Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1882-09-13
FOREMAN DICKSON,
or the Star.Route Jury, Further Tn.
bOsOms Himself as to the Alleged
Attempts

or the Star-Route Jury, Further Tn.
bOsOms Himself as to the Alleged
Attempts
or the Department of Justice at Bribery
A Matter that Should be Fully
Investigated.
WASHINGTON, September 12-Dickson's
attention having been called to the published |
interview with Merrick, in which he made /
remarks rejecting upon his integrity, Dick |
son replied:
DECISIONS STORY.
"Well, it may suit Merrick to fret and |
fume, and cay unkind and unjust things |
about men who were sworn to perform their |
duty, and who performed that trust in |
fearless and conscientious manner, according |
to their honest convictions Of law and the |
evidence; but if be will turn his attention to |
the Department OF Justice, of which he is now |
an officer, and purify the atmosphere OF that |
institution, and in exposing the attempted |
bribery charges and corrupt practices of his |
subordinates, be will do the government |
good service. No one has higher appre- |
citation Of Merrick than l have, and have
ever priced his friendship, and doubt ii he |
ia aware of the damnable transactions
which have occurred since the commence
ment OF the Staf-route cases.
SYSTEM OF ESPIONAGE
was employed in the Department of Justice,
and in that employ were number OF dis
reputable persoDs, Prominent among them
a man under indictment for robbery, and a
,olf ms rticinant in three-car
cases. lately punished in our court by the
conviction of the men against whom this
party turned States evidence. The jurors
were followed, and decoys OF various kinds
adopted to er,-nare them into the commission
of the wrong act. Efforts were frequently
m ade to draw them into conversation upon
the merits of the case. l have received a
number of anonymous letters, and marked
papers were daily sent TO me, all containing
matter intended
TO INFLUENCE THE MIND.
When the regular panel was exhausted
extra talismen were summoned, and two
gentlemen. Messrs. Murray and Tobriner,
were selected TO complete the jury. At once
these men were denounced, their characters
assailed, and it was openly charged and
published th at they were the paid agents OF
the defendants. / dem landed of one gentle
man, Mr.. Murray, full explanation, and
| on learning the facts of how he came TO be
drawn DIV the mdTSndl dS a ldllsudu, lSlt
satisfied that he was innocent of the SANDER
GUS charge, and insisted that ] Judge Wylie's
| attention should be called TO the matter, and
| did 30. You will remember that the judge
| severely criticised the course pursued by the
newspapers, and
| DEFENDED THE JURY
from the imputations cast upon them.
| Malicious lies were circulated and published
about the jury being seen lunching with the
| defendants and drinking at their expense, all
| of which were false. Limitations of every
character were resorted to, and systematic
attempts made to terrorize the jury by
| threatening them. Some of them were
charged with drunkenness; one OF them,
Holmead, informed me early in the proceed
| ings that lawyer named Falls had inter-
viewed him, telling him he was an officer of
the Department of Justice, and had desired
him TO ascertain by watching my notes, as l
| iotted down the salient points of the testi
mony, and report to him their import. He
told Holmead he was authorized
| TO ACT BY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
and was assigned to look after him; that it
was a question whether Judge Freeman or
Falls should be delegated TO take care of
| Holmead and finally it was decided to ap-
| point Falls. He urged Holmead to act with
| him and aid him with information, and said
| il would result in his (Fslls) advancement,
|
/ cautioned Homead, when he told me in
| June to pay no attention TO Falls or anyone
| who attempted 10 mislead him. Falls re-
peated his visit to Holmesd at intervals, and
| renewed his efforts to inveigle him until
| Holmead
THREATENED TO KICK HIM OUT
| of his store. Our places of business were
| invaded by spoilers, our employees we're So
| licited to tell who we conversed With, and
| what our sentiments were on the subject OF
| the trial, and our wives were not safe from
| interviewers aud over-zealous agents. The
| first personal knowledge l had of the pres
ence of 'jury- fxer" was when Henry A.
