Jasper Weekly Courier, Volume 22, Number 34, Jasper, Dubois County, 13 August 1880 — Page 3

Tfce IN Weijar Case In m IWaobiCeBrt,

The following Is Mr. Garfield's eonnection with the De Golyer ivemBt m shown by the records of tl-1 Cirouit Court ol Cook County, Illinois, witk the Juniata of Jude Farwell. It is not

particularly cheerful reading for ltepubliOMRBi Slate of Illinois, Cook County Circuit Court. George K. Chittenden vs. Robert McGlellaiid et al. May term. 1876, before Farwell, Cirouit Judge, No. 12,181. The plaintiff, by K. A. Worm, Esq., brought suit Hgnint the defendant upon a contract, by which they agreed to pav him one-third of nil the profits uimjh'hII paving contracts which he would obtain for De Golyer and McClelland from Hoards of Public Works in Kastcrn cities. The declaration alleged that hu obtained a contract for paving 200.0(H) square yards from the Hoard of Public Works of the District of Columbia, at 93.60 pcryard, when it would cost only 91.60 to lay it down. That the profits were 9100,000, and elaiinod the defendant should pay

him 9100,000 at least.

The defeadants ploadod in substance: &,,ei 0tc.) has a right to put "1. That the contract was void on its ,lf Iu R position of temptation.

fucr..

2. That it was obtained by the

plaintiff by improper influences, against public policy, and therefore was void. The nloa set out that It was obtained

mainlv through tho influence of James

A. Garfield, then amcinberof Congress j and Chairman of tho Committee on Ap- !

propriations iu the House of Represent- jieu to D0 good, and that the ativnii. tliat fiartielll Was tO rOCeiVU a I u.u .t.l oa oinii nnlilii.

Child, not yet reported (May, 1876), decided at the last October term in the Supreme Court in the Uuited States, Mr. Justice Swayne, ia a very able opiaioa, reviews all the cats, aad holds: That a contract, express or implied, for any purely professional service Is valid. Within this category he includes drafting a petition, attendance on taking testimony, collecting facts, preparing arguments, and submitting thorn orally or in writing to a ooaimittee or other proper authority. But such services are separated by a broad line from personal solicitation and from official influence. "The agreement with General Garfield, a member of Congress, to pay him five thousand dollars as a contingent fee for procuring a contract.

which was itself made to dopeud upon a future appropriation by Congress which appropriation could only come from a committee of which he was Chairman was a sale of oflicial influence, which no veil can cover, against the nlalnest priuciules of public policy.

No counselor at law while holdim;

high office (much less a minister of the ..." - I ... 1 t. !

Uli iu u iniu-

pOSltlOIl of temptation, ana,

under nretense of inakinsr h. oM ar

gument, exert his official influence upon public oflicers, dependent upon hu future action. "Certainly tho courts of justice will

never lend thctn-elvos to enforce con

tracts obtained bv such influence.1

Tho demurrer was overruled, me

fee of 95,000 for obtaining it; that the contract contained a clause for 50,000 additional square yards contingent upon an appropriation to bo made by Congress; that by tho usual course of business all bills for such appropriations came from tho committee of which said Garfield was thon Chairman; that he did subsequently reort a bill appropriating 91,241,000 out of which said pavement could bo paid for; and that for his influcnoo and services ho did reeeivo the sum of 96,000. "U. Auothorplea sot out the facts above stated and alleged that the said )lnintilV and said Garfield and said loard of Public Works then well knew Uiat it teas not the arguinenU of said Qarjiddas a lawyer, but hi influence as a member of Congress having xwer on the appropriations to be ?noe that the plaintiff had sought and obtained and paid for, and therefore the contract was illeeal. acrainst public policy and

roid." The plaintiff demurred to those picas; the defendants joined in demurrer. The Court sustained the pleas, and held that the contract was void as against public policy. Mr. J. R. Doolittlo, who appoared as counsel for the defendants, submitted among others tho following points, iu writing, May 14, 1875, Judge Farwell presiding: "4. The ploas aro good. They set out in substance that the contract was obtained by tho plaintiff of the Board of Public Works of tho District of Columbia by improper influences. That the contract was in part -to the amount of

60.000 square yards upon its face,

by conspirators or of a new civil war. It was eertaia that at midnight on the 3d of March the functions of President Grant would absolutely cease aad de

termine, and that oa that day that

begun either Mr. Tilden or Mr. Hayes must become President of the United States. There was a chance that Mr. Ferry would attempt to usurp i.r..t. .... J ......

