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Second Closing 2

Robert Green Ingersoll

66 page printout, page 62 - 127

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THE CLOSING ADDRESS OF THE STAR ROUTE TRIAL
(2 of 3 parts)
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Bank of Wisdom, Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201

The Works of ROBERT G. INGERSOLL

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PART 2 OF THE CLOSING ADDRESS
OF THE STAR ROUTE TRIAL

Mr. Gibbs is the man who had such control of hiS mind, and he
tells you that the name of J.H. Mitchell was not in the book.

Mr. Donnelly says he does not remember any such name as J.H.
Mitchell, and yet he holds an office. He has the poorest memory for
any one under the present Administration, I ever saw. He does not
remember the name of J.H. Mitchell. Who does remember it? Mr.
Rerdell. But Mr. Rerdell does not say what he had charged to J.H.
Mitchell; he does not say what was in the book as against J.H.
Mitchell; he fights clear of that charge. And why? He was afraid
that John H. Mitchell might testify. According, I think, to Mr.
Rerdell, there was a charge against Belford on those books. I do
not know why Belford's name did not appear on the memorandum, but
I will come to Belford afterwards.

Mr. BLISS, Mr. Ingersoll, Mr. Donnelly does not mention in any
way and is not asked on the subject of Mr. Mitchell.

Mr. INGERSOLL. I think he is, I will find it after awhile if
I can, and if I cannot I will admit that you are right. I do not
know where it is. I do not wish to be interrupted.

Mr. BLISS. I claim the right.

Mr. INGERSOLL, Well, go on; the poor man only had seven days
in which to make his speech.

Mr. BLISS. I have before me Mr. Donnelly's evidence, and he
does not mention the name of Mitchell in any manner, and is not
asked about it, so far as I can see. I think when the statement is
persisted in there should be some reference given to the page.

Mr. INGERSOLL. It is on page 2637.

Mr. DAVIDGE. And at page 2639, about two inches from the top.

Mr. INGERSOLL. -- It is sufficient for my purpose, which is
this: That he gave the names of all the accounts he could remember,
and in that list of names he did not give the name of J.H.
Mitchell. So I think I can fairly say to you that that man did not
remember any account against J.H. Mitchell. Mr. Gibbs was asked

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directly whether there was any account against J.H. Mitchell, and
he did not remember any such. Now, the only person that swears to
it at all is Mr. Rerdell. Then you come across this contradiction:
Why should the name of J.H. Mitchell be there with nothing opposite
to it? I do not know. The prosecution, of course, will be able to
find writing of S.W. Dorsey that will resemble some of the writing
on this pencil memorandum. There is no doubt about that If it was
written by Rerdell in imitation of Dorsey's writing, it is not
surprising that writing really written by Dorsey can be found that
looks like it. Why? Because it was written in imitation of his
writing, and therefore you can find writing of Dorsey's that looks
like it; otherwise it would not be an imitation. The next question
arises, Can you find writing of Rerdell's that looks like it? Yes;
87X.  The M.C.R., the S.W.D., and the J.W.D. are all exactly like
it. Now, is it not infinitely surprising that Dorsey should imitate
Rardell without trying and without an object? Is it not perfectly
wonderful that this memorandum should be in imitation of Rerdell's
writing, when it was written by Dorsey? But if it was forged by
Rerdell, it is not wonderful that it looks like Dorsey's writing.
If Dorsey wrote it without thinking of Rerdell, I say the accident
is infinitely wonderful that he imitated Rerdell. Which is the more
probable -- that Dorsey imitated Rerdell without design and without
trying, or that Rerdell imitated Dorsey with a design, and when
trying to do so? That is the way to put this argument, and I hope
the gentlemen will answer it. The ingenuity that would be displayed
in the answer would a thousand times pay me for the loss of the
point. I want them to account for this, how Dorsey's natural
handwriting comes to look like Rerdell's, and how it is that this
looks precisely like Rerdell's in many instances. Why is it,
gentlemen? I will tell you. Mr. Rerdell had written the initials
J.W.D., S.W.D., and M.C.R. so often that when he came to put them
upon this memorandum he forgot to disguise his hand. That is the
reason. You find on 87X the W.D. precisely as it is on the pencil
memorandum. You find the M.C.R. precisely as it is on the pencil
memorandum. You see if you have done the same thing many times with
your hand, the hand gets a mind of its own. It is in that way that
you learn to play upon the piano. The hand becomes educated and
follows the keys through all the mazes of melody without asking one
question of the mind. You can write a name so often, you can make
initials so often, that when you come to write them, no matter what
your object is, the hand, educated with a mind of its own, pursues
the old accustomed motions and paths. That is the reason that
J.W.D. and S.W.D. and M.C.R. are exactly in the handwriting of
Rerdell in this pencil memorandum. According to that, Dorsey had
paid out in all, I think, about $65,000, or something like that.
There is no truth in it, gentlemen,

Now, in order to prepare your mind for the next point I am
going to make, and in order that you may know something about. this
man Rerdell, I will give you some further information about him. I
do not think you are sufficiently acquainted with his character,
and any little points that I have I want to give to you. I want to
paint his portrait in every lineament, every mark. I want to give
you every hair in his head. Remember that this witness is to be
corroborated. He is to be propped and indorsed. Everybody admits
that he is the pewter of perjury and has to be plated with the
silver of respectability gotten from somebody else. They all admit

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that. He is an empty bag. Somebody has to fill him up before he can
stand upright. They admit that. I want to call your attention to a
few things as to which he lacked corroboration.

On page 2215, Rerdell swears that Miner told him that the
amounts in the bids were filled in by S.W. Dorsey. On page 4177
Miner denies this, and says that he filled in the bids with only
two exceptions.

On page 2216 Rerdell swears that the mail matter for J.W.
Dorsey, Peck, and Miner was handed him by S.W. Dorsey, and that
Dorsey said that he was going to take the business out of Boone's
hands. On page 3766, Dorsey swears that he had no such conversation
with Rerdell.

On page 2217, Rerdell swears that S.W. Dorsey applied to him
to go West. On page 3768 Dorsey swears that he did not employ him
to go West.

On page 2218, Rerdell swears that he received instructions
from S.W. Dorsey as to what to do on the Bismarck route. On page
3769, S.W. Dorsey swears that that is utterly untrue.

