The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1905-02-02

this was as it afterwards de-
veloped, after the government
had discharged Reddoch and
paid his bill of over three hun
dred dollars-a letter from M.
l.. Reddoch stating that he had
been employed to procure aft
davits; that he had not been
treated fairly, and proposing to
turn over to Mr.. Kitchin all the
athdavits, papers, etc., if Mr..
Kitchin would pay him a rea-
sonable compensation for his
time and expenses for bringing
them to him. To this letter
Mr.. Kitchin replied that as he
(Reddoch) did not name his en-
ployer, he (Mr. Kitchin) was in
ignorance as to whether it was
polite or private malice that
engaged his services; that while
he would like to know the SLAM
der and the slanderer in order
that he might denounce. them
both, he would not pay or APP
pear to pay one cent in the
matter. He then received a
telegram from Reddoch stating
that if he did not want the pa
pers they would be turned over
to the Associated Press. Mr..
kitchin replied that he could
do as he saw fit in the matter,
but that whatever he or the AS
sociated Press did would be on
their own responsibility. The
people of the Fifth district will
remember that Mr.. Kitchin,
during the campaign, referred
to this letter and telegram of
Reddoch to him and denounced
the effort made against him,
although at that time he did
not know the exact nature of
it. McBroom registered his
petition for pardon to Mr.. Kitch-
in, transmitted the same to the
department recommending it's
favorable consideration.
Around these facts Reddoch
wove his entire fabrication.
Mr.. Claude Kitchin never
heard of McBroom until the
receipt of the Attorney Gener-
ais letter.
The following is a copy of
the letter addressed by the At
torney General to each of the
Messrs. Kitchin:
Department of Justice,
Washington, Dec. 8, 1904.
Hon. Claude Kitchin, House of
Representatives, Washing
ton, D. G.
Sir-Under date of August
IS, 1904, a person signing him
self as NJ. L. Reddoch, address
ed a letter to the Postmaster
general. The letter in full is
as follows;
Lexington, Tenn,
Aug. Is, 1904.
Hon. Henry G. Payne, Wash
ington, D. G..
Dear Slr:-We notice through
the press that the Democratic
campaign committee has had
printed six million copies of
the speech delivered by Claude
member of Congress
from North Carolina, at the
last session of Congress, assail-
ing President Roosevelt.
While engaged in some de-
tective work in this State I
happened to obtain the follow
ing information concerning Mr..
Kitchin: In January, 1901,
Mr.. Kitchin addressed a letter
to w. r. McBroom, a Federal
prisoner sentenced from the
eastern district of North Caro-
lima, June 4th, 1900, for violat-
ing section 1924 f.. S., offering
to secure communication of his
sentence, or pardon, for the
sum of $3.50 for his services and
influence before the Depart
ment Of Justice. January 9Th.
1901, this money was registered
to Mr.. Kitchin, Washington, D.
c., by McBroom. January 23d.
1901, McBroom's sentence was
to a term of nine
months. February 9th he was
This letter of
Kitchin to McBroom, if wanted
to be used, can be secured, and
also affdavits to substantiate
the above charges. | have
in secret service work
for number of years, and am
a Republican, was elector on
the McKinley-Hobart ticket in
1896. AS reference | refer to
Hon. L. B. Mosley, Republican
national committeeman from
the State of Mississippi, whose
address is jackson, Miss.
If the above facts can be used
to any advantage to you in the
campaign or to the Department
of Justice, I offer my services.
In my opinion this could be
effectively used to counterfeit
the influence of Mr.. Kitchin's
speeches so widely distributed.
NV work will detain me in
Lexington for a few days only,
and would be pleased to hear