UHI puwer WINN waa iwibu ib hhs m u houses, over the joint meeting of

which he was to preside. There was more than a chance that the two houses would disagree as to a choice. In that

case, we repeat, every maa in me

country would have been forced to make his election between the claim

ants, and it would have behooved every man to make hnj election, as it is

tieeeral CarSeU's A

We publish elsewhere the letter et acceptance of General CJerneM. It repudiate an unnamed portion of the Chicago platform oa which he was nominated; plainly seeks to make the issue of the campaign one of eeatraliaatioa against civil liberty; waves the Woody shirt hehiag a transparent screea; dementis that the Executive Department of the Government shall elect the Congress of the people; aves the way for the emigration of negroes to the States where their votes are seeded; talks of schooW that are beyond the jurisdiction of the Federal Government; bids for the votes of soldiers whose Arrears-of-Pensions hill found aa enemy ia him; di-

perty thai pcee a ban1

I vuIm: his nlaaant. word uaon the nues-

now alleged mat uenerai uaneooK um :.v I7i, tariff htwea the facts. In so looking baekat that time, llimlr 1 k earrviasr lre " Pennsylvania: oomplimeats the founder

luiMvmiuiu3iuu.i.i.M . -- i .1, M ....... 7..

contract was void as against puulic

policy. All these matters appear by the roc

ords of the Circuit Court of Cook

County in case No. 12,181.

(tea. Haaceck and (he Electlea ef 1878.

Some of our Republican contempora

ries seem to bo str.in.rclv anxious to cet

it understood that during tho closing months ofIo7G or the earlier months of

1877 General Hancock notified one of

his superior oflicers that he considered Mr. Tilden to havo been duly elected

President of tho United State?, adding, of course, that if Congress declared Mr. Tilden to havo bcou so elected, and if Mr. Tilden should take the oath of office as President. General Hancock

would obey his orders on and after the 4th of March, 1877. It is to be hoped

the Republicans may succeed in proving this, because if they should succeed in proving it they would greatly strengthen General Hancock's claims upon the confidence of his countrymen. General Hancock had in 1877, as he has in 1880, but two superior officers in tho military service General Sherman and General Sheridan. If he addressed to anybody such a notification as is alleged, he must have addressed it to one of these officers, and official propriety would doubtless havo induced him to address it to General Sherman. As neither General Sherman nor General Sheridan nor yet General Hancock: himself has confirmed the rumor of suoh a notification, it must at present be regarded as merely a rumor, though

a rumor highly creditable to General Hancock, and euek a minor as would

nrovi

the said contract of the Board of Public

Works; that by his influence and persuasion he did procure the same, for which he received the sum of 95.000. That afterward a bill was reported from tho committee of which he was Chairman, and did pass the House and pass Congress and become a law. appropriating the sum of 91,-

contingent upon a future appropriation naturally arise concerning aa officer on to be made by Congress; thatthe plain- whose loyalty and patriotism partisaa tiff employed James A. Garfield, then passion itself has not ventured to cast a being a member of Congress and Chair- doubt, man of the Committee on Appropria- The assertion that such a notification tions of the House of Representatives, was made by General Hancock after the a. f.nntimn.nt fee of false iudsrment of the Electoral Com-

7. ruA ....,.Ai,i h urmtlfl niifain tin. mt-uion had been rendered, or even

aner uiai uuuy uw uc ubmuihuiu, of course absurd. General Hancock is

neither a rioter nor a revolutionist, but

a law-abiding citizen and a faithful soldier. The Electoral Commission

ijave to Mr. Hayes u color of title which nrutcctod every public servant in obey

ing any lawful orders which came from him, and in which the whole American

taan run tne

ar. ueiore me

Commission was established, and when

941.000 out of which the pay- people acquiesccu rauicr

ment under said contract could be made risk of a new civil war i ..t.t n.r PnliUr. WnrkH: that Commission was ostablisl

tho plaintiff and the defendant and the the monstrous claim was put forward iot;,.i,i ml tlrt trmmbars of tlie that the President of the Senate alone

said Board of Public Works wen Knew nau tae ngni w cuuni w- "

at tho time of his said employment, and that there was no appeal irom nis ueciat tho time of his service in procuring sion, though every member of Congress .,tr,f that, satil Rartield. from misht know that he certified a lalse-

imiU VWU-Vf m. ...... ,

hood in every pretended count, it was among things possible that every public servant and every private citizen of this country might be forced to choose for himself whom he would recognise as President. On the one side was this

f..f .,i,tu!mil hv imnroDcr influences, monstrous claim that a casual Senator.

