The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1884-03-06
STAR ROUTES.
The Investigation Before the
Springer Committee.
Testimony of Ex-POstmaster'
General James and Others.
A Mass of Interesting Evi'
dence.
Star Route Investigation.


Washington, SIN the continual
ton Of the Springer committee in
vestigstioD, relative to eXpendi-
lures in the Star Route case9, ex~
Postmaster-General James said A.
M. Gibson. formerly connected with
the New York Sun as its Washing
ton correspondent, placed in his
hands evidence Of the greatest i'm
portance. The state OF affairs thus
revealed wss truly appalling. In
the early part of April, fortified
with facts and figures, laboriously
collected, Woodward and myself
called on President Garfield and eX-
hibited comparative statement of
the most corrup ly manipulated
routes. He displayed great surprise
and wished to know il the figures
had been verified by records; he
also added that he had been pIovi-
dentially saved from falling into the
trap which had evidently been set
for him, and seemed to be contem-
plating some peril which he had
escaped. He asked whether the
papers had been shown the Al
torney- General. / said no,
when he requested me to call with
that official and Mr.. Woodward
next day. We called next after
noon and lengthy consultation ell
sued. In answer to the suggestion
as to whether it would not be wiser
30 institute civil suits fr the
recovery of the money obtained
through dishonest contracts rather
than commerce criminal proceed
ings against the implicated .,aI ties,
he said, "No."
"One moment, Mr.. z esident,"
said the Attorney General, ICON
cider " he her or no tn" Poslm aster-
General is not right. B-fore final
decision remember that these pro-
ceedings may strike men in high
places; that they may result in
changing the Republican majority
in the United States Senate to a
Democratic msjority hat they msy
affect persons who claim that you
are under personal obligations to
them for services rendered
during the last campaign,
and one person in particular who
asserts that without his MANAGE
ment you could not have been
elected. Look these facts squarely
In the face before assuming a final
stand, for neither the Postmaster.
General nor myself will know
friend or foe in this matter" The
President walked across the room.
reflected a moment and said: Ono,
/ have sworn to execute the laws.
Go ahead regardless Of where or
whom you hit. l direct you both not
only to probe this ulcer to the bot
tom, but to cut it out" This closed
the conversation. Shortly after
the conference above exc
Senator Dorsey called on
me at Washington, and in
the presence Of Dir. Woodward de-
noaneed Brady bitterly, and urged
that he be removed. The witness
incidentally remarked that in his
opinion the publication of the re-
ports sent to Congress would be det-
rimental to the public interest.
The preparations made for
investigating the Star Routes
were described by witness at
length, removal of Brady, etc. Very
soon, James said, Dorsey began az
lively to engage in an action to save
himself, to bring the investigation
to naught, to disturb the relations
of The President with his cabinet, to
convince the country that "persecu.
ton" was the primary motive ofthe
S-~o~k,,, a,,k a Nd oT ~ l., c&r,k;ox, III
most braZen effrentery and reckless
organizations were freely INDUCED |
In. despite the most direct and con-
yincing documentary and oral evil
dence which abounded on every |
hand.
The witness considered it undo.
sirable to complicate the Star Route
cases and he desired to do nothing
10 complicate the President who
would succeed Garfield. He wished
bis successor to 60 in as little en-
barrassed as possible. MscVesgh.
said: ST had several
with President Arthur
as to the general subject OF the
Of the Star Route cases,
and he expressed the desire that
should remain and continue re-
Sponsible for the prosecution, first
as Attorney General and subse-
quently as leading counsel for the
But felt conld not
do So"
On the last Wednesday in June
James said that with Attorneys Cook
and Woodward, he called on Gar
field at the White House, and found
Senator Dorsey and Col. Ingersell in
with him. Cook ex-
planned what had been done by Glib
ION and himself. The Pres;~
lent suggested that they were
90 slow; that they should
,e more earnest in their work, and
hat they should have the accused
parties indicted aud tried. Cook
promised that no time should be
Ost. Toward the end OF August,
& a meeting at the house of the
Attorney-General, at which Wood,
yard, Cook and Gibson were present.
he question of additional counsel
yas discussed. The Attorney
General said he had concluded to
etain Brewster and that he would
- .-- ofhnr rora0n Uhnr,, |