On page 2219, Rerdell says that he was instructed to establish
a paper post-office sixty miles north of the route. What was that
for? According to his testimony there was a mistake in the
advertisement, and the route was too long, and this was a device to
shorten it by adding sixty miles to it to make a post-office thirty
miles off the route, or sixty altogether, so as to get pay for the
increase of distance. If it was to be a fraud, why put the post-
office off the route? Why not have it on the route? Where would the
fraud be if they traveled the sixty miles except in having a
postoffice where none was needed? They certainly would make nothing
from the Government by traveling the sixty miles. If they traveled
the sixty miles they would be paid for that sixty miles, but if
they wanted pay for the sixty miles without traveling that sixty
miles, they would not have put the post-office so far off the
route. They would have put it on the route, or very near to it, and
pretended that it was off the route.

Gentlemen, it is infinitely absurd to suppose that Stephen W.
Dorsey would have instructed that man to go out in that country and
get up a false post-office. How long would a fraud like that last
and live? How long could the money be drawn for that service in
that country? They say no human being lived there. Who was to be
postmaster? Who was to make the reports? How long, in your
judgment, would it be before the department would find out that
there was no such post-office, no postmaster, and no mail? No one
could think of a more shallow device than that. Stephen W. Dorsey,
a man who is blest with as much brain as any man it is my pleasure
to know, would never dream of such an idiotic device. And yet, that
is the testimony of Mr. Rerdell.

It may be that Mr. Rerdell when he got out there thought he
could start a town and make money in some other way. But it will
not do to say that Stephen W. Dorsey told him to get up a false and
fraudulent post-office when Mr. Dorsey must have known that the
mail could not have been carried to it but a few days before it

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would have become known that there was no such office. They would
have to appoint a postmaster and he would have to live there in his
loneliness a hermit of the plain, and would have to make a report
like that from Agate that gave such delight to Mr. Bliss to read.
There was not a letter sent to that place; not one, nor would there
be. Mr. Dorsey knew if there was a postmaster appointed he would
have to report, and in three months from that time he would have to
report, first, that there was no post-office; second, that there
had never been any mail; and third, that he did not expect any. You
see it is utterly absurd to lay such a charge at the door of
Stephen W. Dorsey.

On page 3769 Dorsey swears that the statement is a falsehood
-- that he never did any such thing. He also denies it on page
3924.

On page 2220 Rerdell swears that he gave Pennell a petition
for a post-office. On page 2156 Joseph Pennell swears that he never
saw the petition; and on page 2171 that he never signed it, and
that none was sent.

On page 2221 Rerdell swears that he was instructed by S.W.
Dorsey to build stations fifteen or sixteen miles apart, and use
every third station. On page 3769 S.W. Dorsey swears that no such
instructions were given. On page 4092 J.W. Dorsey swears that they
started to build the stations about thirty miles apart, and that
after he saw General Miles and was told by that officer that there
would be, and must be a daily mail, then he concluded to build
stations between the stations that he had built going over.
That is a sensible, straight story. When he went out they built the
stations some thirty-odd miles apart, and when he talked with
General Miles, General Miles told him that there must be a daily
service, and then he determined to build intermediate stations as
he went back. What was that testimony sworn to by Rerdell for? To
make you believe, gentlemen, that Stephen W. Dorsey when he sent
Rerdell out knew that there was to be expedition, and knew because
he was in conspiracy with the Second Assistant Postmaster-General.
The testimony of John W. Dorsey lets light in upon that story. The
sun rises, and the mist goes. What is his story? "I went there and
built the stations about thirty miles apart, and when I talked With
General Miles he assured me that there must be expedition and a
daily mail, and then I built stations at the intermediate points as
we went back." That is the story. It is consistent with itself.

Is it not wonderful that the Government did not also prove by
Pennell that Rerdell gave him instructions to build the ranches,
and told him that he had been so instructed by S.W. Dorsey?

On page 2233 Rerdell swears that Miner told him that Vaile was
close to Brady. On page 4177, Miner swears that it is not true;
that he never had any such conversation. Why did they want a man
close to Brady? As I explained to you before, gentlemen, they had
already, according to their testimony, as they claim, proved that
Miner had conspired with Brady, and yet he was going around trying
to find a man close to Brady. Being a co-conspirator was not close
enough. So Mr. Rerdell is corroborated there again by Mr. Miner who
swears that what Rerdell swears is a lie.

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On page 2224 Rerdell swears that in November, 1878, Miner
asked him to write certain words in a line on petition 40104. On
page 4178, Miner swears that he never asked him to interline any
petition.

On page 2225 Rerdell swears he had a conversation with Vaile
and Miner on the 20th of December, 1878, at the National Hotel,
about his employment, and that he had a great many conversations
there. On page 4020, Vaile swears that there never was any such
conversation. On page 4021, Vaile also swears that he has no
recollection of such a conversation then or at any time. On page
4178, Miner swears that the talk was between Rerdell and himself,
and that Vaile was not there.

On page 2225 Rerdell swears that Vaile told him that the mail
service they had ought to reach six hundred thousand or seven
hundred thousand dollars. On page 4021, Vaile swears that he does
not think he ever said any such thing -- does not think it was
possible that he ever said any such thing. On page 4179 Miner
swears that Vaile never made any such statement in his presence.

On page 2226 Rerdell swears that at the instance of Vaile and
Miner and he went West, January 4, 1879, to put service on the
Rawlins route. On 4022 Vaile swears that Rerdell did not go West at
his instance; that Miner gave him, Rerdell, a subcontract for the
entire pay, for the whole term, and that Rerdell undertook it on
his own behalf. On 4179 Miner swears that he made the arrangements
with Rerdell himself.

On page 2227 Rerdell says that Vaile and Miner both told him
that the service would be increased right away, and to make
subcontracts with that in view. On page 4180 Miner swears that he
gave him no such directions, and that Rerdell did all he did on his
own responsibility, and that Vaile did not give him any such
authority. It is for you to say, gentlemen, which of these men you
will believe.

On page 2228 Rerdell swears that in March, 1879, he had a
conversation with Vaile about an affidavit, and received
instructions from Vaile or Miner. On page 4024 Vaile swears that he
recollects no such conversation and does not think he ever had it.

On page 2228 Rerdell swears that Vaile said in the presence of
Miner that he could get Brady to accept an affidavit from a
subcontractor. On page 4024 Vaile swears that he is very sure that
he did not say so, and that he never asked Brady any such question.
On page 4182 Miner swears that he never made any such statement in
Vaile's presence.