aeainst public policy, and is void. who happened te be tho presiding offi

"5. It is no sufficient "answer to say cerof

hia official nosition. did and would have

a potent influence in procuring the passage of such appropriation to carry such contract into effect by said Board of Public Works, and that by moans of the premises the said contract was, in

that Garfield was at the sainu time a member of tho legal profeuou. His Iwing a member of Congress at the same time and employment as counsel upon a contingent fee, or otherwise, to obtain a contract from a board of public officers, dependent upon tho future act of Congress to fulfill, is against public policy aud void. "6. That the plaintiff Chittenden well knew and intended thatthe influence of General Garfield, as a member of Congress, was to be used in producing tho contract, rather then his arguments as a counselor at law, is evident from his letter to the defendants, set out in their special plea, in which he says: 4 The influence of General Garfield has been secured by yesterday,

lot nuht and to-dav's labors. He car-

. ... tf !. .l C?

ries

Chairman

nriations and is tho

the Senate in consequence of the

death of the Vice-President, had power to nullify the will of the American people. On the other side was the fact, as clear then as it is now, that the will of tho American people had been expressed in the election of Mr. Tilden. If it had come to a choice between those alternatives it would have been tho duty of General Hancock, as a soldier aad a citi en, to choose his course in accordance with what he believed to le the facts, aad to take sides with the American people against the group of desporate political gamblers who were trying to defraud them of their right to choose their own President, If it seemed to General Hancock that the time for a choice had iwimo St was his dutv to eivc. as it is

.. . "... ...

allnnd that he srave. a timely notice to

irtnan nf th rommittoe on Apnro- w i ch ho had arrived, and to wa. n nSh in them that no assistance coald be com.

Ingres;, and with our friend my de- ed on from him . towards reversing , vne mam! is to-day not less than one hun- verdict which the people had rendered

drml thousand more two nuuuruu h wy..

more two

thousand in all. Everything is in the

best shape, the connections complete, and, I have reason to bulicvc, satisfactory. I can hardly realize that wo have General Gartluld with us. It is rare and very gratifying. All the appropriations of tne District come from "In tlm taceat case of Burke vs.

If it be true that General liancocK

felt himself moved to give this notice ami this warn i nr. the fact would tend

to justify the fear felt at the time by siifh nut rim In men as Senator Bayard

ami Snnalor Thiirman that the Elect

or! f:ommltion was necessary to save

the country from tho alternatives of the nnnwisted seizure of the Government

ioritv of the arbitrators to whom the

case was leit cueaieu mo American people, by deciding that the facts were

relevant in uregoa aim cuikhmc iu Floiida, the disgrace to their thimblerigging is theirs alone, and not that of the men who devised the arbitration, or of the American people who loyally submitted to a decision which they knew to be unjust. Among the thimbleriggers of the Commission was James A. Garfield. Among the men who submitted to the wrong done by Garfield and his confederates was Gen

eral Hancock. But it would redound

to General Hancock's honor could it be shown that he notified his superiors that, in the absence of aa authorita

tive lawful decision of the question

who should be recognizod as the Presi

dent of the United Statos. ue snouiu

decide it for himself by recognizing

the man whom lie believed to have been elected to the office. A". Y. World.

The Demands sf the Camaatga. Sncakinff of the approaching cam

paign, the Detroit Free Press says: The nomination of General Hancock has

comnletelv demoralized the Republican

machine. It has utterly ruined their

nlan of the campaign. Whatever un

certainty the Republican managers felt on other points, they were sure that they could fall back upon tho "war issue." It lias been fought out long

since. The vitality has lone been

squeezed out of it. But the managers

intended: to dress up ine saeieion ana parade it through the campaign for the

stalwarts aud the faithful to rally

around. Tho selection of Hancock de- j privos them of even this poor possibili- j ty. There ia not only no part for such a skeleton to play, there is not even

room for the ghost of the war issue.

