New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-05-01
THE CASE or

The casual reader OF the newspapers VIII
probably be not n little perplexcd when he
turns his attention to the proceedings of the
special committee organized under the prCSi-
dency OF Congressman Carlisle, to find ont the
secret history of the anonymous letter To- Mr..
Springer II is not clear what the United States
House of Representatives has to do with this
momcntOus question yet the line Of inquiry so
far indicates that somebody is in search Of
vndicatiOn. Mr. Springer can hardly be the
person whose conduct is to be subjected 10
scrutiny; for if representative is pe,trrcd
with Anonymous letters, that surely is his mis-
fortune, not his fault If he had been coloIed
cadet, Of course, ne might have been suspected
Of writing the letter with his own hand,
in order to excite sympathy, and Congress
might have tried him on the charge OF
annoying and insulting himself, or getting some
outside confederate to do 1t for him; but We
arc rot aware that this theory of the Springer
letter has occurred to anybody at Washington.
Mr. Donnelly appears to be in need of vindi-
cation; but then Douuclly is rot member of
the House, and if Congress is going into the
business OF making Il respectable character for
Donncly it will have 10 time for anything else
and there are several measures before it in
which the country takes some interest. Mr..
Finley also wishes TO bc vindicatrd. But who
is Mr.. Finlcy7 Why must the Government of
the United States suspend operations TO accom-
modato Mr.. Fincy2 1t may be matter of
some consequence to him to have the writer of
the Anonymous letter discovered, and it may
also crafty the curiosity Of Mr.. Springer; but
we do not see what odds it can make to Con-
gress.
The Committee begins by permitting Mr..
Finley to explain, at the cost Of the public trca-
sury, what he meant by that other letter which
he avOws that he did write to Mr.. Springer,
why he wlOte it, and what he thinks upon
various political and other topics. All his is
doubtless an immense qualification 10 Mr.. Fin
ley, who loves to place himself in the focus of
public observation, and is not altogether un-
willing to impress himself upon Congress and
the people. And we must confess that Fnlcy's
observations have q certain interest for the com
munity at large. He is a much more signl-
cant and peIvasiye person than we supposed.
When he wrote to Mr.. Springer; "The whole
"case is before our friends In New-Yorls, and
upon the assurances which gathered from
u what you said to me | have told them that the
@rep0it would be adopted, and Mr.. Donnellv
"would be seated at once" he did not refer to
any one man or clique Of men, but to the
"whOlc Democratic party" After getting as
suranccs from Mr. Springer he came to New
York and impaired the news, cOniidcnrially,
to the whole Democratic party. II is not OK
planned what method Finley adopted in order
to lay the case before the whole Democratic
party; but lie assures us that he did il, and in
the capacity of ambassador from the whole
Democratic party he returned to Washington 10
prick Mir. Springer on TO the performance of lis
promises. This confirms the universal belief
expressed ut the time of the publication of the
letter, nearly a month ago, that the Minnesota
trick was devised in behalf of the whole Demo-
cratic party, with the ultimate purpose Of sciz-
ing the Presidency, and that people in New
York knew great deal more about it than the
Congressman selected to perform the necessary
manGuvres in Washington Mr.. Finley says it
was not Tiden particularly, but the Democrats
were all i'll it. II his friends prefer to have it
that way, we do not sec why our side should OBJ
iect.
Mr.. Finley said distinctly in his letter that
the Ousting of Washburn would be likely to de-
vclOp importance in regard to the next cleo
" ton of President" He added, In mysterious
phrases, that it was vital NATTER reaching
further even than he had minated he declared
that he still held the closest and most conf
"dential relations" to those who were chiefly
to be affected personally by the outcome Of the
matter, and it was in that capacity of a close
and confidential agent that he addressed Mr..
Springer. To whom did he point in this allu-
sion Not to Donnelly, because Donnelly told
the Elections Committee who his agents were,
aud Finley was not one of them. Mr.. Finley
says that he meant all the Democrats of Min
nesOta. Finley is revealing quito too much.