On page 2228 Rerdell swears that a day or two after Vaile says
he had seen Brady, and that Brady had agreed to accept an affidavit
from a subcontractor. On page 4024 Vaile denies this.

On the same page, 2228, Rerdell swears that he was instructed
by Vaile and Miner to write to Perkins and get him to send his
affidavit. On page 4024 Vaile swears, "Never!" -- that he did not
know Perkins was a subcontractor. On page 4182 Miner swears that he
has no recollection of it, and that he never instructed Rerdell to
send any form of affidavit to Mr. Perkins.

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On page 2230 Rerdell swears that Miner wrote a form of
affidavit. On page 4182 Miner swears that he has no recollection of
it, and that he never instructed Rerdell to send any form to
Perkins. As a matter of fact the Perkins affidavit is in the
handwriting of Rerdell. Yet he tells you that Miner wrote the form.
It will not do.

On page 2231 Rerdell swears that he filled in blanks under the
direction of S.W. Dorsey -- that is, of the Perkins affidavit --
and filed it under the direction of S.W. Dorsey. On page 3793
Dorsey swears that he never knew there was such an affidavit, and
that he never gave such instructions; and more than that, that he
never at any time or place gave Rerdell authority to change any
affidavit or any petition that was to be filed.

On page 2233 Rerdell swears he was instructed to make the
subcontract without any reference to expedition, and that he,
Dorsey, would guarantee the payments if they were not filed. On
page 3771 S.W. Dorsey swears that he gave him no such instructions.

On page 2234 Rerdell swears that affidavits of Peck and Dorsey
were acknowledged in blank. On page 4189 Miner swears that so far
as he remembers they were filled in before they were signed.

Again, it may be proper for me to say here: Why did not the
Government call J.S. Taylor, the notary of New Mexico, to prove
that the affidavits were in blank when they were sworn to by John
M. Peck? Why did they not? The law presumes that every officer has
done his duty, and when we find at the foot of an affidavit the
certificate of a notary public the law presumes that the paper
above it was in the precise condition at the time the certificate
was placed there in which it is then. That is the presumption of
law, and there is only one way to overcome that presumption. You
must prove to the contrary. One of the easiest ways on earth to do
that is to bring the officer. They did not bring J.S. Taylor here
from New Mexico, the man before whom Peck acknowledged the
affidavit in this case. It would have been easy to have him come,
and to have asked him whether Peck did not swear to all these
affidavits in blank. They did not call him. They had him here once
and that was enough. They did not call him this time. They did not
call Rufus Wainwright, of Middlebury, Vermont. He is the officer
before whom John W. Dorsey swore to these affidavits. The gentlemen
of the prosecution say the affidavits were in blank, and yet they
dare not put upon the stand the notary before whom they were sworn
to. It was not because they did not think of it. It was not because
they had not the money, The Government had money by the million and
agents by the thousand. You recollect how they tried to prove the
destruction of those dispatches in the Western Union office. You
recollect how they brought here, the superintendent, how they
brought here agent after agent, how they brought here the man that
went around and collected the dispatches, and the man that drove
the wagon, and the man that owned the wagon, and the boys that
received the dispatches on the street, and the man in the cellar
that received them after they got there, and the man that bought
them, and the book-keeper that made out the check to pay for them.
They brought the man that receipted for them at the railroad, and
they followed them from the railroad to Holyoke, Massachusetts, and
brought the superintendent of the factory and the books of the

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railroad to show they had arrived. They followed those dispatches
from paper to pulp and yet it never occurred to them to send to
Middlebury and get Rufus Wainwright. They never thought to have
J.S. Taylor subpoenaed from New Mexico. They had all the
conveniences of modern civilization at their command and yet they
never thought of getting Wainwright or Taylor.

On page 3771 S.W. Dorsey swears that he never instructed
Rerdell to get any affidavits in blank. On pages 4126, and 4107,
J.W. Dorsey swears that he made none in blank; that he has no
recollection of any such thing. On page 2240, Rerdell swears that
he had a conversation with S.W. Dorsey about getting blank
affidavits. On Page 3771 S.W. Dorsey denies it. On page 2241
Rerdell swears that S.W. Dorsey instructed him to make up the
affidavit on route 41119 and gave him the per cent. of the increase
of pay. What does he say there? From one hundred and fifty to two
hundred per cent,

Mr. MERRICK. That was afterwards corrected.

Mr. INGERSOLL. I thank you for the suggestion. That happened
on Friday. We adjourned until the next Monday morning. He came in
the next Monday morning, and he said that he had made a mistake,
and that it ought to be from one hundred and fifty to two hundred
and fifty per cent. I immediately went and got the affidavits on
the Toquerville route, because I said the percentage must be over
two hundred per cent. in that affidavit or he would not have
changed. I found in the affidavit that it was two hundred and
fifty-five per cent., and I found that was why he changed. I
followed that out, and I found that was the same route upon which
Mr. Rerdell stole nearly five thousand dollars, according to the
testimony of S.W. Dorsey, and, Rerdell did not deny it. So much for
Toquerville and Adairville. We will come to it again perhaps.

Let me give the pages where all these matters are found. On
page 3772 Dorsey denies the conversation about the affidavits, and
also on page 3773. Rerdell's, change of his evidence will be found
on page 2277.

On page 2243 Rerdell swears that while he was in jail S.W.
Dorsey had a key to what he called his, Rerdell's, office. On page
3735 S.W. Dorsey swears that he never had a key to Rerdell's
office, and that he never was in the office but twice, both times
with Rerdell, and that he never took a paper out of the office
except what Rerdell gave him. It will also be remembered that when
Rerdell was asked in his examination-in-chief whether anybody had
a key to his office he replied that S.W. Dorsey had a key to his
office. He did not at that time state that his wife had a key. Why?
Because he wanted it understood that S.W. Dorsey was the only
person that had a key, and that S.W. Dorsey, while Rerdell was in
jail, went to that office and opened it and robbed it. On cross-
examination I made him swear that his wife had a key, and we
afterwards found that his wife went there. He knew she had a key.
Still, in his cross-examination, when asked who had a key, he said
S.W. Dorsey. What was that for, gentlemen? So that you would infer
that S.W. Dorsey was the only person who had a key, and that he
went there and robbed that office, as I said before. On pages 2634
and 2635 Mrs. Cushman swears that she went to Rerdell's office with

