The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1890-02-07

beyond Woods ability to construct, and
the work of the ~draughtsman was that of an
artist. Then, the bill looked like a money
look for a contract. So witness did not see
any room for questioning the ge%nuineness
of the paper, and acted accordingly. He
told Governor Foraker that it was neces,
sary .n to q aSs, the he paper, or part d
at the idea of Sherman, Butter
worth and Mckinley going in with
John Mclean in such a matter that he felt
tempted TO explode it under them; it was
public duty. But Campbell was the only
one before the people as q candidate for
public office. and it might therefore be
proper TO use only his name. There was
another reason why all of the signatures
could not be printed in civilized society at
the time. and that was because 1T was then
the day of Sans funeral, and he felt con-
WINGED of the commences of his signature.
So he [witnessl published part of the paper,
thought Mas the proper course. Campbell
could not be drawn out on the matter, and
witness advised Governor Foraker to leave
the matter to him [witnessl as be felt more
competent to- a care of it 1t was a
cracker that had to be touched OF at one
end only.
II am not insensible to the picturesque
effect that attaches to this theory" said
Mr.. Halstead. now chat i see the general
cucCk Vi GOuCul0k III OH. lLdukutCIJ Lie
theory of the forgery was that it never was
intended or expected to harm any body.
The motive of the forgery was originally
Woods extreme anxiety to get the appoint
ment of smoke inspector; 1t was prepos-
ferrous to suppose that Governor Foraker
thought that there was anything. fraudn-
lent about it. He would never lave al
lowed it to be published if he thought so.
There was a cloud of witnesses, and the
lawyer who drew up the contract. Witness
wondered now that they did not come down
to deny it the day after its publication.
Undoubtedly Wood put on Sherman's name
to make 1t impossible for Governor Foraker
to use the paper. Campbell made a ferocious
speech at Cincinnati and brought in
a sore subject-the "Topp letter."
1t was proper to say here that
Tops friends believed that Topp.-
who died in an insane asylum, was an.
honest man; a typical German-AInerican
gentleman. Witness regarded the letter as
a crazy mans letter, aud thought its pro-
duction was unwarranted at that time.
Campbell had said several things in his
speech that were not complimentary to
witness. Having those documents in
hand" said Mr.. Halstead. II felt very sorry
for him." lLaughter.l Witness thought
he could improve the two weeks between
then and the election by corresponding
with Sherman and B~utterworth about the
singularity of their having signed the
paper. But the premature publication up
set all that programme. Witness was stag
gered to see Senator Sherman's business
like declarations that the paper was a lie,
but he assumed hat Sherman wasextreme-
ly unlikely to sign the paper, knowing
what it was. Just thirty years ago Sher-
man had lost the speakership by signing in
that way THE Compendium of the Helper
Book"
Continuing. the witness said the clouds
commenced to lower as election came on.
mo. they did not roll by" he added. in an
swer to Dir. Strubble. However. he dwelt
IN xha crhttvnn fa;%h <1aN %ha ava hai
come fresh from Johnny MeLean's safe. and
was all right. He wanted to handle the
document himself. and did not want to
risk anybody's indiscretion. The witness
related the story of the publication of the
forged paper, how its true character was
discovered, and the writing by witness of .
statement -pronOuncing the paper q forgery.
AS for the remark Governor Campbell had
made about giving notice of having fair
treatment in the Commercial Gazette, all
ne cared to say was that he (witnessl should
continue to c~riticise his administration
without any apprehension, and, he trusted,
without malice. Whenever his 1.-THE Gov
ernor's) forbearance was exhausted he
trusted he lthe Governor) would please
himself. Witness said. with much
earnestness and some emotion. that he was
glad, indeed, to know that the paper was q
forgery, and that his old friends who had
been under a cloud for a couple of weeks
had EMERGED. Those who knew him would
believe this.
Witness read a letter from Senator Sher-
man, SAY ssyia ds,t that atd the forged signatures
He also read a letter from Governor For
aker to himself, saying that he had acted
In q highly honorable and diplomatic way,
and could not have hesitated to do as he
did. In confirmation of his statement that
the Governor believed the paper to be gen.
uine, witness put in evidence a Telegram
from Governor Foraker TO C.. A. Lehman.
of Newark. N. j., asking for bids upon the
o~1 t~-l1 49, =
me with a similar offer from Senator Nc
Phersoni L happen to have documents to
show that he is sufficiently familiar with the
business to make an intelligent bid.o Mr..
Halstead placed at the disposal of the COM
mittee his private letters to Governor
Foraker. INT said that some of them were
conclusive evidence that both himself and
Governor Foraker were fully convinced of
the soundness of the paper.
Upon crOss-examlnatiOn. Mr.. Grosvenor
asked for suggestions from witness for the
cross-examination of witnesses to follow,
n he agreed to write out a list OF ques-
lions.
Continuing, witness testified that MADDEN
had said nothing to him about another
ballot-bOx contract. 1t would have been
interesting and effective to rave been able
to say that. a year before the publication,
q man had seen the original paper. There
was always a mystery about that matter,
however. He was surprised to find that
Campbelrs attorneys had not played the
card of coming into the Commercial Gazette
Office with a constable armed with q writ
of arrest for criminal libel. and taking ont
the able editor, thrown tho affidavits
upon the table and annihilating the cam
paign at one stroke. With regard to him
self, their conduct was extremely generous.
and he was highly grateful; but. some how,
they did not rush in with their facts as
they might, and he was willing to let the
story stay half told. When Amor Smith
handed him the paper he said that the
signatures appeared to have been done
with printing ink. Witness had not
opposed Woods application o for the
smoke inspectorship to any extent, but
simply did not want to have any
thing to do with him. Gov. Foraker had
cautioned him to be careful Of the paper, as
it would throw the party into confusion if
all of it got out. The way the rumor got
out that there were other names than
Campbelps on the paper was that Jordan
intimated as much in some very unpleasant
speeches.
Mr.. Cogswell asked why witness did not
verify the character of the paper by Sena-
tor Sherman and Mr.. Butterworth.
Mr.. Halstead replied that Mr.. Butter
worth was not in the country, or had Just
landed: Senator Sherman was IN Washing
ton. He recalled the saying that you could
get a member of Congress to sign a petition
to get himself hanged. 1t was not a pleas
ant matter to put a finger upon q sore spot
like that; it was not his particular part to
90 scratching at ii Just then. The publica-
ton had been forced by circumstance be-
yond his control, so he did not consult the
s;ruaro Tho loUic of the haIlnt- nov hill uaa