Bowen made proposition to me to convict
the defendants, and promised me S25 900.
| His cool audacily was charming, and he I'M
hesitatingly exhibited to me his letters of
appointment of special agent of the Depart
| ment of Justice He wanted me to get the
attorney-general, and said he had been tele-
lsraped for, and he was expected IN Washing
ton the next day, Thursday, August "a, 1882.
| That we could
MEET AT woRMLEY's HOTEL UNDIsTURBED,
| and he would satisfy me that what he
| promised was correct. He further said:
| "Well, you are man of the world, and
know that when you are in fight you must
| use every means in your power TO win. This
| is now the attorney-generaPs fight, and he
must succeed; it ia political life death
with him. He does not regard Judge Wylie
as friendly to the prosecution by his contrary
rulings He also said the case came TO
| Brewster as legacy from his predecessor,
| MacVeagh; that it had been terribly mis-
managed by
"M'vEAGH AND JAMES.
Mistakes had been made, and errors of coun-
sci had jeopardized it, and the present
administration did not care 10 press the case
until Brady's papers commenced their TRADE
of abuse and vilifcation of the ADMINISTERS
ton and its officers. And now, under all cir
| cumstauces, the defendants must be con-
victed" l asked him if any of the counsel
for the prosecution knew of his action. He
said they did not. Before leaving him he
said: 81 will send word to your address to-
| morrow and arrange when we can meet the
attorney general" On the following day,
AFTER THE ADJOURNMENT OF COURT,
L proceeded to my Office, and shortly after
ward colored boy handed me card with
the following written in lead pencil: Dear
| Colonel Dickson-S O'Clock this evening at
| Drivers's. BOWEN"
Friday, August 25tb, called upon Judge
| Wylie at rec cess, and informed him that an
improper proposition had been made me
| and by whom. We conversed about the mat
| ter, and he said he would think about it and
resolve upon
WHAT COURSE TO PURSUE.
After adjournment that day he called me,
and said he was afraid those damnable at
lempts to pollute the jury might have been
| made upon some of the other jurymen, and
| advised nae to caution and consult with
them privately; that for the present he would
not take action. ! suggested that L could
encourage Bowen, and probably let the prop
osition eliminate into an actual deposit OF
| the corruption fund, and then expose him.
He checked me by saying: mo that has too
| much of the flavor of police business"
| said / would report 10 him any further facts
| 1 might CLEAN from day TO day. Some days
| after 1 had a conversation with him and told
him other jurymen had been approached,
and he said that he would
| ATTEND TO THE MATTER IN TINE.
1 attempted to tell him the facts in the
| Bowen interview, but he prevented ME, say
| ing he did not care 10 know the facts IN de-
| tai, or know what side OF the case they rep
| resented, as it was apparent that person
| acting for the defense might approach the
| iurymen with a corrupt offer, representing
| themselves to be in the interest OF the prose-
| cution and rice versa with view to testing
| or entrappipg iurymen. He again advised
| the strictest surveillance and caution. Later
| on Mr.. Olcutt intImated 10 me that he had
| been interviewed for corrupt purpose, but
| did not state the facts, and Doniphan re-
| ported to me that man named Shaw had
| offered him 5000 TO
VOTE TO CLEAR DORSEY.
| l advised him to report the matter to the
Judge, and he did so. Until we took the first
| informal ballot on the afternoon OF Friday,
| September 9Th, / did not know how any OF
the Jury would vote, nor did in the slightest
| degree endeavor to control their actions, and
1 refer to my colleagues to substantiate my
| statement / could not discover any posi-
| tive CT iminating evidence agains. S. w. Dor
sew that was supported by Hndisputed facts.
| I explained my position to my colleagues
| fully and freely. and whenever we discussed
the charges in the indictment or any of the
overt acts. I supported my position by facts