The Hawaiian gazette., 1909-11-19
CRANE NOT THE \
FIRST RECALLED
Nmr1g Recalled Hia Mexican
Minister, Catching HIM
on TIE Border.


Tire experiences 1f Charles r. Crane
with eie mission % China recalls the
s-sss if rIe almost f1rgnrten Ninian
Eiuv1rtl vim started ont az United
'tHu-s minister a Mexicu, but never
r,sseiisst riie capital OF the sister re-
uuhlic aIra tie View York sun.
Eiiyvuntf had been United States
ssimrnr frum lllinnia, and Monroe, near
zine iins.s uf hia seauud term, gave him
-lIe Mfziran mHsinn. The country was
-iI'sn nf.HriHu the end Of the socaIled
.szI OF nnud feeling and Edwards had
n'-ssiI contributing MS share 20 the po-
lirlrsll diserrd or thar curious time by
writing ietr,.rs sigHed "A B." IN a
y .IssiIIHuruu newspaper published IN the
Interest," Of Calhoun These letters ac-
1z,Issfi William h Crawford, secretary
8t lne treasury, Of corrupt practices in
Jfiice, and they were intended 70 kill
II Crawford a. a candidate for Presi-
is-lr. Calhoun himself was the sub
lecT 1f similar attacks instigated by
Cr-Iw-nri- but he easily disproved them.
Edwards arranged that after he had
started for his post IN Mexico the "A.
z letters should be sent 70 the house
Of representatives as the basis of i'm
parchment proceedings against Craw-
fori, and II was then that the author
sinp Of the letters became known. In
transmitting them TO the Speaker of the
house Edwards avowed himself their
author and added TO the charges al
ready made public others that were
sufficient as ground of impeachment.
Crawford at the time lay i'll at
home. having been attacked with pa
I ralysis about four months earlier, in
/ September. 1923. and left in such con
dition that he transacted much of his
I business as secretary of the treasury
| by proxy. The attack in the house had
I been made by Edwards at such a time
/ as made it difficult for Crawford ia
I prepare a defense before the political
/ campaign of 1924 was finished.
His friends rallied to his aid and
asked that Edwards he fetched back
1 The house accordingly sent the ser
neaut-ar-arms after the minister and
he was overta6en near New Orleans
4 He came back 1900 miles to Washing
4 TON IN the custody of the sergeantat
arms.
4 Crawford meanwhile had got to
gether mass of evidence on his side
and Edwards completely failed to make
good his charges, so that a committee
of which Daniel Webster and John Ran
dolph were members, unanimously re
ported in vindication of the accused
secretary.
Although Edwards had had a long
honorable and successful public career
as a Judge in Kentucky and as terri
toriaI governor of Illinois and then a
senator. this affair was his ruin in ma
tinnaI politics. 1t was known tina
. Crawford had fought two duels ano
killed his man in one of them and may
be this fact was taken into account b,
the public in estimating the quality o
Edwards s performance in making al
attack upon a physically disabled mai
and fastening to a distant land jus
when his share IN the matter should be
come known.
At any rate such storm of contemp
? broke upon him that he resigned his ap
. poiutment to Mexico and returned t
| Illinois. He was then under fifty, bu
he took no further part in nationa
politics, though he had a sort of win
. dication at home by his election a
governor Of Illinois. He died less tina
: ten years after this affair. Crawford
the invalid, outIived him by about
year.