The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1882-08-24
DORSEY TO GARFIELD.
The Ex-senator Publishes a Letter
in Which He Denounced Bliss,
James and MacVeagh.

in Which He Denounced Bliss.
James and MacVeagh.
The Washington Sunday Gazette,
III an article attacking the prosecu-
ton i'll the pending star-route cases,
and more particularly eX-Attornev-
| General MacVeagh and ex-Postmas-
ter-General James, publishes letter
over the signature of S. w. Dorsey
to President Garfield, in which it
processes to find the animus of the
star-route prosecution. The editor
of the Gazette, Richard j. Hinton.
was in charge of the compilation of
documents for distribution through
the Republican national campaign
committee of 1880 under the super
vision of ex-senator Dorsey. In his
article he says he has in his posses
sion large number of letters from
various sources. one of which he
selects for publication. The follow
ing is the letter:
241 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW York,
February z.
"MY DEAR GENERAL Colonel
George Bliss called ON me recently
and introduced a Mr.. Knox, who
said he was a classmate of yours at
Williams college, and further stated
that he was about leaving for Men,
tor to visit you at your request to
discuss the question of the proper
person to place in your cabinet from
New York. 1t cannot be possible
that you would call upon Colonel
Bliss, much less upon Mr.. Knox, for
advice respecting SO important a
matter to you and to the people of
this country. Both of these gentle
men may be honest and respectable.
So far as L know they are. But
Messrs. Bliss and Knox do not rep
resent the people, or the leaders of
the people of New York, no more
than represent the Kim g of Siam.
All such advice as this is pretentious
idiocy, and if you are occupying your
time i'll listening to men like these |
wish to express in the most emphat-
ic way that you and your admins
tration will prove a lamentable fail
ure. You should take the bits in
your teeth and decide for yourself
who you want III your cabinet.
What do you want the advice of
men for, every one of whom has an
axe to grind or a scheme TO push ?
If you want advice in New York
why don't you send for Conkling or
Arthur, the two who elected you,
with the aid of Grant? Why don't
you consult with somebody who has
a status, n name and a following in
New York? Now | tell you, and |
tell you without a grain of selfish
ness, that you cannot afford to have
any friction arise between yourself
and Mr.. COnkling and General Ar
thur. Whenever you determine to
assall these men you drive the last
nail in your political coffin. You
can't ignore them to make peace
with Mr.. Curtis, Wayne MacVeigh,
and others of that class. You can't
disband an army TO get recruits. We
now have great, well-OrgauiZed,
active and aggressive army. If you
want to muster out that army in or
der TO pick up the snakes, bummers
and deserters in the rear. go ahead,
and predict you will land in sur
rendered camp. | am tired of this
blathering talk about MacVeigh to
90 into the cabinet from Pennsylva-
MIA, and James from New York.
Such detestable rot should be smOk-
ed out at once, and you ought to do
it i'll some public way. AS
have repeatedly urged upon
you, there is but one
appointment you ought to make from
New York, and that is Chief Judge
Folger TO be secretary of the treas
ury. You don't need any Bliss or
Knox TO ascertain or to prove his
character, capacity and standing i'll
New York. Running for chief judge
on the same ticket with you, he re-
ceived more than double the majori-
ty you did. Now, take my advice
about this, and | ask you to do that
because you know have no earthly
interest except to see a successful
and honorable administration. and
my advice is this: When you get
ready to select a citizen of New
York for your cabinet, send for Sem
ator Conkling, General Arthur, Coy
ernor Cornell, j. ID. Warren, of Buff
falo, Ex-Governor Morgan, Thomas
G. Platt, ard men of that class, and
get their best judgment. Bliss and
Knox what nonsense 4! l beg of you
not to permit Mr.. Knox to run
around the state inquiring about
men fittest for the cabinet, and pre-
tending 10 represent you. By acts
of this kind you injure yourself and
cast an objectionable reflection npon
the men who can and ought to be
the best judges, and who represent
the Republicans of this state.
don't wish to be put in position
of being obliged to lecture the presi-
dent-elect; and especially in regard
to the formation of his cabinet. You
have repeatedly urged me to tell
you Whenever L should think you
are about to make a mistake, and L
have not and shall not mince words
in pointing out your errors. You
drop all of this stuff about Conk-
ling. He don't want to fight you or
any one else. He is not prancing
around with a chip on his shoulder,
challenging all mankind to battle.
All Mr.. Conkling wants and all that
aud an honest deal. These two men,
with their friends, represent the in
teliigence, the progressive and the
aggressive elements of New York
Republicanism. They possess that
wisdom, force and courage that the
people of this country and all coun-
tries always admire. You know my
interest and purposes are solely to
see a successful cons ummation OF
our great work. l have presented
TO you some frozen facts and L sin
cerely hope you will give them your
candid and careful attention.
Your friend,
l.. w. DORSEY.
To General James A. Garfield.