The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1880-11-18
The Morey Letter.


The extremity in which the democratic
managers now find themselves would be pitis-
bic were it not for the fact that they have for
feted even that claim to compassion which is
commonly extended to the lowest criminal
They conducted their whole campaign in an
unpardonably disreputable manner, and the
closing scene as embraced in the famous, or
rather infamous, Morey letter, was a fitting
climax.
At the very inception of the canvass they
asked the support of fifty millions of sensible
people, giving as the reason for that support
lot of vile charges against the personal Char
acter of the republican nominee for President.
For months the entire available stock in trade
of democratic speakers was abuse and yilifica-
ton of Gen'l Garfield. The issues involved in
the contest were never alluded to. They
dared not refer to the past record Of their
party, and had sense enough to know that
promises for the future would hardly avail
them, for democratic promises never we've at
a premium in the market of intelligence.
Beggared and bankrupt for legitimate argu-
ment, they resurrrected all of the exploded
ISLANDERS against the republican representative,
and supplementing these by blind appeal to
passion and the prejudice of race, came before
the country as great national party.
For awhile the people seemed to listen with
something like interest to these abuses, but
when the moment came for decisive action,
they crushed them to the earth with an en-
phasis that startled the nation. On the morn
ing of the 18th day of October, the democratic
party woke up to find its breast-works of dirt
almost annihilated. The republicans in In
diana and Ohio had addressed themselves, in
the conduct of the canvass to the reason and
the judgment of the voter-had presented the
issues of the day from an elevated national
plane, to which their opponents were unable
to attain. They pushed the tariff question up
on the attention of the manufacturer, the
farmer and the workingman, and holding up
the splendid record of the party whose banner
they upheld, swept on to one of the most
magnificent of political victories.
Stunned at their unexpected and over
whelming defeat, the democratic managers
stood aghast for the nonce. Even despera-
ton, for the time, could suggest no new source
of recruit AT first they tried to explain away
that plank in their platform which declared in
favor of tariff for revenue only" but the
effort only resulted in bringing upon them the
ridicule OF thinking people Then it was that
they endeavored to weaken the republican
position on the tariff by undermining, and re-
sorted to the last extremity of infamy by forg
ing Genl Garfields name to a letter, in which
the subject Of Chinese cheap labor was favora-
bly, alluded to. Among the workingmen, and
especially upon the Pacific slope, nothing is so
obnoxious as the idea of introducing Chinese
labor, and the democratic managers, knowing
that their passions would be infamed at the
bare suggestion, sent broadcast this letter just
on the eve of the election Before Gen'l Gar
fields unqualified denial could be as widely
distributed as the forgery which drew it forth,
the poison of the lie had done its work, and
California, Nevada and New Jersey were
thereby taken from the republican column.
But for that last effort of despair and degrade
| ton solid South would have been confronted
| by solid Mort L.
The history of the Morey letter is briefly as
follows:
| On the 18th of October, Mr.. Hart, the pub
Usher of not very reputable paper in New
York called Truth, claimed to have received
in an envelope mailed IN New York, the IA
nous letter, accompanied in.the same envelope
bya letter dated in New York purporting to
be signed by mythical person, called J. A.
Goodall, of Lynn, Mass who stated in sub
stance that the Morey letter which he en-
closed, he, as administrator of Morey's estate,
had found among his effects. Mr.. Hart claims
that before publishing the letter, he submitted
it to Messrs. Hewitt, Randall Barnum and
other members of the National Democratic
Committee, and that they, notwithstanding
the suspicious circumstances under which it
had been received, pronounced it genuine.
| MIR. Hewitt denies that he ever saw the letter
before it appeared in Truth. On the Goth of
Oct. fac-simile of the letter was published by
/ Mr.. Hart, and hundreds of thousands of the
papers were sent out by the National Commit
tee. The same evening democratic meeting
was held at Chickering Hall, New York, and
Mr.. Hewitt made speech in which he affirmed
that he knew that the signature to the letter
was written by Garfeld's own hand AS soon
as the letter was brought to the attention of
Gen'l Garfield he promptly branded it as an
Infamous forgery. The postmaster at Wash
ington also made the statement that the Wash
ington stamp appearing on the envelope of
the forged letter was not employed in that
office until a considerable time after the letter
was dated and alleged to have been sent, and
all search failed TO discover any trace of II. L.
Morey, the person to whom the letter was
SAID to have been addressed. Notwithstand-
ing. however, the denials and proofs of fraud,
the Democratic Committee redoubled their
efforts to circulate the lie, and so well sue
! ceeded, that as stated above, California Ne
vada and New Jersey, were carried for their
ticket.
In the meantime, however, Mr.. Philip, one
of the editors of the Truth had been arrested
and brought up for trial, on the charge of
criminal libel and forgery. Having forged
the letter to one H. L. Morey 1t was found
necessary to prove the existence of the person
to whom the letter was addressed. or falling in
this, to invent such person. Pushed to the
wall, the desperate conspirators in the Demo
cratic National Committee, and the coadiutors
in the office of the newspaper which first pub
lished the letter. boldly decided to produce
false witnesses who would swear that they had
known H. L. Morey, for whom detectives and
lawyers had vainly sought. Two men willing
to perjure themselves were found.
The case of the first of these, S. S. Morey, as
he represented it in his confession, is pitiable
one. He was taken to New York from Law
renee, Mass, and testified that the H. L.
Morey to whom the forged letter was adj
dressed was his uncle, that he was a real per-
son, and that he knew him to be the man to
whom the so-called Chnse letter was written.
This man subsequently confessed that he never
knew any such man as II. L. Morey, and that