Daily Kennebec journal., 1880-03-23

With resoIuse purpose 20 the Supreme Court.
10 whose utterances we stood ready to bow,
whether thes we're for or against as.
Nov saw, sir, in judging Of the act Of
anv man. or any party Of men, you must look
TO the motive. and II there Is NO motive no
man has right, without the strongest evil
depce, 70 impufe any wrong act to him The
gentlemen who have spoken upon this know
as we'll - any one that there must be mo
i've. and in the absence Of it, and the abb
sence Of direct testimony, no wrong act shaiI
be attributed to man or 70 . party. we
had motives to do other things We had the
strongest motives to proceed carefully. to use
he best Judgment 70 obtain the opinions OF
rhe court, and to proceed 90 cautiously mat
our acts would bear the inspection OF the
public and the inspection Of all time, ana
wifh determined purpose We stood forth
ready to pursue pathway on when We
might gaze a. we looked back, and have
..n,e Of approval and the approval Of Him
sho watches over nations - well a. men
declare 10 you, sir. that never felt. and
10 not believe the republicans Of this
House felt the least particle Of
motive in their own hearts to accomplish
the work which has been done by the means
laid TO their charge. On the other hand. sir,
I think that the Fusionists did have motive
and very strong one, to do that act, ''or put
up job" as they term IL, strong motive
70 do that or some desperate act. And what
were those motives? They were TO divert
public attention from themselves. And they
knew and they know to-day thar while they
stood here assembled and ready to gather in
this House to organize it, the attention OF the
people of this State was concentrated upon
them. The dark deed in yonder Council
Chamber had come to the light, and the gen.
,leman from Wiscasset has had the manii-
ness to say that he believed the Republicans
we're sincere in their belief that conspiracy
had been entered into to steal this govern
ment I say that not only were we sincere.
but declare that we knew then just as con-
clusiyely as we know to-day that there had
been conspiracy. the darkest that ever dark
ened these northern climes, TO overturn this
government and to set us upon course Of
revolution which would end in anarchy.
There was an instinct in the hearts Of men.
women and children at that time when 81
men were counted out that assured them that
there was something wrong there. They
knew it ~ veil rs they know it to-day. after
all the evidence has been opened and brought
TO light as We heard last evening. And
while we knew it they began to be conscious
that We knew il, and that the attention of the
public was fxed upon the Ex-Governor and
his Council and upon those whom he had
certifcated. and upon those who were associ
ated with him. The burning Indignation
which had been awakened all over this State
hogan to strike upon their heads, and they
frl, its force, and they wished to turn public
attention somewhere else. And what more
natural when the blows were falling upon
their heads, when the public mind was con-
dcmning such conspiracy and the fraud
which they proposed to carry out against the
legislature, than to turn the attention. as
they attempted to do, TO an outside cOnspir-
acy of minor magnitude compared with this.
To show that there were others who were
wicked as well as they! 1t was the most
natural thing, and the motive influencing
them was very strong. There was
their motive. The conspiracy that
had been hatched in the Council Cham
her was in peril. They started out
feeling that the plot was going to be success
ful. If 1 may use figure Of speech, they
had built and launched a little craft on which
the Council and some invited friends had en-
barked. All the fusionists having certificate.
were also on board; and they had sailed out.
thinking it was the .'Ship Of State" instead
# u little pratical craft. Applause. Well,
what was the result? The storm of indigna-
tion began to beat upon them. The waves
rolled high. and that little craft was in great
peril. And they saw three wise men on vi hom
they had counted and whom they expected to
help man that little craft, refuse to get on
board They saw that there were others on
board who were trembling, feeling sure that
they were going to be wrecked, and were
about to jump overheard and swim to the
shore. And it has been a wonder and it is n
wonder to-day that, as many as there were
there. some hadn't fed from the sinking ship
before that time. The only wonder is that
they hadn't broken loose from it. The lead
ers feared it. They feared. and they must do
something to hold every man on board. And
how could they do it so well as to get up this
job, so il any man left their number he would
at once be accused of having received n
dollars! The charge would be
fixed upon any man who attempted to leave
them in the lurch. They would declare that
he was bribed, and no man of them would
dare tn leave it.. Now they had motive to
hold that body together. They had motive
to get up an outside conspiracy. They
saw that the great conspiracy was coming to
naught and it was necessary for them to enter
into another conspiracy to save the original
one And they found that both failed at last
1t is fair statement of the exact position Of
affairs at that time, that republicans had
no motive to enter irto such q scheme as that.
while the fusionists had q motive. There il
another point to which will allude, and on
" one, and that is the testimony which has
been given. We have been told it was three
against one. do mt take it so. lay it
down as principle that we have no reliable
trustworthy evidence to prove the charge of
bribery. The evidence that has been re-
ceived has come. As we have been told. from
three men. That is all the positive evidence
there is. The circumstantial, or incidental.
or indirect testimony. does not support
their statements any more than it does the
statements of the other side. l make the
assertion. and I stand by it. and believe
it to be correct, that there is no reliable
trustworthy testimony. such as good, moral
upright men are bound to receive, to prove
the charge. And will state why.
In the first place when these three gentle
men appear to testify they announce to you
and to every man that they are unworthy to
be believed. They state that they attempt
ed to make man believe what was not true
Isn't it the natural conclusion that they are
attempting to make US believe what was
not true? say when men enter upon a
transaction, a conspiracy ~ dark as that
which ,hev themselves, according to their
representations, make il to be, they cannot
appear before the people Of the State of
Maine and ask any man. woman or child to