Wichita daily eagle., 1884-06-28
THE muLlleAn LETTERS. /.
THE pLuMED KNIGHT.-HoW THE NAN
FROM MAINE HANDLED HIS
LANCE.
The Full History Of the Matter ana 'he
Scheme Employed by the Demoera s----
70 Defeat Biai ne.

4 Washington correspondent OF the
Enquirer gives the history
of the Mulligan letters. The nonina-
,ion of James G.. Blaine as the Repub-
ljcau candidate for president OF the
United Siates recalls tue famous aud
exciting scenes of June, lS76--3Yer
eight wears ago. Blaine was thea Il
for the presidential nomiiia-
tion. lie was a member OF ihc house
of representative. lie was acknowl-
eaned to be far in the lead III the
presidential race, and but for tie cx-
posure of what are known 10 history
as the Mulii2an letters he would
probably haye been nominated. Many
be;no unable TO recall the incident and
history of that fight we give the En-
aulrer's account III full:
Some time in April or early in May
preceding the June il which the Re-
publican convention met at Cincinnati,
Mr.. j. ID. Harrison, of Indiana, an i'm
placable enemy then as row to Elaine,
caused to be printed in the Cincinnati
Commercial q charge which very scri-
ouslv affected Mr.. Biaine's integrity.
Harrison was director, representing
the United States. of the Union Pacific
railroad. The burden of the charge
briefly stated was that the Union
Pacific railroad had charged TO some
- - IL n Z.
Smith & Little Rock railroad OF
Arkansas and that the real
beneficiary was James G. Blaine. a
quadrilaieral of newspapers, which are
now. strange 10 say, zcalousIy sup
porting Blaine Ibecausc they DelieYc
iha. his innocence has been fully es-
tabli,hed.l I rung the changes on tho
charge until public opinion forced
Blaine TO ask for Il committee OF M
vcstigation. The investigation was
ordered by the Judiciary committee, ,oi
which the Hon. j. Proctor Knott, OF
Kentucky. was chairman. As the III
ve>tigation proceeded n sub-conmii-
tee took more active charge of If, OF
which the Hon. Eppa Ilunion, of Nir-
ginia, was chairman.
Nothing of any special Importance
developed until one Warren Fisher, OF
Boston. and the now famous Mr.. Mui-
ilioau was summoned. Fisher had III
his day been quite a prominent spec
ulator in railroad securities. In the
Little Rock Il Fort Smith railroad
transaction he acted as the coniideE'
,iaI agent of Josiah Caldwell, who, II
was charged, was the man that gave
Blaine the $4,000 of stock. Caid'
wel was at the time in Europe, aud II
had been impossible to secure q
service upon him. Mulligan, OF
whom more hereafter, had been
bookkceper for Fisher. Up TO the
time of The arrival of Fisher aud Mni
ligan. Blaine had met every accusation
against him, and the bent OF the IN
vestigating committee was to make d
reporrof exoneration. Fisher was Tho
! first placed on the witness stand. II
was evident at glance, whatever
might have been his capacity thereto
fore, he was reduced through alcohol
/ ism to almost u wreck. His lain,
seemed TO be cone Ills memory wa'
/ impaired. and his testimony wholly
unsatisfactory.
Then came Mulligau. As his name
/ indicates, he was terrier, chGcG tul
of Celtic blood. He was II sparc-buil
man, with Il malicious look i'll a blu
eve well back in hi; head, q small! rec
/ Face more oval than angular, with N
/ intensity OF expression dcnoiing hat,
and malice At first his inclination
was to bc cvasiyc Then question:
we're put 60 him which gave cvi
dcncc -" bad been well coached
/ He was itching To unload, bu
his cunning had planned so as Il
make il appear that secrets were bcin:
/ cxt0ricd rather than confessed. ON
dav in the course of his testimony IA
( indicated that hc had some very inter
csting documentary testimony. fpi'
/ lowing this day cr two after Mr.
! Mulligan made has appearance beton
/ the committee in Il state of great eX
citcmcnt. lie said that Mr.. Blaine iia'
twice called upon him at the l.i@2
house: that ai the first mceiiu;
Blaine, on hi, bendcd knees. had bc
sought him to give him tin
letters he had in his possession
! This was u correspondence bctw"ci
Blaine and Warren Fisher, which Mni
ligan. as Fishers book keeper, ha'
stolen cut OF the lattcr's safe. Ate
some hesitation. and upon the proris
that Blaine would return the letters
! Mulligan gave them TO him. Hlain
kept Them 1 few hours and returned
them. The succeeding night Blain
arain asked 10 see the letters 10 r.
fresh his memory as 10 the contents %
one of them. Mulligan again CAV
them TO him, when Blaine placed thci
in his pocket and refused To give thci
up.
When Muligan made this statemcn
10 The committee il created scnsa
tion. Blaine did not deny that h
had taken the letters, but lac jnstiiie
himself on the ground that the letter.
having been stolen by Mulligm. wcr
not his property. They bclonge
either 10 himself or Fisher. and III
latter declared he was anxious thu
Blaine. and not Mulligan should have
them.
The committee then, through Chail
man Eppa llunton, demanded the !et
tiers. Blaine first asked time For col
sideration. A day was given hin. 1h
demand was then repeated, and Blan
plumplv refused 10 give them up. The
il was that tie quadrilateral of organ
now supporting Blaine, which the
were bounding him, adjudged hin
guilty because of the refusal to expos
his correspondence. The committed
too, had a long executive session. an
had agreed to report Blaine 10 th
house as recalcitrant wit
ness Thus matters stood un
til the 4th day of June. 1876, whe
Blaine made the dramstic scene in III
house of representatives, which su"
gested to Bob lngersoll his term of th
"Plumed Knight" afterward apple
to him in his famous speech all Cincir
natl. Blaine arose in his seat 70
question of privilege. He was the Yer
embodiment of rage and passion. III
face was pale and bloodless. No on
who sat within his hearing could hav
failed to surmise that something wa
coming. Thcreupon he reviewed SUI
cinctly what he deemed his pcrscct
ton at the hands of the Judiciary can
mittec. his refusal, under legal advic'
TO give up the Mulligan letters, an
: said
when the famous witness, Null
gan. came here loaded with inform:
ton in regard to the Fort Smith roat
the gentleman from Virginia drew OF
what he knew had no reference wha
ever to the question of investigation
He then aud there insisted on all I