The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1880-08-03

/ By Mr.. MgalS:
Q..Did you call the attention of any other
| member of the Council to the SCI in that
| name?
Al do not think did
Q.-Where was this?
AIN the Council room.
Q.-Any others of the Council present?
,A.-Ihere were two or three: think that
MT. Brown was present and think Mr. Mon
| roe was present. They were not doing any
business; it was not a session of tho Council,
but there were two or three Councillors aside
| from Foster; 1 do not know but what Mr.
Chase was in the Council room a part of the
| time.
Q'-Were they within hearing, and listen
| ing to your conversation?
Al do not know that they were; Mr.. Fos-
| ter and sat down at the Council table, and
| ne got these returns and sat down by me and
we examined them together, he passing them
| to me.
There can be no escape from this testimony.
MIR. Harrington went to Augusta December
long before anybody suspected that the coun-
| Gil would resort to forgery to count out Re-
publicans. At that time. everybody supposed
that the Council meditated nothing worse
| than the taking advantage of technical defects.
1t had been rumored that there were many
| technical defects in returns from Republican
towns. Mr. Harrington went TO Augusta to
make thorough examination of the returns
from Oxford county. He was allowed to see
the returns for county officers and discovered
several defects in Fusion towns, among them
that the return from Hebron gave the name of
the Fusion candidate for Commissioner as
Henry c. Walker instead of Henry G. Walker.
He made note of this error sent it to the
oxford Democrat and called it to the atten-
ton of Tabulator John b. Foster. At that
time certainly Mr.. Harrington had no motive
TO state anything but the fact. He stated it
publicly too, so that if it had not been true,
MI. A.. s. Kimball or any one of the other
Fusionists who had the free run of the Coun-
Gil chamber could have contradicted it and
doubtless would have done SO if they could. No
contradiction was ever made however. But
when the Councils tabulations were examined
1t was found that Hebron was tabulated for
Henry 6. Walker. An inspection of the re-
turn was then made and it was found that the
Z had been changed to a G. The return must
have been changed sometime between the
date at which Mr.. Harrington saw it and the
time when the tabulatione were made Who
made that change? Certainly not Republic
cans? 1t is absurd to suppose they would
resort TO forgery to enable the Council to
count in Fusionist? Then who did make it?
But one answer can be given. The men who
had motive for having it changed were the
only men who could have changed it. These
men were the Governor and his Council or
men in their confidence. They changed the
G to G that the vote OF Hebron might not he
lost to the Fusionists. They committed
forgery to help along the oount-out which
they resolved upon the moment they learned
that the people had declared against their
party at the polls.
When the men on whom suspicion was cast
by this transaction were asked to explain it
some OF them ran away to Massachusetts, and
others staid at home and kept silent. Only one
OF them-Gov. Garcelon-took advantage of
the opportunity given them to clear their
skirts OF the crime of forgery. He appeared
before the Hale committee and when the re-
turn was shown him frankly confessed that the
return had been altered and that if Mr. Far
rington's testimony were true, the alteration
was gross violation of right. He cleared his
own skirts by swearing that he knew nothing
about it,