The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1882-11-30

own opinion on the subject. lie spoke
| the frauds as unparalleled Wlninies,
loathsome ulcers on the body polite, nee
! Ing 10 be cut out with all the roots, no mi
ter where they extended. He stated th
while IL did not belong 10 my departmeH
certainly not at that stage of the matte
, yet he wished TO associate me With the pos
master.genernl 10 the extent OF .he latt
feeling at perfect liberty to consult me
any time ABOUT IL. lie said he intended
remove General Brady as soon as the pos
msster-general could find a satisfaGtOr
successor. At n subsequent interview h
regretted delays in the matter, and urge
his immediate removal, as he held hin
principally responsible for the great frauds
which he evidently was convinced had heel
committed. AS soon as General Brady
resignation had been demanded, his news
papers naturally began abusing Presiden
! Garfield, the postmaster-general mysel
and everybody in anyway connected Will
| the Investigation. On this subject ! speal
! without the slightest personal warmth, fol
thencefOrth ceased reading them, and
only know what have been told by o. hers
and read in other newspapers. President
| Garfield subsequently regretted he had eX
posed me to such attacks by connecting me
with a matter not necessarily part
OF my duty ct that stage
but l told him ! regarded it as an
honor to be abused in his company.
added the general proposition that in these
days abuse OF thieves is about the only
decoration in our public life worth admit
ting and is the surest possible passport to
the good opinion of honest men. In this
spirit and in this ompaniOnship, / went on
advising with the president and postmas.
ter-general as occasion arose. My functions
were LIGHT and intrequent. Woodward was
g,,arinl Nf thn -ptNipD do.
partment, best acquainted with these
frauds and most Jealous in their
investigation. He not only possessed
entire confidence in the postmaster.gene
but had been commended to me personally
by Selator Hawley as a man of excellent
Judgment, and not only Of undoubted, but
of aggressive honesty. When, therefore,
Woodward thought it desirable he should
have the assistance of Gibson--and the
ion--I went with the latter to President
Garfield, explained the matter to him and
received his directions to employ Gibson.
When subsequently Woodward and Glb-
son agreed in requesting the employ
ment of Cook precisely the same course was
pursued, with the same result. Whenever
they brought me any pNson supposed to
possess knowledge OF pc frauds, ad.
vised him to tell the trutH and when | re-
CeNeu lebtel suSReStipS sohe iniolHlalioi,
wrote to the parties indicated, expressing
the desire of the government to obtain any
knowledge OF papers relating to the subject
under their control, and whatever responses
were received, |, of course, turned over TO
the gentlemen charged with the inquiries
which were progressing. | also insisted
from the first, and upon all proper oCca-
sions, that there was nopoSsible Vludication
for anybody accused except open trial be-
fore court and jury, or the frank
the government If the evidence did not, in
opinion of the president, justify prosecu-
tion. That was my whole connection with
the cases up TO the woundng of President
Garfield, excepting the day before he was
shot he repeated to me his efforts to have
Riddle appointed district.attorney of the
district by President Hayes, and directed
me to see Riddle, offer him the place in his
name, and if he accepted it to advise him by
telegraph and he would reply, asking me to
request Corkhill's resignation. | wrote
Riddle, asking him, bnt he did not see me
until the night Of the day when President
Garfield was wounded and we were expect
ing him to die very shortly. | then
told Riddle III one OF the upper
rooms of the house what had occur
red. AS you have the best of reasons
for knowing, | never expected President
Garfield TO recover, and did not for mo-
ment entertain an idea Of remaining in the
cabinet after his death. | supposed that
such connection as | had with the star
route cases was substantially ended and
that any further relation which the depart
ment might have with them would devoive
upon my successor AS, however, PTesl- !
dent Garfield continued to live, continued
to do whatever was necessary but nothing
more. When we were considering the re.
moval of the president to Long Branch |
Corithill asked me if | knew whether any |
of these cases would he ready for the grand |
Jury. | told him | knew nothing OF the |
details of the cases, and Of course Cook, |
his own special assistant in the cases, was
the person to give him any information he |
desired. AS | felt sure the responsibility !
Ofgovernment would devolye upon you at an
early day, | avoided doing anything which |
would eInbarrass or commit YOU or my |
successor. | therefore postponed selecting |
leading counsel until | was assured by gen |
tlemen in charge of these matters that IL |
ought to be delayed no longer. There |
upon the postmaster-general and | met |
and discussed the subject. We agreed that |
in view of the circumstances we ought TO /
select rom the leaders of the bar gentle
men not only of the highest ability AMI |
,harscter, but gentlemen also whose per-
iOnal and political relations would very |
be not only candid but contiden. |
.ial with you and my successor, so that you |
should approach these last cases with every |
possible advantage. II was in this spiritwe |
selected Nj. Bliss and Air. Brewster, and /
With the selection OF those gentlemen, | |
my relations to the starrOute /
'ases as ended.