The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1884-08-28
ssHunt the Rascals Down"

the Presidential election of that year.
have had the force of inspiration to John
|. Dave nport the well-known New YORK
| Detective. From the day he was place.
in charge Of tile work OF hunting down
the rascals who forged the Morey letter 70
this time, he has been industriously en-
4 gagged in ferreting out the great crime at
tempted in 1880, and hunting the perpe-
| traitors Of that monumental piece OF fas
cality. The result Of his labOrs is now
/ given to the public in the form of q 147
page pamphlet, furnishing to the minutest
detail, all the facts, dates, acts. letters
! kilograms, &c. necessary to sustain the
conclusions. We have not seen the book
entire, but the Tribune, Of the 10Th, gives
an intelligent synopsis of it in the space OF
five columns, which conveys a clear and
satisfactory understanding OF the whole
affair. and fixes the responsibility Of the
monstrous fraud and forgery upon the
managers of the Democratic campaign OF
1880, and who are the managers of the
same party in the Presidential contest
of 1884.
1t will be remembered that in October
1880, letter purporting to have been
written and signed by Gen. Garfield, adj
dressed to H. i. Morey. Lynn, Mass.
and favoring the introduction of Chinese
labor to compete with American labor was
given to the public by Truth, Democratic
| ,apar nnb1i chod in Navr VorI- Tho oaD
nineness of the letter was vouched for by
| w. II. Barnum, A. S. Hewitt, W. L.
Scott. and others of q syndicate of consul.
tation, and fac Smiles Of it sent broadcast
over the country, especially to the Pacific
| Coast States, and i'll the manufacturing
and labor centres of the North, with the
endorsement of w. II. Barnum, Chairman
Of the Democratic Committee, that it was
genuine, that it was in the s'handwrit-
ing Of James A. Garfield, = and that de
NAL was useless. - This letter was tele-
graphed to Gen. Garfield, and..an immediate
answer was received that it was forgery
in every letter and line; to institute pro-
ceedings to ferret out the crime and s'hunt
theTascals down" who had perpetrated it..
Sufficient evidence was adduced to estab-
fish the forgery before the day of election
but not in time to count eract the effect of
the forged letter in New Jersey Nevada
and California, where it had been sent by
the hundreds of thousands. These States,
consequently, were lost to the Republican
ticket by small majorities, chiefly tracea-
BILE to the effects of the Morey letter.
But Mr.. John l. Davenport determined
to practically obey the instruction of Gen.
Garfield to hunt the rascals down. and
with pertinacity rarely equaled, he went
about the work Systematically, cautiously,
and as the sequel proves, successfully, and
has given the public the benefit of his re-
searches in the pamphlet just published.
The Tribune makes the following edito-
rial summary of Davenport labors, which
| will convey to the reader clear understand
4 ing of Democratic methods to accomplish
partizan ends. After reading it, we do
| not think any honest man, who can re-
move himself from the influences of the
| lowest partizanism. can vote for the candi-
dates of a party controlled and managed
| by the men who are responsible for this
| forgery and it's circulation, knowing that
it was forgery at the time they gave it
! their endorsements:
THE MOREY FORGERY LAID BARE.
The kind Of reform . to he expected
| if Mr.. Cleveland could be elected. and the
sort of campaign to be expected this year
are disclosed in the : History Of the
Morey Letter. just published by John L
Davenport, the more SalientS feature OF
which are given in The Tribune this morn
ing. TIE very men who are now proved
to have contrived, circulated and by most
dishonorable means bolstered up to the
end that most infamous forgery, are at
present engaged in conducting the cam
paign for "Cleveland, Purity and Re-
FORM MI. Davenports book fastens the
responsibility upon the active men at the
Democratic National headquarters. II
1880 w. III. Barnum was Chairman of the
National Committee, and he is now. In
1880 f. O.. Prince was Secretary ant
Charles j. Canda was Treasurer. and the,
are now. In 1880 Edward B. Dickersor
was the official Stenographer of the Elk
ecutive Committee, and he is now. Thu
disclosure of Mr. Davenport gives the PEG
pie warning to expect still more daring an,
Infamous forgeries within the next 81,
months, for the purpose of electing ''tha
pure man Cleveland, = and securing ''goo,
government.
The mass of evidence which MI. Dav
export arrays cannot be briefly presented
When the matter was before the cour
years ago, there was proof enough to con
vince candid minds that the forgery wa
not the work Of any irresponsible tool
but that it came in some way from TIL
Democratic headquarters. But the re
markable detective skill of Mr.. Dave n
port has now traced this piece of scou n
dreliSm from its very origin in the min d
of its orginators. Late in Septembe ]
1880, Chairman Barnum became alarmed
about the success Of the Republican cam
paign on the tariff question. To Genera
Este he suggested that something shoult
be prepared for use in brief hand bill
or ..dodger,r setting forth whatever coult
be made to appear offensive in the Repub
lican position on Chinese cheap labor
Este conferred at once with Hadley, ant
what purported to be an interview wit
Garfield was at Fl rst concocted. This wa
taken to headquarters and to the privat
rooms of Mr.. Barnum and Mr.. Dickinsol
1t came back changed to the form of
letter, but with the important phrases
preserved. This identical paper. with the
original suggestion for campaign ssdodge1
and the change made at headquarters, MI
Davenport has seen. The startling fact
that the precise words Of important phra
SEES Of this paper are those afterward foun,
in the forged letter as published.
The paper was given to Hadley VIII
was at that time being paid secretly b
Mr. Barnum. At Cleveland, October Il
at Oroville, California October 10, and a
8 many other points, it was seen before it
publication. The Chairman of the Main
Democratic Committee has stated that Ii
received the letter from Mr.. Barnum tw
weeks before disqualification. Six day
before its publication the whisper tina
something fatal to Garfield was comm
circulated in the stock Exchange. MI
Dana of The San was told of the existenc
of the latter, but denounced it as a forgery
So to many other persons came the new
that the Democratic Committee wa
going to send fac-simile plates of a lette
which would elect Hancock.
Mr.. Davenport proves conclusively tina
D the forged letter was written by Hadley-
Mr.. Barnum's hireling. The fac-simil
comparisons given of his writing are COZ
elusive. But it's publication was precede
by an editorial in Truth. sent lhither al
| 70 oil