Sturgis advertiser. (Sturgis, Dakota [S.D.]) 1887-1???, 1889-01-10
THE MURCHISON LETTER
THAT FAMOUS DOCUMENT WHICH
COST MINISTER WEST TROUBLE.

1t Was Conceived and Dictated by . High
Official of California, and Minister West
Jumped Mt the Bait and Sent His Reply nj
Once.
indianapolis (Ind.) special.
Col. GARRISON. of the National Republican
Committee, when recently here. told Gen.
Harrison the true story Of the Murchison
letter. and it has just become public. Ac-
cording to Mr.. Clarkson. the man who
should get the loaves and fishes for the
Murchison stroke is Lieut. Gov. Sheldon. OF
Los Angeles. Cal. When Mr.. Clevelandss
fisheries message was made public the
thought occurred to Sheldon that the docu-
ment's effect could be .neutralized by some
sort of coup detat. The scheme that first
suggested itself to Sheldon was to wiring
from President Cleveland a confession that
the message was absolute buncombe. L
President has deliberately planned to
speculate on the affairs Of the peo-
pie. in matter. too. where the gravest
OF apprehensions lie." said Sheldon to
a friend after he had given the subject some
thought. Sheldon had 30 much confidence
in the gull!bility OF an Englishman that he
believed Minister West would walk into al
most any sort of trap There are about Los
Angeles number of Englishmen who be-
long to the Society of st. George. a Britain
liz OruST WHICH IL supposed 10 preserve tuo
spark of loyalty to the Queen wherever the
subject may be.
Are you acquainted with Minister West2"
inquired Sheldon of a fellow Of st. George
one day.
4 have such an acquaintance as citizen
of a nation generally has with their states
men. Why?" the man replied.
I would like to obtain his candid views
and some honest Information about a mat
ter" Sheldon responded.
Il can write him letter that will get an
answer" said the Englishman.
Sheldon then dictated the subject matter
OF the letter. leaving to the fellow Of st.
George to form the sentences. The draft
of letter without signature was presently
given to Sheldon. who signed to 1t the name
"Murchison" and directed how the answer
should be mailed to him. The answer came
surprisingly quick from Minister West. It
must have been answered by the return
mail. Sheldon held the letter for day or
two until he could fully realize his success.
and then he sent copies of the letter to the
Republican National Committee. The char
acter Of the letter was such that the Ma
tional Committee could hardly believe its
eyes. kilograms were sent to Los Angeles
to obtain such verifcation Of the copies as
would establish the good faith Of sheldon.
and inquiries at Washington satisfied the
committee that the matter was not fake.
While the Investigations were going on.
Gen. Harrison was advised ito expect
something good" in day or two. This
talismantc message was understood when
the Murchison letter appeared. AS soon as
the letters were given out Gen. Harrison
obtained the history Of their writing. which
has since been supplemented by state
ment sent direct to the President elect from
Gov. Sheldon. In addition to the precau-
ton as to secrecy which West had taken
in the form of his letter. he had written
over the top OF the first page the word
"nrivafa Nathan Wapf nfhQr
member of the Society Of St. George
dared make his defense public. because
to charge that the West letter was written
to member of the order would expose the
Minister to the impeachment OF being
lar-an exposure Sheldon could have
author of the first and the recipient Of the
second letter. Thus while the Democrats
had good defense and Minister West an
neither was available. Shell
don had innocently. perhaps. fenced in their
last avenue OF escape by placing himself be-
tween West and the man who nodded the
form of Murchison's letter. 1t is pretty we'll
that Sheldon maintained q dis
Greet silence for partisan purposes and that
the fellow-member OF st. Georges. for OBJ
yious reasons. kept his mouth shut.
The conduct of President Cleveland in the
episode-his hesitation at first. then his re-
lentless rigor toward West-has been i'm
properly ascribed to misconception on his
part Of the injury in the letter. which mis-
it has been claimed. was re-
moved by kilograms to him from New York.
Mr.. Cleveland's conduct was entirely Of his
own architecture. When the letter was
made public West explained to him in con-
fidence that the letters were communion
lions which the fellowship of secret order
licensed. Cleveland. perceiving that the
British Minister'S mail might have been
robbed or that he might have otherwise
been outrageously imposed upon. felt as
sorry for the Minister as he did for himself.
Tho President thought that it was only fair
that West should be given time to work
out his defense. Both waited for the story
Of the letter to come out but 1t did not
come. After West had failed to produce
evidence in his vindication the President
had but one conclusion-that the Minister
was liar as we'll as a Ounce. and that his
of how he had written the letter
was simply a knavish effort to impose upon
the administration. When that conclusion
was reached Minister West became Mr..
West with O vengeance. When Cleveland
had concluded that West was a liar Lord
Salisbury, to whom the Minister had made
his defense, retained faith in the protesta-
lions offered. The Premier. as well as
West, is a member of the Society Of st.
George. and of course could see the force of
the defense. which was not open to Cleve-
land.