New-York tribune., 1882-09-26
lIR. FRENCHS EXPLANATION

MR. RoBrRrsON's WINS A. TO CAND'DATEs-
Mr.. FRENCH DETERMINED To FIND IHE FORGER.
If ssIBrE
Commissioner French appeared At Police Head
quarters at 1870 o'clock this morning and made
the following statement concerning hls relations
to he notorious Judge Robertson telrgram:
! The fact that the telegram purporlmg to
authorize me TO represent Collector Robert
! son III the Republican Central Committee at
| it. meeting IN Sfr1toga proved to be
| forgery and the discussion and criticism which
| tnat ldci has excited calls for public statement
| from ne. Tins statement !, the NOR necessary be-
cause | have been reported in the newspapers
| to have said various things upon the
| subject which have never sand.
! for a considerable period before he meeting Of
| the recent Convention. my friends and myscif were
/ assured by Judge Robertson that hr was
| earnestly IN favor OF the nomination Of
| Judge Folgcr for Governor, and that he was using
and would his best efforts To ute
| the elec ION OF delegates favorable TO ueh
nomination. These promises related more
| espe, iaily 10 the delegates from his own
! County OF W chester Alter the election OF the
! lai er ne conferred with various friend5 of Judge
FOiger, and pointed our which of the delegates he
regarded Ger ain to follow his wishes and sug
gcsted how other, could be- influenced. Among others
| to whom he disclosed wnat his views and wishes
were have night TO mention be
Acton, George Bils7 am Pierre {. Van
! Wyck 10 several Of these his dcclarat ions
were made is late as two days before
the convention On Tuesday at Saratoga
after canvds,lg The probable action Of
tine STATE Committee the conclusion
reached by the supporters OF Judge Folger
o. the committee the qDc,iIon Ol organization :;
but az several ol the members had not yed
10 sle'N i'I themselves IL wa dccluru thal nom
d.hnuaut caution. lt was prudent 10 make sure OF
the at tendance OF Judge Rob rtson, Who was still
absent.
>ool after ! o'clock on Tuesday afternoon,
there ore weu. to the Telegraph Office IN tine United
states Hotel, and wrote a dIspltcu which was sub
.taut.iiy IA the following words
The Hon WILLIAM Il. ROBERTSON, custom Hoase lec-
the utmost ,rnportance tnat YOU come here Oh
tlc $3.50 tram. Comm meets tO-ught. Answer
you WlIi come. g. gucdJ COMMISSIONER.
The operator not at hand, having left n notice
that DEE nad gone 10 dinner and would return at
l:3J. at the suggestion OF one OF the colored hall
boy, OF tAr hotel that such Was the practice, left
my dispatch on the operators desk. The Hon
Richard A. Liner. SecOnd-Assl-taut Postmaster
General. WAS ao the telegraph counter To send to
some other person dispatch at the same time
AMI he left bis telegram in the same manner
mine were placed underneath tins. with q p1prr
weight upon both. About If an nOur later
rtt.rued o the telegraph Office 10 arrangs for hay
Iag my IL ssase forwarded 70 Judge Robertson
# MS absence from the custom House. and
| smoke To the operator ab ut IT, lie as
tJnlsued by saying that he had received
no such dl-p tcu though hc had found
and sent that of Mr.. Elmcr. W. together made
AN examination Of the Wa-tc-plper basket. but
failed 10 ind the missing diSp 4fch Seeing
near. ana thinking thit hc hal n pcrr lar look. l.
nalf III jest, charged him with stealing my dispatch.
ilc OF course. denied T.. He r.meu-
pcrs this incident and he relaleI IL
III one of his let crs 10 The lines
A. soon found my dispatch had been sent
wrote another. b 1--we I'D the same words. Tins
dispaicn was sent, and judge Robertson admits
thtf nr received a. No answer came from Judge
Robertson that dag or evening. EIriy Wednesday
morning however before | was dressed and 81
IcN minutes bcior. fhc State Committee wa. TO
meet. there was brought to mr Boy colnrcI man.
whom supposed t0 bee naii-bo}, 300 MY room at
the Grand mon Hotel ihr dispatch which pur-
ported to be an answer Huuie iy dressing went
Immediately across tine street 10 hr state Committee
room Do tou-Ir-, Hal. ! arrived Just e., the coin-
mIttec was OBJ GaulZcd. and when Judge Robertson,
name was called uandcd thc dispatch to the ser-
rctarv. Mr. Nroomau. IN whose hand if SIM
remains. and voted upon il, surprising
my-c To have full authority.
il wa, after NJ Robertson had publicly denied
the g.uuiucue-s of ,h- telegram that frsf dis
covered Do was written ON what i- styled SEMI
lng blank as dI, ,.in4u-hed from q receiving
blank lhat marked diG Gcrcnces between these
forms ere apparent from comparison not open
to dispute. but II persons who ~ the frequent
receipt of teleramH and have frequent occasion 10
t,.f.f,lf them always notice these ,l lff.rcnc.s ,r
even cusfOmauiy notice Oh m, tnry far more OBJ
serving than myself. 70 doc, not seem To nave o.
Cured to the CTut,, VINO nave wondered how |
could have been deceived for moment bv
iricAery which seems to them 50 transparent that
he forged dIspa ch was promptly submitted by me
fo the n-pcc ion Oi the secretary of the state
Committee, by whom Its authenticity Wa.
the iact tnat. Lot beng like myself m favor OF
Judge Eolger domination and Mt having as had
l. assurances that judge Robertson was favorable
10 such nomination, hc might naturally have sub
i.cfrd 10 a close Scrutlny the telegram with which
/ was content on a casual observation. ! voted
upon the telegram as a matter OF course, although
~ vas not necessary for the success OF Judge
T. olper'- friends IL the committee. They had become
entirety 81 tI.tied that they had majority.
TL r,-ult proved thI, 90 be 30. For including the
80, ,,sye in judge Robertson, name. there were
rlghtern votes Tor Mr. Madden to fourteen for the
onnn.ng Cornell candidate. / acted in per
ffcr good faith, without a doubt or suspicion
tbat received genuine telegram from Judge Rob
ert.on | dld not scrutlnZe II carefully or question
y, n was natural that | should receive
am answer from him, and that with
the feelings and views which he had
e,,rressed should receive Just
snrI Avn answer. The statement would have been
snoner made were il not that ! remained
untl saturday al Saratoga, trying to
trace the perpeiIator OF tins fraud upon
fLe dlspatch | did find that someone
tried in VAN at the Grand Union Hotel, on the
afternoon OF tuesday, 10 procure Western Union
envrlopr TINS man was, however unknown 10 the
uer.on TO whom he applied. although they
think they would recognize HIM If they
couId see him again. lie has not, however
br,u discovered. / tyc directed thar the forged
dl.uaLch be phOtOg .aphcd, III hope lhat Hle hdnd-
wiring may be- traced. and shall con
tlnue INV efforts 10 discover the author
of the forgery. II seems clear to me
lefr ON fhr OPERATOR desk, committed, or was
nr,vv to the frauds. IL Is equally clear 10 me
That If judge Robertson had shown the courtesy
and manIucss % answer my telegram 10 hlhl, theIc
In now appears tnat ne was carrying
water on both shoulders, giving assuI ahces
of support both 10 tne friends
~ Tudre Foleer ant 10 Governor Cornell and
dared not disclose las position by AN answer TO
me- Respectfully yours = d. HhNCh'