The old slanders and battle cries and

crimson emblems have been swept

aside. The campaign must be fought

on living issues. The Republicans must win, if at all, by the strength of their own cease, not by the imaginary or alleged weakness of the cause of their opponents. How mtfe chance there is of winning ia ueh a eeeiltiet the EeoaMicaa dejec

tion shows. Th eerrapt ad extravagant record of the party eaa ae longer

be ignored and Maced m te background while outrages are discussed aad dilated upon. It must be defended or apologized f or, and both defense and apology are impossible. With a stainless candidate, around whom the party could rally with enthusiasm, progress might still be made in popular approbation. But the stainless candidate is on the Democratic ticket. Scarcely three weeks nominated. General Garfield already finds himself involved inextrica

bly ia a defensive campaign. The iouraak which were expected to be

souadinr his praise , the orators who

were counted oa lor rnapsoaicai exaltation of his name, the poets who were to ainr means in his praise, have all been

driven to the whitewash brush aad are

busilv daubinr awav in the vain hope

that they may be able to efface some of the darkest spots ia his record. Already the rank and file which hastily welcomed Garfield as a relief from the bad

pombility of Graatandthe worse pos bilitv of Blaine, bojrin to see that his

no name to conjure with, aad that too little magnetism is almost as bad ae too

much.

In its details, too. the campaign pre

. m -W ".I

scnts very awkward leatures. ia me

first nlace Maine must oe aasureu m

Sflntember. in the sacred name of

"prestige;' for, in the Republican

sh bboleth. "as iroes Name, so jcoes

ihn Union" O.-dinarilv this is a mat

ter of ao difficulty, for Maine hi as sure

as Iowa. But this year Muine lias

smially look. The blood of the oppo

nents ot Kepuoiieanisra is up sum aj-

iwarances indicate a siuuuura urm.

MM. v.ul, nf tlm fait lf ill will hard

tn lmriti earlv and will be tolerably op

presiive if Maine is to be saved. Thca Ohio is to be secured ia October, which

means another assessment, aad a great nflbrt must be made to keep Indiana

frnm thfi Democracy. Pennsylvania,

too, with a candidate oa the Democratic

ticket, will need constant looking after.

Talc it all is all the Republican out

look is not a happy one.

In one respect, however, the Republican party has a decided advantage

which cannot and must not be lenored

It has nrcranizttion and discipline in a

word, the machine. Fortunately, however, it can easily be deprived of this advantage by prompt, energetic action nn tia itart of the Democracy. Let the

wnrk be besrun at once, in the wards

ami In the township, in the cities am:

in the counties. Fortn clubs, appoint committees, secure a canvass and meet

ntvan ixal n and discipline with organ

tttftkM aad rfWinline! So let the De-

nuwranr 1m tvut la o.-ition to avail it

ut of th rand nrobabilities which

under valiant leaders like

Hancock aad Earlish presents.

imrtv when be speaks

of our splendid domain; deaonaces General Garfield as a hypocrite ia mention-

nr the Chinese question: aad actually

has the audacity to allude to Civilservice reform while Arthur is at the tail of the Presidential ticket. This is

the substance, this is the essence, of the letter of acceptance. Garfield repudiates a part of the

platform oa which be wa3 nominated.

in doubt the portions which he refuses to indorse. If there is any class of Ke-

fiublicans devoted to any doctrine aleged to be contained ia the Chicago platform that may be the dectriae which Garfield pays he does not indorse. General Garfield has already arrayed against him a majority of the people of the United States; he can ill afford to array against himself any fraction of his own party not already opposed to his election. He savs that he indorses the

platform " oh nearly M the subjects of which it treats." This is " nearly all" that need be said concerning the wisdom, or sagacity, or popular efficiency of the letter of acceptance. Has Garfield the vanity to suppose that be is stronger than the Republican party of the United Slates? Docs he think that he can afford to defy his owa party uoon anv miblic nuestion? How can a

. ..." . .

