New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-09-22
MR.. ROBERTSON'S PROXY.


AND orHERs-NTEREsr FELT IN THE MATTER
IN SARATOGA.
Try TELEGRAPH TO THE TR1BUNE.i
SARATOGA. Sept. 21.-There was a profound sem
sation to-day when il was discovered that the
proxy" telegram purporting to have come from
judge w. II. Rob rtson TO stephen Il. French, was
o forgery. Few political conventions have had such
an exciting episode, and that of 1882 will always
be remembered for it. In fact there series of
sensations-enouch to round out whole drama OF
politics. The Telegram produced by Mr. French
yesterday in the meeting of the State Committee,
aud handed to Mr.. NTOoman the secretary. 1t read
a follows:
NEw-YoRK, Sept Q. 1882.
Hon. $ b. FRENCH. Grand Union Hotel, Saratoga:
Please act a. my proxy at meeting OF State Com-
mtJee, ana obllCc, w III. ROBERTSON
This was read TO the committee, and Mr. frenchs
right to act az Judge Robertson's proxy was not
questioned. The Garfield men in the State Commit
tee were too much astonished and panied to say
anytbng They did not suspect any such desperate
trick as IL row seen to have been played by some
one al hough General Hustled, one of Judge Robert
sons most intimate friends, said the moment he
heard OF the dispatch outside of the committee
room that it must be a forgery. But this did not
seem credible. and many of the Garfield men,
Jumping at conclusions could only feel that Judge
Robertson had turned his back on all his political
associations and his party records and had gone
over to the men whose policies and methods he bad
always opposed. Their grief and astODishment pre-
vented the story from gaining universal circulation
until late last night, many OF them felt dlsln-
chned to speak Of the matter.
BY this morning the subject was the one topic of
conversation about the hotels and on the floor Of
the convention. What did it meanW " How
could Judge Robertson have done such thing"
and hundred similar questions asked on
every side. One or two prominent men on the
Garfield side said very blunty that they considered
the dispatch a matter of little moment as compared
with the fact that Judge Robertson had not come
70 the convention and gwen the help Of ms vote
and his presence, both IN the State Committee and
in the convention, to the men who had fought his
battles for him for years past This feeling was
strong an ong some of the Garfield men. while eX-
pressiOns OF wonder aud over the dispatch TO
French were heard on all sides Others defended
him. however, on the ground that being Collector
it was hest for him to keep out of the convention.
This was the situation until the boys ran into the
convention ball with tie New-York papers and the
delegates were busy In ing and reading them
The INTERVIEWS found in them with Judge Robert
son in which he denied emphaticaily having given
such authority 20 MI French and denounced the
lattcr's action, We're eagerly read and at once
changed the aspect of affairs. Many Of the Judges
friends began 10 be ashamed that they had accepted
the report though coming with such an entire ap-
pearance Of truth as il did. Others were gratihed
to think that the story untrue but stlll adj
hrred TO their feeling about Judge Robertson's all
IRE TO come to the support Of his political allies
The great object of interest was the telegram.
This found in the possession Of Secretary Nroo-
man, Of the State Committee, who allowed lHB-
UNE correspondent to inspect it. The frs glance
hot
1t had never come over the wires at ALL and was
cOncocted IN Saratoga.
In the first place il was written what is called
a scndeI's" blank. that Is q blank on which tele
gram, to be sent are written and not on one of the
blanks on which kilograms received are written.
The reason of this was. OF thai the forger
he considered this point at all. could not obtain
receiving blank on which TO write the message
Tie Telegraph Company is very careful, for Obyl-
ons reasons that none of these blanks shall out
of its hands, except III the regular course of busi-
ness The receiving blank in use here Is obong,
having It's greatest length from left to right, is
numbered form ~. l. and has the usual formulas
This company transmits and delivers messages
only on conditions limiting etc. etc, and IN a line
OF heavy black type " Received at Arcade Build
inc saratoga, y. Y" The blank on winch this
message was written is a yellow blank. form No. .
which hasits greatest length mp and down, and
bears the usual formulas: send tie following
message subject to the above terms which are here
by agreed TO-" etc.
The Western Union manager John G. Owen.
said when asked abouk IL afterward. that no such
dispatch could ever have ne out of his office Oh
that blank There were half dozen other marks
showing that the dispatch was not genuine. II had
evidently not been copied at all by letter press,
whereas every telegram sent out Is 50 copied. In
telegram that is blotted as soon a. written and
then copied, the ink was black and hard, having
evidently been allowed to dry. The " check " was
ten whereas there were twelve words in the tele-
gram The office marks over the dispatch which
tell the seuder'> time, etc, wrggles, EVIL
IDENTITY intended to look like something without
being anything The handwriting not that of
an operator, but strong hand, not apparently that
Of in the business Of writing for living,
and the leading words seemed to be intentional v
slurred a. if the writer were trying TO disguise
his penmanshIp. The word paid at the bottom
would not have been put in that way by receiving
operator. But the best evidence of all was that
Nh. Owen of the telegraph company, stated that he
had looked carefully through ali the copies Of the
days kilograms and found no such dispatch there
Finally, the original IN Mr. Vroomans possession
was SHOWN to Mr.. owen iii the presence Of a TRIB-
UNE correspondent. and he fairly laughed over it,
saying that ii clearly forgery, and giving
number Of technical reasons besides those stated
above
WHAT Mr.. FRENCH SAYS ABOUT THE, AFFAIR
Long before all this accomplished Stephen B.
French had become much an object Of interest
the telegram His gray head was seen among the
Kings County delegation. where be sat reading the
newspapers. He readily consented t. give THE
TRIBUNE correspondent an account of the circum-
stances which had led HIM, he said, to accept the
dispatch as genuine wihOut question. lie said
" TINS affair Is due to the duplicy of Judge Rob
ertsOn. For some SIX months be has made both the
l. -..-.- :. /. -. ..--L 4.