New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-02-11
MR.. HAYTS DEFENCE.
MIC prp,v To THE INDIAN BOARD.


THE ARIZONA MISE-AN ASSAULT UPON GENERAL
FISK.
ia the Fdtfor Of The Trtbune
SIR: The report Of the Committee OF the Board
If Indian Commissioners as finally adopted is NOT so
offensive in terms rs the report originally presented
bv the same committee. As, however, the commit
tee has ignored the evidence taken and has trav-
eled outside the record aud thereby drawn conclu-
sons nor warranted By the facts of the case, de-
sire to lay before the public the antdote TO the
poison contained in said report;
l. There ua; no unnecessary delay in the Prosec1to"
oS Hart. This fact sufficiently appears from the
evidence of the chief clerk OF the Bureau the Sec
retarv Of the Interior and myself There were two
distinct and separate cases against Agent hart
The one first received by the Office involved Hart
with eight or fen Others in an alleged conspiracy
to defraud the Government. The second case re-
ceived was forwarded TO the Indian Office by In
snector Hammond on his second visit to Arizona
whittier he went by the order of the Secretary OF
the Interior sent on the 9th of June last, while l
was absent from Washington on Government BUSH
ness.
The second case was much SIMPLER in character
than the first and was received by the
Office about the oath of July. 1t consisted OF an
alleged conspiracy to defTaud the Government IN
the receiving and weighing of beef cattle by Agent
Hart his clerk Massey and the partner OF the Deel
contractor The offence consisted In Harris calling
ont six head of cattle when there were eight head on
the scales. thereby increasing the average weight
about 33l3 per cent, and after gong through the
form of weighing them in that manner Hart turned
the cattle he received back into the hands OF the
contractor to enable the latter to get into his pos
session the cattle weighed but not counted by Hart
BY this method in a weekly delivery of 125 head OF
cattle the Government was probably deirauded ou'
of "a 600 pounds. The three respectable WITNESSES
TO this fraud were non-rosdents in Arizona
and the Office desired to have the bene-
fit of their testimony and therefore prepared
the case Immediately and forwarded II
ON the 3Oth of July through the Interior Depart
ment. to the Department of Justice This case beng
conplete. and in no way connected with the hrSt
case received, and. in the judgment of competent
LAWYERS IN the Department was one on which
conviction could be easily obtained. There was
therefore no delay necessary, all the evidence re-
aulred in the case was possession OF the Ohce'
ana was duly forwarded.
In the first case received there a larger num-
Der of persons involved IN alleged conspiracy
with Hart, and specific information was
needed on several points, and the requisite niorma-
ton was not received until Dccember4, 1879 when
directed the case tobe made up and forwarded TO the
Department Of Justice. Owing. however, to the
pressure of business in the Office and the large calls
for information 10y Congress- every copyist was en-
Gagged in copying Congressional matter, and as a
consequence the case was not completed until Jlnu-
ary ?. 1850. when it was forwarded through the
usual channel to the Department Of Justice. Such
is briefly the history of the shown
by the evidence taken and there was not
n particle of evidence produced to the CON
trary Therefore, the conclusion arrived ut
by the committee was not warranted by
the testimony. The penalty in both cases being the
same how can the committee truthfully say that
there was any leuicncy shown TO Hart
Second-The next point in the controversy was rs
to any interest l might have In the purchase OF a
mine Here again the committee go outside OF
the sworn evidence in the case, and suspect that /
might have had an interest. Every witness who
could know anything about the matter testified
positively that | had no interest whatever in tho
said mne or its purchase. There wero four wit
ncsses on this point. all testifylng In my
favor and nobody against me. Therefore, had the
committee proposed to try the case on the evidence
there could have been no possibility OF finding any
other verdict than verdict of acquittal In order,
however. not TODD it, the committee did resort tothe
most extraordinary proceedings ever heard of, and
by a disreputablo device did inject something into
the case that did not belong to 1t. The testimony
from the beginning had been taken down by a
stenographer IN the presence OF my counsel Messrs.
Shellaburger Wilson and myself On Thursday.
January 90 in the afternoon, without notice TO my
counsel or myself. the committee held
priyate interview with a witness who had
already testified and result of that interview
the pages in the testimony numbering between p
and 80 were extracted from the direct evidence and
DESTROYED, while two pages were inserted contra
dieting the evidence already given, and now matter
was injected without permitting the possibility of
a cross-examnation. This proceeding on the part
of two members of the committee was hgh-handed
and INSCRIPTIONS and much worse IN character than
any of the allegations against me.
General Fisk made his first attack me through
The TRIBUNE OF December %. 1879. and at the
meeting Of the Board the sth Of January he read
diffnse allegations, which he caused to be published
in THE TRIBUNE two days alterward. and from
that time onward he caused 10 be published gaIblcd
statements. largely fictitious concerning the pro-
ceedings Of the committee, and thereby endeayOred
70 manufacture public sentiment against me- and
threatened through the newspapers any members OF
the Board who should favor my acquttal.
His course in this matter has been highly
dishonorable IRON the beginning lie has
caused his coarse jokes to be pub
presence General Fisk was the only witness cX-
amined for the prosecution. and was unable TO get
him to be examined until the 2lst Of January, a
month, lacking day. after the date of his Inst
charge i'm THE TRIBUNE Ho then swOre that he
did not know Of his own knowledge anything to
connect me with the purchase of the mne' In fact
he knew absolutely nothing in support of the
charges he had made. He said he expected some aii-
davis from Arizona which he would file but me
never filed them. Fisk's testimony was the entire
case for the prosecution, and was taken down i'm
fifteen or twenty minutes; while the evidence pre-
sented by NE was "a complete reiutatOn of his orIgi-
ID IhaT 1 nd eof ,fu.I, o
wrong 10 chcapen n mine"
Ifany one will carefully read the majority report
of the Board of Indian Commissioners, it will bo
found that there is pTetence of any actual proof
of any interest on my part in the purchase OF tile
mine-either present remote, direct indirect,
or in any other way also II VIII be seen that there
fofa delay on,