Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-11-28
MAC VEAGH TO ARTHUR.
THE GREAT STAR ROUTE CON-
SPTRACY


rounding the star route trials, and upon
which the removals of Saturday were
based, correspondent of
Philadelphia newspaper called attention
to the fact that letter from ex-AttOrney
General MacVeagh upon the same subject
had been written but never published.
There has been considerable de-
mand for this letter, and tonight it is
given to the public through the interven-
tlOn OF the Philadelphia Times, which will
publish 1t tomorrow. 1t is very interest
lhg at THIS particular time, but very long,
ana only extracts from it can be given.
Ii Is dated November Sth 1881, and is adj
dressed to President Arthur. After re-
ierrlng to conversations which had gone
before, Mr.. MacNeagh proceeds
''As l have already told you | knew COM
paratively nothing about the star route
frauds till President Garfield called my
attention to them. He spoke very earn
estly OF his duty to have them thoroughly
investigated, to remove all persons who
ought to have prevented them, and all
these persons should be proceeded against
If reasonable grounds for such course
were developed by the investigation.
He said he had expressed to the
Postmaster General the same views
and also explained why he wished him to
consult me rather than the District Attor-
ney of the District of Columbia. The Post
master General called on me and we went
together to the President. He was quite
as emphatic as before in the expression of
his own opinion on the subject. He spoke
of the frauds as unparalleled villainies, as
a iOathsOme ulcer on the body polite
needing to be cut out with all its
roots, no matter where they extended.
He stated that while it did not belong to
my department, certainly not at all at
that stage of the matter, yet he wished to
associate me with the Postmaster General
to the extent of having the latter feel at
perfect liberty to consult me at any time
about it. He said he intended to
remove General Brady as soon
as the Postmaster General could find a
satisfactory successor. At a subsequent
interview he regretted the delay in that
matter and urged his immediate removal,
as he held him principally responsible for
the great frauds which he evidently was
convinced had been committed"
After referring to the storm Of abuse
which followed Brady's removal from the
newspapers controlled by him, and giving
the principal credit for the work of ferret
ing out the villainies to Inspector Wood
ward and \. VI. Gibson, Mr.. MacVeagh
says: Il also insisted from the first,
and upon all proper occasions,
that there was no possible
yindication for anybody accused except
an open trial before court and jury or
frank abandonment of the cases by the
government, if the evidence did not. in
the opinion Of the President. Justify
prosecution. That was my whole con-
nectiOn with the cases up to the wounding
of President Garfield, except that the day
before he was shot he repeated to me his
efforts TO have Mr.. Riddle appointed Dis
trict Attorney of the District by President
Hayes, and directed me to see Mr.. Riddle
and offer him the place in his name, and,
if he accepted it, to advise him by tele-
graph and he would reply, asking me
to request Colonel COrkhilrs resigna-
tiOn. l wrote to Mr.. Riddle
asking to see him, but he did not see me
till the night Of the day President Garfield
was wounded, and when we were expect
ing him to die very shortly. | then told
Mr.. Riddle in an upper room of the White
House what had occurred
After explaining that he anticipated
President Garfield's death, and that con-
sequently his connection with the Cabi-
net and star route cases would cease, he
states that MesSrs. Brewster and Bliss
were selected as special counsel for the
government because for personal and po-
litical reasons these gentlemen could not
fail to be agreeable to President Arthur
after Mr.. MacVeagh ceased to be Il men,
Der Of the Cabinet.
Mr.. MacNeagh explains why he consid-
cred it to be desirable on public grounds
alone that he should leave the Cabinet.
He says: IF the star route cases are tried
they must be principally tried in the Dis
trict Of Columbia, and the jurors must be
selected from its residents now in
that district. [ am assured that
twice each week day and once each Sun
4.
lated among the people from whom jurors
are to be selected, filed with abuse of
everybody cOnnected-during President
Garfield's lifetime-With these investi-
cations; that it is said to have
gone ON constantly as to President
Garfield up to the day he
was shot. and as to all the rest of us ever
since, and the influence of such steady
OutpOur upon the community of jurors is
sure to be very great. 1t is very true that
the New York Times in this case, as in
the Tweed case, has printed many of the
records. and with the aid of the press
generally has doubtless carried convic-
tiOn to the general public; but among the
public of the District of Columbia the
papers controlled by Brady and edited by
GOrham and others, circulate, | have no
doubt. greatly in excess of the newspapers
published elsewhere, Now, while these
newspapers have been abusing me they
have been as steadily praising you, and
to such an extent that they are sometimes
fOOlishly mistaken for and called your
organs. Then, too, you will have observed
that both before and since | left Washing
ton all kinds OF falsehOOds concerning
our relations have been published pur-
porting to be semi-0tficial and, if not in
spired. at least not discouraged OF course,
| know how absolutely untrue this is, but
it serves the purpose of leading the people
of this district to suppose that you are
very hostile to me, and it is useless to
close our eyes to the fact that Mr.. Cor
hams relations with some Of your most
influential friends gives these pretensiOns
a very considerable weight with unrefect-
ing people. | do not mention these tactics
of the accused parties to make any COM
plant of them. Quite likely they were to
be expected in such circumstances as have
surrounded these cases. Indeed, | fore
saw, to some extent, that such methods
would be employed and successfully, and
| have, therefore, always believed, but
never so firmly as to-day, that my
dent Garfield died. or assuming
i'm any shape, would be construed in the
District itself as notice that you were not
in sympathy with the prosecutions, and
that YOU intended that President Gartield's
and not yours should be
responsible for the further conduct of
them.
III had needed any additional evidence
that ] was right in this conclusion, l
would have found it in the frantic de-
mands of the accused parties themselves
that should continue response
bic. and their loud prOphe-
sizes that you would not accept
nv resignation, unless l agreed to such
They know as well as you
and | know that the gentlemen now in
charge of the cases are all that can be
either usefully or benefcially employed in
them. and that they will do all which can
be done to bring them to a successful
But they desire to point to
nv supervision of them as proof that they
are controlled by influences to which you
are hostile. In the District of Columbia
that consideration would certainly be
verv powerful and might be fatal. L have
written you long letter, but it
is because / recognize the gravity
Of the subject, and because ! wish you TO
look into my mind upon it as through an
open window. In this matter as in all
others. however much | desire to Oblige
YOU. / must stand upon my own
of duty, and / cannot, there
fore. do as you wish (remain in
Cabinet), because | believe 1t would be
wrone. If however. there is any other
way open in which ! can serve you, VIII
gladly do il. If YOU wish TO satisfy your
self of the utter and shameless lnlqulty
If these transactions by per-
Dl,,o1 u Examination of the record,
I vii obeerfullv come to Washington and
'. - T1rss.,,.as4or Ganeral i'm LAYING |