Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1880-07-31
M'DONALD'S REVELATION.

tbo Htdaons Dsformities of Recreant
High-place ofhcials.
The following is copy of the preface to
the forthcoming book by Gen. Mcdonald
The book is entitled: "Secrets of the Whls-
XIV Ring. Containing complete exposure
of the illicit whisky frauds eliminating In
1871. and tLe connection of Grant, Babcock,
Douglas, Chester H. Krum, and other ad-
ministration officers established by positive
and unequiyocal documentary proofs, COM
urising confidential letters and kilograms
ersnatIng from the White House, directing
the management of the ring. To which
is added the missing links in the
chain of evidence of James A. Gar
fsld's implication with the District of Co.
lumbia ring and DeGolyer bribery. By Gen.
John Mcdonald, formerly supervisor of in
ternal revenue for the district comprising
Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, Kansas, Indian
Territory and New Mexico" In this book
Gen. Mcdonald does not spare himself, but
frankly acknowledges his instrumentsllty IN
the organization and conduct of the ring and,
approaching his position, he Is careful to
make only such statements as his letters and
kilograms with Grant, Babcock, etc., sub
stantiate. Nothing is taken for granted-all
is proven.
NEARLY FIVE YEARS HAVE ELAPSED.
since my conviction as a member of the
great whisky ring of 1875. or, more proper
II, of the ring the exposure of which occur
red during that year. Five years is but a
short willie to those whose current of life
flows with the melody of prosperity and con-
tentment, but to him whose memory is scar
ed by the basest ingratitude man ever show
ed to man; whose sacrifices for those in pow
or above him have ruined alife, in the debris
of which his eyes can never unbend their
fixed gaze at his own bitter humility, 1t Is
ages.
In this introduction to my thorough expo
surs of the whisky frauds eliminating in
1876 1t is my desire to qualify most unen-
viabls position, one which have no desire
to shrink from, however disappearing
those Heuth hounds, fresh from gluttonous
feast of public blood, those abusers of trust
who cry "thief'' loudest in order to defect
the saze of Justice from their own villainies,
seek to make it. / do not approach the bar
of public opinion at this day, la5ing
bare the hideous daformities of recreant
high place officials, for the purpose of vim
dioatiLg myself. Far from il. Denying or
affirming nothing as to my own guilt, the
law has spent its force upon me; have paid
the penalty, and further claims against me
no maa has; | am therefore entitled to
eorsidsrate hearing in what I have to say.
Thoroughly approaching how prone the
public will be to throw discredit upon my
statements, I have determined to omit much
that is unsupported by written or other cor
roborative evidence, ana confine myself to
charges which can prove by overwhelming
testimony. Every step, therefore, IS
cautiously made, and if there is q single libel
contained in this book I am amenable to the
law, tbs burden of which few men have felt
mora heavily. Each declaration is made as
if were under oath, and IN order that the
true story shall appear unabridged, have
dealt literally only with the facts in which
have been as equally unsparing of myself as
all of the others implicated with me.
During the rigid investigation of the
United States grand jury, when nearly every
man in the nation believed that many of the
highest officials in Washington were beneh-
Charles of the whisky fund, was asked a
Thousand times to disclose the secret [ was
believed to possess. Indeed [ was promised
immunity from punishment il I should be-
come an informer; bat those secrets were
not revealed, for reasons easily understood:
/ Was
AN APPoINTEE OF PRESIDENT GRANT,
and aB his friend and the recipient Of his ia
vors, certain obligations were created which
Twas not forgetful TO regard. Gen. Bah
cock vas the Presidents private secretary,
and there will be few to contradict me- when
say THAT he was, in 3 great measure, the
Presidents chief adviser, especially in cases
where his private matters were concerned.
regarded Babcock' instructions as those
emanating from the highest authority, and
however my obedience to these orders may
be considered, they were the excuse for my
actions. Having become identified with the
PURPOSES OF my superiors, and sharing
their benefits and Entrusted with
their confidence, when disclosures
were made and the hour of sacri-
fee was at hand could not assume The
character Of base migrate to escape pun
ishment which, missing me, would involve
the entire nation In the deepest disgrace. II
we're convicted l knew that the tenure of
my punishment would be limited TO the dis
position of those in whose hands the par
their promise of an immediate pardon,
put on the sackcloth of disgrace, and from
the high position I had SO many years
maintained I descended to the most humili-
atlng, stigmatizing Depths felon's cell.
For seventeen months | wore the garb of
infar1y, that leprous, foul, polluted character
which gnaws at sensitive nature 'Flike worm
in the bud" 1 not only suffered this re-
straint of liberty, with its unending night
mare of moral death, but lived on to see the
honest accumulation of many years of pa
tient labor wasted because / could not pro-
teet it, and from an ample fortune upon my
entrance into political life 1 was reduced to
penury when released. Those in power for
got me- and their promises; they feared to
issue me an immediate pardon because of the
pressure of public opinion, which might be-
come intensified against them at such bold
interference to defeat the sentence of the
court, and I was therefore permitted to Ian
guish until my forbearance would endure
no more; then I demanded my pardon, IN
der threats of exposure if it were not imms-
diately granted, and was released at once.
To those who will cavil at my course the
question will be suggested: "Why are these
disclosures made now, when the time for
their effective use in the courts has passed."
Grants denomination would have afforded a
more plausible pretext for the publication OF
these Northumberland from strictly