Weekly graphic. [volume] (Kirksville, Adair Co., Missouri) 1880-1949, 1880-11-27
Hunt Down the Rascals.

"Chinese Morey" letter, which just
before the election appeared in the
Truth, Of this city, and was by the
publishers of that paper imputed to
General Garfield. The Truth claimed
to have the original, in the hand
writing of General Garfield, and pub
lished fac .simile of the same. Mr..
Barnum. the chairman Of the National
Democratic Committee without inquiry
into its genuincness, caused the letter
to be autographed by the hundreds and
scatterd all over the country; and that,
too, latter General Garfield had declared
tito be gross forgery. The demo-
cratic papers. with few honorable
exceptions, made the letter the subject
of flaming comments, For some ten
days before the election this letter
constituted nearly the whole of the
Democratic argument. The land was
made to ring with it, especially in the
Pacific States; and even as respectable
a Democrat as Mr.. Hewitt of this city,
who was at the time candidate for
Congress, publicly spoke of the letter
as genuine, Notwithstanding the ex-
plicit denial Of General Garfield. Nc
one failed to see that the purpose OF
this hue and cry among Democrats was
to make low and contemplate appeal
to the igorance and prejudice Of
workingmen, and, if possible, turn the
tide that was sweeping the Republican
ticket on to victory.
The preliminary examination of Mr..
Philip before Judge Davis, on charge of
malicious SANDER, had not proceeded
far when it became evident that this let
ter was an unblushing forgery. The
prosecution showed that Henry l.. Mo-
rey was mere myth and that there
had been no such organization as "The
Employers Union. Experts, upon
comparing the h. ndwriting of the let
ter with that of Gen. Garfield pronoun-
ced 1t forgery, as any candid man
would do at sight. The facts proved in
regard to the envelope established the
forgery beyond any question. Gen.
Garfield's denial was therefore fully
confirmed by the affirmative evidence
introduced against Philip: and the
Truth and the National Democratic
Committee were put in the uncomforta
bic predicament of having endorsed
ard circulated broadcast an infamous
forgery. So the matter stood when we
made it the subject ola brief comment.
Tie ccapa ;,os c,,ca ,,-cp,-arE,I,,.
changed for the worse. 1t now APP
pears that the two witnesses introduce
ed for the defense in the Philip exami-
nation before Judge Davis, who were
the only Witnesses whose testimony
had the slightest tendency to establish
the genuineness of the so-called Morey
letter, had been bri ed to come
to this city tor the express pur-
pose of swearing falsely. ard by their
own deliberate perjury. giving, if pos
sible, seeming credibility to what was
known to be forgery. These wiz
nesses, after having perjured them
selves, and after their arrest on the
charge Of perjury. made a private con-
fession before Justice Morgan, 4 part
Of which has been given to the public.
that establishes not only the fact Of
their own guilt, but the further fact that
they had been coached and bribed to
commit this perjury. The Truth took
one of them in charge and supplied
him with money; and the National
Democratic Committee had the other
in its special keeping, drawing its
check for the hundred and fifty dollars
10 pay him for the expense and trouble
of coming from Massachusetts to this
city. Finding themselves in trap
which they did not anticipate these
miserable creatures have not only con-
fessed their crime, but explained how
they came to commit 1t.
Nothing is more evident.,han that
this S. S. Morey, and this James
O'Brien did not, at their own prompt
ing, or at their own expense, come to
this city as volunteer witnesses to tes-
tify in the Philip case; and take upon
themselves the hazard of deliberate
perjury. No man believes this. The
matter which now interests the public
mind and which ought to be sifted in
to its minutest ramifcation far less
concerns these insignificant persons
than it does other parties who have
ma de themselves accessory to their
crime. So far as there is any law to
punish them, let every man suffer the
penalty; and if the law cannot reach
them, then let them live and die IN the
pillory of universal contempt. The
moral sense of every right thinking
man clamors for stern justice, strike
where or whom it will.
who forged the letter of which the
Truth published a fac simile! Where
and of whom did the Truth get that
letter. How came the publisher of the
Truth to hare O'Brien in charge, and
what had he to do with bringing that
man to this city to swear falsely! Why
did he furnish him with money! Who
were actors in this desperate plot of
villainy? Who have been guilty OF
subornat;on of perjury! Who were
cognizant of the plan and who aided I
and abetted its execution!What con-
nection has Mr.. Barnum with this lni-
guilty! These and the like questions
are just now burning in the public
mind They demand answer; the ras-
cality of the Morey letter no one ;
doubts; and the point or public inter-
est now is to find all the rascals who
nave any responsibility for this letter