It is the an

Preeseeat Hares t

previeiec for reetrietia ea

HwmrtatiM. aad GerftcM hi

Gerfiekl tkat labored aad veted te

tela that veto. General Garfekl has made a erree4er ia some measure iipoa the Crril-eerriee Keform qwactioa. Tae Hayes theery was that aaembeiv of Cofaresa aaeeM have notig te do wHh the aaaaiat; el appomtaMMts. Garfield bows te the maebiae aad saya: -TVjte wfeeirfrMa mhtw ytaelaHiia taoe wao are kx-rf MM tor Ik -' to W au4 rwwire an qwlauar far bTm4 tk nuwe tit mmy ae mm. Th' Mxmtivt, anuM. lamwrore. mm reMim

1 taforaMttnfc aa4 aartitoaew of tk wt i kaovkde of tae MManrattfctf fa

Ia the Civil-service pbak ia the Chicago platform oae of the planks which. Garfk-ki repadiates? Has he aeade the bargain? Does be really meaa te effer an affroat to the Adfateietratieft ef Hayes Cinci i fsfiaw.

man of Garfield's sensitive moral and

MThte aad Ceeeaer. We think I)eaoerate hare

be tw aaaca encouraged this year, net merely ia regard to those States which, the Republicans admit to be doebtfal, sch as Kew York, New Jersey, CeaBectient, Indiana, bat also ia regard to those States which the latter have hitherto claimed aa their exclusive territory, among them Pennsylvania, BMBois, Hlacoasia. Maine. New Hampshire, Maseechnaetts, Oregon aad Caffomia. FoarvearsagotbeRepeMeaas carried Hlindts by a majority of 1.S71, in a vote of 555,000; Ohio by 2.747 ia a vote ef 658,000. aad Pennsylvania by a majority of 9.375. ia a vote of 730.000, Thus a chaage of 7,000 votes, rightly distributed, would give those great States to the Democracy. Ohio w net a foregone conclusion for GaraeW ia the opiaioa of maay eegaeioas poli

ticians; bat u ae cannot carry uaie there are no States be can carry, naless. perhaps. Venaoat aad Iowa. He can probably carrv his own State bat he wdl have to wake a fight for it. Hancock is popular ia IIHboh. aad wkk Trumbull at the head of the State tieket it will take more moaev than the Ke-

hke speadHur

i-i : :n rl .uui u n

: . ... . . , ini oticbus nm eu uu oraran, --'

intellectual coBK)saton accept a nomi- k tbe Barrow margin of foar years n at inn at. th hands of a TiartV all Of " . .. n. i :-.!..

..w " i , mtm onui

whose declaration of faith he does not

approve? Is not this worse than Garfield's "melancholy days of November," and worse than placing Xerxes, the Persian, at the head of the armies

of the Greeks? Did he not build wiser than he knew when he ured upon that

portion of his party which he has not repudiated the need of schools? Is be not guilty of insulting the Convention

that placed him upon the platform A had unanimously adopted?

After repudiating the itepuoocaa platform ia part,Gcaeral Garfield antag

onizes a doctrine ot "ataie supre

macy," which, in tbe sense in which be

speaKS oc it, no maa u ia w""; maintains, and then announces the doctrine of centralism, to which aa immense ma ioritv of the people of the

United States are opposed. TV hen he

aays that "the right of the Nation to determine the methods by which He am Wurialatiom shall be created eaa aot

be anrreadsred." he meant that the

1?Twiitirft Denartment of the Govern

ment, if it happens to be ia the hands

of his own party, shall be permitted, to stalk into all the States and all the Coajrressional Districts, aad all the cities

and all the towns, anu uy me amy uu the Marshals aad the Supervisors te elect a Congress. What greater cen

tralism thaa this? What u more Hedemocratic? What more ub republican? This is the doctrine that the Executive

Deoarticent of the (Hvernment shall

.. m. a . a al. .

elect the Lisiauve jueparuecni u uw u-gay

Government. I seised with

Gaaeral Garfield shonkl have omitted

allusions to the right of electors to have .v..:. t-nia laruiiudir fMlHt!.1 He

basil w " " J ; - should not have invited attentwa to his own record ia tbe matter of stealing

two States about four years ago 'a matter ia which he stultified himself most shamelessly under one oath pro

claiming one theory as to whs r.wcw Commission, and under another oth, another. In one subtle sentence General Garfield encourages negro immigrathm. The only infereace is that

nerro votes are neeueu m

States. He pleads the cause ot miaon-

ties none hath ir renter need bat he

the minorities ia the Soath.

Me speaKs ot tne " sacrea ooiigaiiw to the soldiers of the Union.'' This

was a doublv unfortunate allusion. Use

of the most splendid aad distinguished of these soldiers is General Winnekl

Scott Hancock, the opposing candidate for the Presideacy, and if these obligations are really sacred ia the eves of the American people Hancock, of course, will be elected. It was also

unfortunate because when the Arrears-

of-Peneions bill was pending ia Coejrress Garfield didn't regard those obli

gations as at an saercu. In speaking of the tariff. Garfiekl aims not to be driven oat of the Cobden Club or out of all hope of carrying Pennsylvania. He pleads tor river aad harbor improvements, aad pays a tribute to the founder of tbe Democratic party in so doing. The vast territory whkh the Democratic party secured for thee Unit! States receives handsome mention. Geaeral Garfield is compelled to play the hypocrite upon the Chinese ,- tion. He is oa record on thi isene. The Republican party is, also on record upon this Buekmby the io solemnly formal acts. Garfield's words in this letter oaanet balance hk votes ia Congress. The words in this letter oa this subject meaa next to nothing; bat if the meant teafoM more they would be unavailing. IP party would aet pern-it him to aatagea'ae its record oa thai

ago good. It is ia Penasylvaaia that Colonel MeClnre's happy figure has its most significant application. Hancock ' will ma there ' hke ire ia aa Aagast clearing' A chaage of 4.500 votes, ea. the basns of the voting foar years ago, will give oar gallant candidate the Stateand if there iat enough political independence aad State pride aad gratitude ia the commonwealth to make that difference we shall be very mack

disappointed. Bat even at tbe worst, from a Democratic stand-point, the

Iht ia thse States will be so smart

that it will make tbe Kepabfieaa corraptioa fund- or campaJga fund ae they prefer to call it look small, aad then, what will that party do to be saved New York, Indiana, New Jersey aad Connecticut? Jast bow the prospoeta of Mr. GaraeW's party are not rwey. Its resources will have to he spread

over a rreat ueai more grove

aid that alone

afen iVer.

ftUTKAL

The bloody shirt

TSnSia John Loraa is credited wieh the

remark that anybody Cam pool He preacher.

The ReMblieaa orraas act

able to dcaeoeiee Geeerai Haeveeek

Copjferhead" are bnnrmgafmathiat the serious charge that he ia a "rega-

a remarkable idmimtina

for the vdanteer service.

The Chicaco a4er-0ee hints to

Repablieaas aot to defend Gorfcid cause he doeem't need any defai

The hint comes too hrte. RnpnhMsaaa felt instinctively that Garfield did nee defease, aad they have eaheied far the war ia a. defensive capaa. XeweeJ Frst Pre. Geaeral Garfield's rote m Congress ia recorded ia fevor of the celebrated joint resolution signed by Abra

ham Lincoln which expreasea ana National gratitude to Majer-Geacral WiafieM Scott Hancock "for gaMeat aad eoBpicaoiis share in the great aael decisive victory of Gettysburg." Ohio famished 310,000 eoktfers to the war for the Uaion. Several score of thousands of these asea are stM aMva aadia Ohm, and wm vote m Xeveaaber. And thoamada of these will vote for Geaeral Hancock, who never before voted a Democratic ticket. Why should Ohio be forever called a ReoabXea State? Whv should act Haaceek'a name carry Ohio in October? Ow-

nmi Enquirer. Hancock's aoaaiaatioa has completely demoraliaed all the thinking Radicals ia this aeek of wood. As they opea oat the old eaanpeiga trunk aad look over the of tea ased parapberaaHe, they pick up the bloody shirt, take one long, linrermg gaae at their holered cmeiga. abed a tear of rerret, aad axclaim ia the iaemortal worda ef Hoa. Bardwell Slote, aogoed,,, "ae geed." adMHM 9toU Sentmd. A few days ago the nomination was formally tendered te Geaeral Haaeoek. In about foar months the re-

poae of the country to UTs will recall to all men's ah

lom-iag historical document: MaaocAKTBa Seoa Conra. fflarrra-y

aeae, armt or tjk rmwi. .

MaJoc4eftaweG. Anar ta Pomaie.

miods thefel-

iwM t ettmjr' awawte aaa fcaw