtain. To be .aut I'D in the
Augusta Jail would maks Mr. Fogg. in his
own estimation. .. least, a rival of 81.
stephen and r-li the other martyrs noble
host But the Republicans did not grant
HIM even this poor satisfaction. They let
hi'~-i and his fellows alone, until now three of
/ them feel compelled 10 speak in self defense.
ut>sltti AIll INC sSldtt
| Parker is in the ~ilds Of Aroostook. Moody
has, II Is supposed, repeuted 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 effect any mans opinion. The
mind of the public is made up. and no
special pleading or denunciatory language is
going to alter it. The different cases of
counting out are discussed briefly by the
councillor. His respects are first paid to
the Lincoln county senatorial case, and
especially the town Of Someryiile on which
the result in the county was made 10 hinge.
The unfortunate individual who was clerk Of
that town had sworn TO one set Of facts, and
now the persuasive Fogg has somehow in
duced him to swear to another. The testi-
mony 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 if he wrote
it. The day for argument has gone by. Mr.
Fogg insinuates that the alleged alterations
Of returns have been made since they passed
into the hands Of the Republicans, and were
made by them for the sake of 1iserediting
and damaging their opponents. As the
Lewiston Journal observes 1.-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. Ii is presuming too
much on popular credulity to argue that
Republicans changed the returns to count
out Republicans"
The trouble with Mr.. Fogg's defense is,
first, that it is too long, too verbose, too
aippant, written apparently, without any
adequate conception of the gravity Of the
charge made against Gov. Garcelon's coun-
cillors, or any knowledge Of what the result
Of their action is to be, and second, that the
councillor thinks, by raising a dust and
binding temporarily the eyes Of the people,
he can confuse them and make them forget
the questions which 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.