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Mrs. Rerdell. When? About six o'clock in the morning. And that they
found the office open? No. They found the office locked, but found
papers in a confused condition, and took away some papers. They
were there about fifteen minutes. Recollect this was the third
morning that Rerdell was in jail. Rerdell went to jail Monday
evening. That made the visit of Mrs. Cushman and Mrs. Rerdell on
Thursday morning, and they went there at six o'clock. Keep that in
mind. Rerdell got out of jail on Friday. George A. Calvert, the
janitor, visited every room frequently. His testimony is on page
2672. He swears he found the door of Rerdell's room unlocked. When?
The day before Rerdell got out of jail. What time of day? In the
morning. What morning was that? Thursday morning. When did Rerdell
get out of jail? Friday morning. When did Mrs. Rerdell and Mrs.
Cushman visit the room? Thursday morning. What time in the morning?
Six o'clock. When did Calvert find the room open? That same
morning. The women swear that when they went there the room was
locked. Now the question arises, who opened it? The women, That is
all there is to that,

Mrs. Rerdell, on page 2635, swears she got the key on the
second day after Rerdell's incarceration, in the evening. That
would be Wednesday evening. She used it the next morning, Thursday.

On page 2247 Rerdell swears that on the 20th of December,
1878, Vaile promised him a good salary. On page 4021 Vaile swears
that he has no recollection of any such promise. That is what they
call corroboration. On page 2348 Rerdell swears that in May, 1879,
S.W. Dorsey said, "You know that John is a man of very little
judgment. He does not know how to talk to these contractors." On
page 3773 S.W. Dorsey swears that there never was any such
conversation.

On page 2249 Rerdell swears, "As secretary and manager, I kept
the books for a short time." On page 3636 W.F. Kellogg swears that
he, Kellogg had entire charge of Dorsey's books from the summer of
1872 to the fall of 1879, and that nobody else ever made a scratch
of a pen in those books. On page, 2270 Rerdell swears that Dorsey
and Bosler were having a settlement in New York and sent for the
books, and that he took the original books over and left them
there, and that he went over to New York in June, 1881, and saw
both books there and brought the journal over and left the ledger.
On page 3955 Dorsey swears that the first settlement he had with
Bosler was in December, 1879, or January, 1880. Rerdell swears that
the time he got the copy made of his journal by the Gibbses, was
between Christmas, 1879, and, 1880. Dorsey swears there was not
another settlement until November, 1882. The first settlement being
in 1879, and Rerdell swearing that he took the books over for a
settlement, shows that he did not have them here in Washington to
be copied at the time he says and at the time other people swear
that they copied them.

On page 3788 S.W. Dorsey swears that he never sent for any
transcript, and that he, Dorsey, referred to the route-book, and
that Rerdell never sent any such book or books as he claimed. On
page 2271 Rerdell swears that he gave copies of the journal to
Dorsey in June, 1881. That was the time that he made the affidavit.
His language by any natural interpretation means that he handed
those copies over to Dorsey at the time he made the affidavit on

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the 20th of June, 1881. On page 3988 Dorsey swears that he did not,
and on page 3785 he again swears that he never had them. On page
3784 he again swears that Rerdell never brought any book to him
except the route-book. On page 2271 Rerdell swears that Dorsey, on
the 13th of May, 1879, told him to make up a statement of the
routes showing the profits, and that he thinks he gave it to
Bosler. On page 3975 Dorsey swears that he never made up any such
statement by his direction, and that he never gave Rerdell such an
order. Why should he? According to Rerdell's own statement, in
which there is not a particle of truth, Dorsey, on the 13th of May,
1879, that very day, had written a letter to Bosler, in which he
told him about the profits, about how much it had cost him, and
about how much it would cost him, and about how much the profits
would be, and how much he paid to Brady. After writing such a
letter to Bosler, containing all the facts, why would he want
Rerdell to make up a statement that was already in the letter
itself? Nobody can answer. There is not genius enough in this world
to make the answer.

On page 2272 Rerdell swears that he saw 7B, which is a
petition, in 1879, and that there were three words in his own
handwriting that were not there when he first saw it, the three
words being "and faster time." He also swears that he was
instructed to put them in by S.W. Dorsey. I now say that Mr.
Rerdell never wrote those three words. on page 783 it appears that
7B was filed April 18, 1879. On page 3786 S.W. Dorsey swears that
Rerdell's statement is false. I will now turn to the testimony of
George Sears about the petition, 7B, which Mr. Rerdell swears
was altered by interlineation or the addition of three words, "and
faster time." The page is 829.

Here comes a witness of the Government, apparently a good and
honest man, and he swears that the words "and faster time" were in
that petition when he signed it. I will take his word for it. I
will take his guess as against the other man's oath.

On page 2273 Rerdell swears that he altered 11B and 12B by
instructions of S.W. Dorsey. Now, gentlemen, Stephen W. Dorsey got
such a momentum of crime on him and got running at such a rate that
he could not stop, and whenever a petition came in he had it
altered without reading it. It did not make a bit of difference
what the petition asked for. He just said to his clerk, "Look and
see if there is not any line you can add something to. I want
something put in it, and I want it put in now." Mr. Rerdell says he
did these things without any thought. He just made the changes as
he was told, without considering whether it was right or wrong. He
told you here on the stand that at one time he was requested to get
a petition, and he bad a lot of names on hand, and so he just wrote
a petition and stuck the names to it. He could not even remember
the route it was on. It was a matter of so little importance that
he did not charge his memory with it. He was told to get a petition
in the regular way, and instead of doing that he said he took some
names that he had and just wrote a petition and stuck the names on,
because that was easier; and it was a matter of so little
importance he really did not remember. He was like the gentleman in
Texas who was tried for murder, but did not remember the name of
the man he killed; he did not charge his mind with it.

Now for 11B:
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Hon. D.M. KEY, Postmaster-General:

We, the undersigned, citizen of the State of Colorado,
residing near and getting our mail at Muddy Creek post-office, on
route 38135, from Pueblo to Greenhom, respectfully represent --

I never noticed before that the "p" is interlined in the word
"represent." I have no doubt that was done by order of Dorsey --

that it is necessary that the service on said route should be
increased from two trips per week to six trips per week, and a
faster schedule. This section of the country is being rapidly
settled by people of intelligence, and we ask the increased service
for the benefit of us who have already made our homes here, and
also as an inducement to others to settle. We also request that the
schedule time be reduced so as to run from Pueblo to Greenhorn in
eight hours, so that citizens along the route may get their mail at
a seasonable hour.

I have read the petition as it was in the first place. The
Government tells you that after that petition came here, and after
it had been submitted to Stephen W. Dorsey, he told his clerk to
add in the first part of the words "on quicker time;" and yet if he
had read the last paragraph he would have seen quicker time was
there called for. Rerdell says Dorsey told him to insert the words
"on quicker time," and when I read this last paragraph to him he
was stuck. Then what did he say? When he got into that little
corner and was looking for a mouse-hole, he said he didn't read it
and didn't know it was there. Do you believe that a man like
Stephen W. Dorsey would deliberately have a petition changed, would
deliberately forge a petition, without knowing what was in it and
without knowing whether the necessity existed for changing it or
not? That falsehood has not even a fig-leaf to cover its absurdity.

Here is 12B. It would not have taken long to have read that.
Rerdell said Dorsey had him put in the words "and a faster
schedule." I will read the last paragraph to that:

We also respectfully request and urge that the running time be
reduced so as to run from Pueblo to Greenhorn in eight hours, so
that citizens along the line may get their mails in a seasonable
hour.

He says Stephen W. Dorsey, a man of sense, got that petition,
read it all over, and then told this fellow to put in "and a faster
schedule" when right in the next paragraph it asked for eight
hours. A man who will swear that way had rather tell a lie on
ninety days' credit than tell the truth for cash. Just look at it.
That is what they call a corroboration. The more you look at this
testimony the more absurdities you find. Every truth has an
infinite number of signs. Every truth has to fit an infinite number
of things. Infinite wisdom could not manufacture a falsehood that
would stand the test of investigation.

On page 2272 Rerdell says, speaking of the three petitions,
7B, 11B, and 12B, "We," meaning S.W. Dorsey and himself, "had
examined these petitions together, and he," meaning S.W. Dorsey,
"told me to put in the clause for expedition." NOW, 7B was filed

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April 18, That is the day he left for the West. 11 and 12B were
filed on the 8th of May. If they had them all at one time together,
and if he and Dorsey had talked about them, why were they not filed
at the same time? Why was one filed April 18th and the other two on
the 8th of May? That testimony of Rerdell's will not do.

On page 2279 Rerdell says that he found among Dorsey's papers
the tabular statement, about the middle of April, 1879. In the
first column was the number of the route; in the second the
termini; in the third the pay; in the fourth the anticipated pay by
percentages, and in the fifth the percentage to T.J.B., thirty-
three and one-third, with the figures carried out at the end of the
column. He tells you that he had that tabular statement when he
first went to MacVeagh. That tabular statement was in the
handwriting of S.W. Dorsey. Yet the Attorney-General was not
satisfied. He wanted that backed up by a book not in the
handwriting of S.W. Dorsey. That will not do. Rerdell also tells
you that at the time he went to the Attorney-General he not only
had that tabular statement, but he had a letter-press copy of the
original letter that Dorsey wrote to Bosler on the 13th day of May,
1879. He had that letter, the original of which was in Dorsey's
handwriting, in which he admitted he had paid Brady twenty thousand
dollars. He had the tabular statement in Dorsey's own handwriting
in which he was to pay thirty-three and one-third per cent. to
Brady. Yet the Attorney-General did not think there was sufficient
evidence, and said, You had better go to New York and steal a book
that Dorsey never wrote a word in. Oh no; that will not do.

On page 2280 Rerdell swears that he lost that memorandum. I
guess he did. On page 3785 S.W. Dorsey swears that he never made
any such memorandum. On page 2280 Rerdell swears that he employed
Gibbs and wife to make a true and correct copy of the books in
March, 1880; that he was directed by S.W. Dorsey to send him a true
transcript of the books in order to settle with Bosler, and that
Gibbs and wife copied the journal and ledger, and that he sent the
copy to New York. 3788 Dorsey swears that he never heard of the
employment of Gibbs and wife, and that he never received any such
books or transcripts. On page 2644 Gibbs swears that his wife
copied only the journal, not the ledger. Yet Rerdell swears that he
copied the journal and the ledger. On page 2644 Gibb again swears
that Rerdell brought him one book. What color was it, red, brown,
or black? Rerdell says he took him two red books. Gibbs swears he
got one brown book or one black book. That is what they call
corroboration. On page 2320 Rerdell swears with regard to the paper
2A, that the words, "schedule thirteen hours" were written by
Miner. If those words, "schedule thirteen hours," were not written
by Rerdell, then they were written by somebody else. [A2 handed to
Mr. Ingersoll.] I guess this is the petition that was fixed up. It
looks as if it had been to a hospital. Rerdell says Miner wrote the
words "schedule thirteen hours." just look at that word "thirteen,"
gentlemen.

You have no idea how it affects your imagination and brain to
be indicted seven times. On page 2209 Boone swears with regard to
this same paper and the same words, that there is nothing in the
handwriting to indicate that it was written by Miner; that it is a
back-hand; a changed handwriting. On page 4186 Miner swears that it
is absolutely not true; that the words "schedule thirteen hours"
are absolutely and positively not in his, handwriting, and further

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that he never filed the petition. Gentlemen, evidence of
handwriting is very unsatisfactory necessarily. Men do not always
write the same. The same man does not always write the same hand.
There is the difference of pen, the difference of ink, the
difference of paper, the difference of position, and the
difference, too, of the man's feelings. At one time he feels in
splendid health and at another time he may be tired and worn out.
The paper may not be in the same position. The slope of the desk
may be different. Countless reasons change the hand. writing of a
person, and when a man swears that certain handwriting is or is not
another's handwriting he must swear on the general appearance; he
must swear on the impression that it first makes upon him.

I know Mr. Smith and I know Mr. Jones, but it may be that I
could not describe the differences in the faces of the two men so
that a stranger could afterwards tell them. Yet I know them. It is
the effect of all the features upon me. I cannot say it is because
of the ear of one, or his nose, or his mouth. I know the
combination. I remember the grouping of the features and the form,
and that is all I remember. If I am shown a paper and asked, "Is
that Mr. Smith's handwriting,?" I "Say it is, or I say no. Why?
Because it looks like it or it does not look like it. I cannot
recognize it because an "e" is made in a certain way or because a
"d" is turned in a certain way, because the next day he may turn it
the other way. You have got to go upon the general impression. On
page 2336 Rerdell swears that the oath on route 38140, marked 5E,
was filled in by S.W. Dorsey; that the word "twelve" was written by
him, Rerdell, after it was filed, and was written because Turner
told him that the schedule must be twelve hours; that Turner handed
him the oath and he thereupon changed the "fifteen" to "twelve." On
page 3355 Turner swears that he has no knowledge of any alteration
in any affidavit. On page 3793 S.W. Dorsey swears that he did not
know there was any such affidavit; and he also frequently swears
that he never asked Rerdell to change any affidavit that had been
filed, and that he never gave any such orders. These gentlemen find
one affidavit about which we did not ask Mr. Dorsey particularly
and they say, "You have not contradicted that." When a man swears
that he never gave an order about any affidavit, that covers every
affidavit.

On page 2337 Rerdell swears that the oath marked 20F, on route
38145, was filled in by him after it was signed, under the
direction of S.W. Dorsey. On page 3793 Dorsey denies giving any
such directions.

On page 2338 Rerdell swears that blanks in the oath 22F, the
second oath, were filled in by S.W. Dorsey, but will not say
whether before or after execution. On page 3771 Dorsey says he does
not remember doing any such thing; but certainly there is no
evidence that Dorsey did this after the affidavit had been made.

On page 2339 Rerdell swears that the words "ninety-six" in the
petition 14H, were written by Miner. Boone, on page 2709, declines
to say that Miner wrote them. On page 4273 Miner swears that the
words are not in his handwriting, that he never wrote them. On page
2298 Rerdell swears that he signed a check "S.W. Dorsey by M.C.
Rerdell," and that he had that check at home. It may be that is one
of the checks for June drawn upon Middleton's bank that we could
not find.
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On page 2340 Rerdell says that the oath marked 8 I, on route
44140, was filled in by him in Washington after it was signed and
sworn to, under the direction of S.W. Dorsey. On page 3792 S.W.
Dorsey denies that he gave any such directions.

On page 2342 Rerdell swears that S.W. Dorsey signed the name
of J.M. Peck to the warrant 55G. I have forgotten the day that the
draft was given, but I think it was the 2d day of August. It was
paid on August 25, 1880. All I have to say is that there was an
abundance of time for that draft to go to New Mexico and to be
signed by John M. Peck; there was thousands of time. It makes not
the slightest difference who signed the name of John M. Peck to
that warrant. The question is, was that money coming to John M.
Peck? No. John M. Peck had sold out his interest. He was not
entitled to one dollar, and it made no difference who signed his
name to the cheek. Does it show that there was a conspiracy if
Dorsey signed his name after Peck had sold out his interest in the
routes? Any draft coming to him came to him simply as the trustee
and the draft was for the benefit of the person who bought him out.
Suppose Mr. Dorsey had signed his name. Would that prove that there
was any conspiracy? It would simply be in accordance with his right
as the matter then stood. He was entitled to that draft and Peck
was not entitled to that draft. Why? Because he had bought him out
and paid him ten thousand dollars for his interest. That was all.
Yet they would claim if that draft happened to be indorsed by Mr.
Dorsey that it would be evidence of a conspiracy entered into in
the fall of 1879.

On pages 2348 and 2361 Rerdell says that figures were,
inserted in all affidavits given him by S.W. Dorsey, except on
route 41119, and that Dorsey told him, Rerdell, to put them in the
blanks. On page 3793 S.W. Dorsey denies that.

On page 2223 Rerdell says that in August, 1878, he had a talk
with Miner, who said that they could do nothing while Boone was in
the combination; that Brady was hostile to Boone, and that Boone's
place was to be taken by Vaile; and that Miner asked his opinion
about Vaile, and asked what Rerdell thought about Dorsey's
approving it, adding that Vaile was very close to Brady. On page
4177 Miner swears that he has no recollection of the conversation,
and does not believe any such conversation ever occurred.

Ah, but they say that when a paper was handed to Mr. Miner, an
affidavit for instance, he could not give you the history of it; he
could not tell you where he was when he wrote it; he could not tell
you where he was when he filled it. I would not have believed his
testimony if he could, He had to take care of some ninety-six
routes. Upon those routes there were numberless papers, notices
from the department, notices of fines and reductions of remissions,
and everything of that kind. On each route there were probably a
hundred papers, and may be more -- petitions, affidavits, and
papers of all descriptions. If a man should stand up here five
years afterwards and pretend that he knew the history of each
paper, I would know he had not the slightest regard for truth.

Mr. Miner said when he was shown a paper, "I don't remember
ever having seen that paper before; I don't remember when it was
written." That was the truth. If he had wished to stain his heart

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with perjury he could have said, "Yes, I remember it. I know
absolutely the time I wrote it. I know I sent it to New Mexico. I
know it was filled up before it was sworn to"; but he was honest
enough and he was brave enough to face the truth and say, "I don't
remember," and I respected him for it when he did it. Whenever you
hear the truth, as a rule the first thought is, "May be it won't
do." But if it is the truth, the longer you think about it the
better it seems, while if it is a lie, the longer you think about
it the worse it gets. It would have been, apparently, to Mr.
Miner's interest to say, "I remember it perfectly," but the man had
honor enough to tell the truth. And when you come to investigate
his evidence it sounds much better than though he had pretended to
remember time and place.

I call your attention to page 2446 that is about the
affidavit.

On page 2384 Rerdell speaks of the charges made to Samuel
Jones and James B. Belford for two thousand dollars. Then Mr. Bliss
in his speech, which I will come to after a while, says that Mr.
Rerdell spoke about a charge to J.B.B. He never did, never. He said
James B. Belford. I started the J.B.B. business. I was the first
one who ever said it, and Mr. Rerdell never swore J.B.B. Then they
sent out to Denver to get a fellow who had the same initials. I
will come to this man after a while.

On pages 2429 and 2430 Rerdell swears that he had two balance-
sheets of the books, made by Donnelly; that he showed them to
MacVeagh and Woodward. How does it happen that Woodward was not
sworn about it? Nothing would have been of more importance, if they
wished to prove the existence of the two red books, than to prove
by woodward that Mr. Rerdell, in June, 1881, showed him copies of
those balance-sheets or the balance-sheets them selves. They did
not bring Mr. Woodward on the stand. Why? Mr. Woodward, in my
judgment, had he come upon the stand, would have sworn to the
truth. Rerdell says, "I do not know where they are." Then he
paused. Then I saw the working of his mind just as plainly as
though his skull had been opened. He got himself together and swore
that he gave them to Dorsey in July, 1882. He had to get them out
of his hands some way.

On page 3736 S.W. Dorsey swears that he, Rerdell, did not give
him any balance sheets.

On page 2434 Rerdell swears as to the papers he gave to Dorsey
-- the original journal, and copy of the Oregon correspondence made
by Miss Nettie L. White. Miss White was not called. He gave these,
he says, to Dorsey, July 13, 1882. On page 2793 Dorsey swears that
he did not give them to him, nor did he give a paper of any kind.

On page 2461 Rerdell is asked if he did not admit to Judge
Carpenter. in January, 1882, that he had a memorandum written by
himself, which he showed to James and MacVeagh, and that he made it
so much like Dorsey's handwriting that he did not think anybody
could tell it What was his answer?

"I may have done so." Honest man!

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On page 2462, in answer to the question, "Did you not tell
Carpenter that you brought no book from New York?" the honest man
answered:

Very likely I said I brought no book over from New York.

On the same page, in answer to the question, "Did you not tell
French that you were trying to entrap James?" he admits that it is
likely he was.

On page 2463 he admits that he may have told French that he
had learned to imitate the handwriting of Dorsey so well that
Dorsey himself could not tell the imitation; and that he Wrote that
memorandum in pencil because he could the more easily deceive.
Honest man!

Mr. Bliss holds S.W. Dorsey up to scorn because he endeavored
to turn two men out of the Cabinet on the testimony of Rerdell; and
yet he is trying to put four men in the penitentiary on the same
oath. Do you not think that it is better to get a man out of the
Cabinet than to put another into the penitentiary? And do you not
think it is better that a man be put out of office than that he be
put into the penitentiary, his family destroyed, and his home left
to ruin, upon the oath of a man who swears that the oath was a lie?
Dorsey was an awfully wicked man to try to get Mr. MacVeagh out of
office on Rerdell's testimony. But now they turn around and want to
put Mr. Vaile and Mr. Miner into the penitentiary on the same
testimony. The other testimony was the best because we did not
promise him immunity. I will come to it after a while.

On page 2465 Rerdell swears that he did not have any pencil
memorandum that he showed to MacVeagh, claiming that it was in the
handwriting of Dorsey, and was asked. "Did you not tell Bosler that
you had? What does he say? "Possibly I did." Did you not tell
Bosler that you wrote it?" "Possibly I did."

S.W. Dorsey swears on page 3810 that Rerdell told Bosler that
it was in the waste-basket, and Bosler took the pieces out and put
them together. Rerdell says he had written it, and in pencil, so
that it would look more like Dorsey's handwriting. Why did you not
ask Bosler about it, gentlemen, when you had him on the stand to
prove your letter? Even Mr. Bliss, in his speech, asked, "Why
didn't they call Bosler?" Why didn't you have the fairness to tell
all the circumstances? I will tell them all when I get to that part
of it. Why did you not tell them that you had looked all through
Mr. Bosler's books?

On page 2466 Rerdell swears that he did not get that
memorandum out of the waste-basket, but got a note from MacVeagh,
and that Dorsey was present.

On page 3810 Dorsey swears that it was a pencil memorandum
imitating his (Dorsey's) hand closely.

On page 2466 Rerdell admits that he very likely told Bosler in
June, 1881, that he had no book on the train and brought none from
New York. In answer to my question, he says, "Possibly I did," or
"Probably I did," tell Bosler. I cannot bring other witnesses to
contradict him when he admits that he did. That is enough for me.

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On page 2467 he admits that he very likely told Judge Wilson
about the affidavit; that if he told him anything, he told him that
no such book existed, and that there was no necessity for any book
except an expense book.

On page 2469 Rerdell swears that he had a copy of the day-book
and ledger in June, 1881, in Dorsey's office; that Dorsey took them
that day, and that they had been there ever since they were made,
to be carried to Congress. Then he began to gather his ideas, and
he says:

Hold on. I am mistaken. These books were all sent over to New
York before that, in the summer of 1880, when I carried the
originals over for the last settlement I was present at, between
Dorsey and Bosler.

There was no settlement in 1880, the time he speaks of Mr.
Merrick then says:

Q. There were two sets of those copies?

That would be four copier, and two originals.

A. No, sir.

On page 3955, S.W. Dorsey swears that he had the first
settlement with Bosler in December, 1879, or January, 1880, and had
no subsequent adjustment until November or December, 1882; no
settlement between those dates. Yet Rerdell says that he took those
books over in the summer of 1880 for a settlement, when there was
no settlement, and at the same time carried the originals. A moment
before he had sworn that the originals were there in the office in
June, 1881.

On page 2470 Rerdell swears that he did not give the books to
Dorsey in 1881.

On page 2447 he swears that he did not have the balance-sheet
in New York; that he had it in the office in June, 1881.

On page 2479, Rerdell, in speaking of the pencil memorandum,
was cornered, caught, He said, "I have kept it as a voucher." Then
finally he admits that it was not his property, but was the
property of Dorsey; and the last admission he made upon that
subject was, "I stole it." He says that while he was in jail
somebody got into the office and destroyed his papers. And yet, on
page 2480, he tells that the first time it ever occurred to him to
use that pencil memorandum was after the first trial was over. Can
you believe that? He was trying to steal it on the 13th of July,
1882; was trying to go over to the Government on the 5th day of
July, 1882, and did not think that he had that pencil memorandum.
Writing a letter on that day to Dorsey; giving him notice that he
was going to desert him; saying in that very letter that he had
been persuaded by Bosler to make the first affidavit; saying that
he was making preparations to go to the Government, was going to
set himself right, and yet did not remember the pencil memorandum!

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Why? Because he manufactured it afterwards. He says that within a
day or two after he was out of jail he found this paper a second
time. He found it before, and laid it carefully away as a voucher.
Then he lost sight of it. Then he was trying to sell it to the
Government, and he forgot it; trying to blackmail Bosler and
Dorsey, and forgot it. When he got out of jail he found it. That
will not do. How does he say it got to his house? His wife carried
it from the office while he was in jail. And yet he would have us
believe that Dorsey broke into that office and stole all the
papers. And yet he says that was in the office, and Dorsey did not
take it. It will not do. He manufactured that paper after that
time.

