Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-09-13
TRUE Or FAISB
REH1Rh-4BLE STATEMENT From
THE Star ROUTE FOREM4S.

THE STIR ROUTE FOREMAN.
He Details at Length the Attempt to Infiu-
ence His Verdict-The names of the Par
ties and all the Details Given-The Bri-
bers in the Employ of the Department of
Justice-Some Secrets of the Jury Room
Exposed.
WASHINGTON. Sept 12-D;ckson's atten-
ton having been called to a published in
terview with Merrick. in which he made
remarks rejecting upon his integrity.
Dickson said: :" 1t may suit Merrick to
fret and fume and say unkind and unjust
things about men who were sworn to per-
form duty, and performed the trust in q
fearless, conscientious manner, according
10 their honest conviction of law and evil
-dence, but if ne will turn his attention to
the department of justice, of which he Is
now an officer. and purify the atmosphere
of that institution, and aid in exposing the
attempted bribery charges Or corrupt prac-
tees OF his sUbOrdinates. he viii do the
government good service. No one has a
higher appreciation of Merrick than I
have. and have ever priced MS friendship
and doubt if he IS aware Of the damnable
transactions which nave occurred since the
commencement Of the star route cases. \
system Of sp0rtage was established by the
department OF justice and n that employ
were number Of disreputable persons,
prominent among them q man under in
dlctment for robbery and 4 seIf-cOnfessed
participant iG three card monte
cases lately punished IN our court,
by the conviction OF men against
whom this party turned states evidence.
Jurors were followed. and devices Of vari-
Gus kinds adopted to ensH2re them into
the commission Of & wrong act: efforts
were frequently made TO draw them into
conversation upon the merits OF the case.
L have received a number IF anonymous
letters. and marked papers We're daily sent
me. all containing matter Intended to in
fuence my mind When the regular panel
was exhausted. extra talesnen were SURF
moned, and two gentlemen. Messrs. Murray
and TObrinor, were selected to complete
the jury. At once these men
were denounced. their characters
assailed, and il was openly charged and
published that they were paid agents OF
the defendants. I demanded of one gen
tleman, Mr.. Murray, a full explanation,
and on learning the facts of how re came
TO be drawn by Marshal Felt, was satisfied
he was innocent OF the slanderous charge
and insisted that Judge Wylie's attention
should be called to the matter. You re-
member the judge severely criticised the
course pursued by the newspapers, and de-
Tended the jury from the imputations cast
upon them. Malicious lies were circulat-
ed and published about the jury being seen
lulching with the defendants and drinking
NJ lnir olI Of 1,
Intimidations of every character were re-
sorted ID, and q systematic attempt made
to terrorize the jury, by threatening them.
Some Of them were charged with drunk
enness. One of them, Holmead, informed
me early in the proceedings that lawyer
named Falls had interviewed him, telling
him he was an officer of the department of
justice, and had desired him to ascertain
by watching my notes as | jotted down the
salient points of testimony. and report to
him their import. He told Holmead he
was authorized to act by the attor-
ney general. and was assigned
to look after him; it was q question
whether Judge Tallman or Falls
should be delegated to take care
of Holmead and finally
it was decided to appoint Falls. He urged
information. and said it would result in
his (Falls) advancement. and Holmead
would lose nothing by it. l cautioned
Holmead when he told me III June. to pay
no attention.to Falls or any one who at
tempted to misiead him. Falls repeated
his visit to Holmead at intervals. and
renewed his efforts to inveigle
him, until Holmead threatened to kick him
Of ~ lUr nj. of
were inveigled by spoilers. Our employees
were solicited to tell who conversed with
Us, and what our sentiments were Oh the
subject of the trial, and our wives were not
safe from interviewers. The first personal
knowledge had Of the presence of Jury
fixers'' was when Henry A. Bowen made a
proposition to me to convict the defendants
and promised me $25.000. His cool an
dacity was charming.and he unhesitatingly
exhibited to me his letters Of appointment
DIS special agent Of the department Of
Justice
lie wanted me TO meet the attorney
general, and said he had been telegraphed
for and was expected III Washington next
day Thursday, Aug. 9th. 1892; that we
could meet tNormleys hotel undisturbed.
and he would satisfy me that what he prom
lsed was correct. He further said:
We'll yCU ere man Of the world and
know when You are in the fight. You must
use every means in your power to win. This
is now the attorney generals fight. and he
must succeed. It's political life or death
with him. He does not regard Judge
Nylie as friendly to the prosecution by his
contrary rulings" He also said the case
came to Brewster as legacy
from his predecessor. MacVeagh
and that it had been terribly
mismanaged by MacYeagh and James
Mistakes had been made and errors of
counsel had jeopardised it. and the present
administration did not care TO press the
case until Brady's papers commenced their
TRADE of abuse and villifcation of the ad-
ministration ard its officers and
now. under all circumstances
defendants must be convicted. |
asked him if any of the counsel for the
prosecution knew of his action. He said
they did not. Before leaving me he said:
Il Will send word to your address to-mor-
row, and manage when we can meet. and
see the attorney general" On the follow
ing day. after the adjournment of court.
projected to my Office and shortly after
ward : colored boy handed NE card with
the following. written n lead pencil: