Rensselaer Union, Volume 11, Number 24, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 February 1879 — The Investigation of the Cipher Dispatches. [ARTICLE]

The Investigation of the Cipher Dispatches.

Tlje results of the cipher-dispatcH investigation, though made by a committee the majority of whom were Democrats, and though the testimony was given, without exception, by Democrats, more than sustain the charge* made by the Republicans of attempted bribery and corruption, by accredited agents o( Mr. Tilden and the Democratic party, pending the jomting of the Electoral Colleges in 1876. Some of the facts brought out by this investigation, as ascertained by a careful examination of the detailed reports ofthe testimony, are summarized below: 1. The substantial accuracy of the New York Tribune's translations of the cipher dispatches is admitted. _ Mr. Weed skys that the translations are “pretty accurate;” Col. Pelton also testifies to their general correctness; and even Manton Marble, who began his evidence with an affected sneer at the " Tribune's rub-a-dub,” was compelled to acknowledge the truth of the Tribune translations in the most important dispatches with which he was concerned. In cases where these gentlemen pretended to doubt the correctness of the Tribune's versions, they were' utterly, unable to supply any other! having, with a remarkable unanimity destroyed their keys and devoted their entire energy to forgetting their meaning It is safe to assume, therefore, the substantial correctness of the Tribune translations, with but one or two important exceptions, and even in these the error occurred, not in the translation, but in the obscurity and imperfection of tbe copies C» the original cipher dispatches. 2. From this concession follows Jut v ’- itably another, which is also practical!} r made oy the witnesses —that there was a Democratic conspiracy to purchase the Electoral votes of South Carolina: and Florida—or, what amounted to the' same thing, to purchase the decision of. the Returning Boards of these States. The cipher dispatches tell this story forthemselves so plainly that, if their genuineness, and the correctness of their' translation, be admitted, there is no possibility of evading tbe conclusion.. The conspirators realized this,, and made little attempt to deny their own guilty participation in the attempted purchase of Returning Boards. Mr. Weed is clear that he attempted to purchase South Carolina—his only doubt being whether $60,000 or IjBJO,OUO was the “ consideration” named in the contract. Mr. Pelton is equally frank in his admission that he was anxious to accept both the South Carolina and the Florida propositions. Manton Marble alone, of the active agents in the con r sniracy. sets up any pretense of virtue.. He claims that he transmitted the; propositions for the purchase of the Florida vote simply as a matter of news, and as a “ danger-signal.” But if this had been Marble’s real purpose, he could have accomplished it much more effectually by telegraphing the news to the Associated Press than by wrapping if tip in a complex cipfrer and sending it to Gramercv ParkAnd, if he forwarded bis dispatches: iherely as a warning, he would not hqVe repeated them, on a continually descending scale of prices, untH Pelton telegraphed: “Proposition accepted if done only once.” The evidence makes clear oeyond any possibility of doubt or denial that there w as a corrupt endeavor to purchase the votes of South Carolina and Florida, and thatso far a# the Democratic conspiracy; was concerned, it was only defeated, in Florida at least, by misunderstanding and consequent delay. 3. The evidence, upon its surface, does not connect Mr. Tilden with the conspiracy. Elicited by a committee of Mr. Tilden’s political allies, and given by his personal friends and 'adherents, it was not likely that it would. The plan previously foreshadowed was carried out. Nephew Pelton was made the scapegoat, and is to bear off into the wilderness the sins of his uncle and the Democratic managers. The witnesses, while confessing their own share in the attempted crime, are swift to shield Mr. Tilden, and that venerable gentleman himself makes solemn oatlx to his own touching innocence and illimitable ignorance of what was going, on about him. But there are reasons for distrusting all these protestations. Mr. Tilden’s own testimony must be taken, with allowance when we compare it with his published denial, in a letter dated Oct. 18, 1878, that he knew anything about the offer of the Florida certificates until long after the 6th of December, 1876, and also protesting utter ignorance in regard to the SoDth Carolina offer. These statements may have been technically true, but they were, and are admitted by Mr. Tildew tq .be, “ calculated to deceive.” So. Mr. Tilden’s denials may now evade perjury and yet leave an entirely falseimpression on the public mind 4. But, giving these denials and protestations all the weight to which they can be entitled, these faets stillremain: Pelton was Tilden’s nephew, trusted agent, confidential manager, so regarded by the men who made the propositions of bribery to him; Weod was* his political henchman and retainerr. Marble was his personal and political friend, and active in his service; these men plotted to corrupt the election and buy the Electoral vote of two States; and Mr. Tilden, after discovering these facts, still retained them in his confidence and friendship, instead of denouncing them to the world as criminals. Mr. Tilden may escape under the Scotch verdict; “ not proven,” but the presumption of his guilty connivance, or at least of his refusal to acquaint himself with the facts of a conspiracy carried on under his own eyes, rests heavily Upon him. 5. The actual facts developed in the unwilling testimony of these Democratic witnesses are'&uccintly stated by the New York Tribune, as follows: “As to Florida, that Manton Marble telegraphed in cipher to Mr. Tilden’shouse two proposals to buy votes, one tor $200,080 end one for $50,000; that C. W. Wooley nho transmitted to Col. I’eltpn a proposal for 450,000; and that Col. Pelton replied, ‘Proposition accepted, if don's only once,’ but directed the agents to consult with each other. “As t» South Carolina, that Smith M. Weed transmitted in cipher telegrams to Col. Pelton a proposal to buy votes for SBO,OOO, was Instructed that the money would be furnished, and went to Baltimore to get It; that Col. Pelton went thither to deliver It, und telegraphed for it to the Treasurer of the Democratic National Committee, but was recalled ; that ft subsequent effort to secure the vote by fraud and bribery was defeated by premature adjournment of the boarJ. . “As to Oregon, that Pa'rick ftnds, Kelly telegraphed for money to ‘ purchase Republican Elector to recognize and act with Demvicrat,’ and that Pelton deposited money to be foi warded, but the remittance arrived too late” —Detroit Po§t and Tribune. “** * -—’ -eAn Irishman remarked to hfaricompanion, on iobsorving A lady pass: > ‘ Patj did yott ever »eeß@.tbitt*rWonaan as that before?” “Thin!” replied the other. “ Botherashen! I seen a woman as thin as two of her pat together, so I have.”