On page 2481 Rerdell swears that he did not know that he had
that paper at that time, at the time he says his wife got the
papers. I say he did not; I say he made it afterwards.

On page 2490 Rerdell swears that he had those red books in the
office at 1121 I street; that he never made any effort to conceal
them. And yet Kellogg never saw one of those books; never saw
Rerdell working upon them, and never saw them in the office.

On page 2491 Rerdell swears that he thinks Kellogg did some
work on those red books; that Kellogg helped him (Rerdell) make the
first entries. On page 3636 Kellogg swears not only that he did not
help him to make those entries, but positively swears that he never
even saw any such books.

On page 3635 Kellogg swears positively that Rerdell did not
keep any books, but a private expense-book and a route-book; and
that he (Kellogg) never saw any other books; that he never saw a
ledger or journal in red leather, kept by Rerdell. He swears that
he himself kept the three books (the journal, ledger, and cash-
book,) and that Rerdell never made an entry in them.

On page 2512 Rerdell swears that he never imitated Dorsey's
handwriting, or tried to, in Kellogg's presence. On page 3636
Kellogg swears that he saw him do it.

On the same page (2512) Rerdell swears that he never signed
Dorsey's name to show Kellogg that he could imitate it. On page
3636 Kellogg swears that he did do it.

I have just given you a few, gentlemen, of the corroborations
of this man Rerdell. Recollect that you cannot believe him unless
he is corroborated. If you believe him at all you have got to
believe all, unless you believe he is mistaken. Where a man comes
on the stand as an informer -- and I do not call him an informer --
even in that capacity he has to be taken altogether or not at all.

Now, with all these contradictions upon his head, I will now
come to the affidavit of July 13, 1882. You will remember that I
read you the letter of July 5, in which he says that Bosler got him
to make the affidavit of 1881. At page 2374 Rerdell gives an
account of this affidavit. Dorsey got him in Willard's Hotel,
locked the door, and had him. Now, he said to him, "Mr. Rerdell, I
will tell you what I am going to do with you: I am going to have
you prosecuted for perjury." Let us imagine that conversation.

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Rerdell replies, "What are you going to have me prosecuted for?"
"For making the affidavit of June, 1881."Why," says Rerdell, "in
that affidavit I swore you were innocent." Says Dorsey, "Don't you
know you swore to a lie? Do you think I would stand a lie of that
kind, sir? Do you think I will allow any man willfully,
maliciously, and with malice aforethought, to swear that I am an
innocent man? I will have you arrested to-night, sir." "Well," says
Rerdell, "my good God, ain't there any way I can get out of this?"
"Yes; make another affidavit just like it. Now, sir, you have
perjured yourself and I will arrest you for perjury unless you do
it again." "Well," says Rerdell, when I get that done you will have
two cases against me." "I can't help it," Dorsey says. "Is that the
way you treat a friend? I swore to that lie from pure friendship.
Don't you remember you took me by both hands and begged me, for
God's sake, and for your wife's sake and your children's sake, to
make that affidavit? And now are you going to be such a perfect
devil as to have me arrested for perjury for making that same
affidavit? Dorsey says, "Yes, sir; that is the kind of man I am.
"Well, but," says Rerdell, "don't you know the trial is going on
now? They are trying to prove, now, that you are guilty, and in
that affidavit of mine I swore you are innocent, and how are you
going to prove a man guilty when you swear that he is innocent?
"Dorsey says, "That is my business, not yours. I am going to have
you arrested." "But," says Rerdell, "you had better hold on, I tell
you." "Why?" "I have got the red book that I got in New York."
Dorsey says, "I don't care." Rerdell says, "I have got the pencil
memorandum that you made for me to open the books upon, and charge
William Smith with eighteen thousand dollars. And you wrote John
smith first, and I changed it to Sam Jones, don't you recollect, as
otherwise there would be two Smiths? And there is the account
against S.H. Mitchell, and J.W.D., and cash, and profit and loss."
Dorsey says, "I don't care about that. I am not going to allow a
man to commit perjury. I am going to have you arrested." Rerdell
says, "You had better not have me arrested." Dorsey says,"Why? What
else have you got?" "I have got a copy of the letter that you wrote
to Bosler on the 13th of May, 1879, in which you say that you paid
twenty thousand dollars to Thomas Brady. That copy was made by Miss
Nettie L. White." Do you believe I care anything about that? You
have perjured yourself, and it is no difference to me whether it
was in my favor or not. Justice must be done, and I am going to
have you arrested." Rerdell says, "You had better not I have got a
tabular statement in your handwriting, Dorsey, where you had a
column for the amount due and the amount received, and another
column for thirty-three and one-third per cent. given to Brady, and
then at the top, in your handwriting, 'T.J.B., thirty-three and
one-third." Dorsey says, "I don't care what you have got" Rerdell
says, "That ain't all I have got, Dorsey. I tore out of your copy-
book a copy of the letter I wrote to Bosler on the 21st or 22d of
May, 1880, in which I told him that I had gone to Brady, and that
Brady said you were a damn fool for keeping a set of books, and
suggested to me to have some copies made, and I had the copies
made, and I can prove the copies by Gibbs if he does not try not to
remember that he made them. Now, go on with your rat-killing; go on
with your perjury suit." Dorsey had him already locked up there,
don't you see? But Dorsey was bent on having that man arrested for
perjury because he had sworn that he (Dorsey) was innocent. Dorsey
was implacable.

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What else did he do? He put his hand in his pocket and said,
"Do you see those letters to that woman?" Then, sir, when he saw
the handwriting he was like that other gentlemen that saw the
handwriting on the wall, and he began to get weak in the knees, and
says, "Dorsey, I hope you are not going to have me arrested for
perjury. I am willing to do it again right now, on the same
subject."

Now, it turns out that at that time Dorsey did not have those
letters. Dorsey swears that he never got those letters until after
Rerdell was put upon the stand. And after he swore that, the
Government had the woman to whom the letters were written
subpoenaed. Why did they not place her on the stand? That is for
you to answer, gentlemen. That is the affidavit of July 13.
Recollect, there was a trial going on at that time in which Dorsey
was insisting that he was innocent, and although Rerdell had sworn
that he was, he was going to have him arrested right off.

What else did he have against Dorsey at that time? Now, says
Rerdell, "Dorsey, don't you have me arrested for perjury. I have
got a memorandum of that mining stock that was, to be given to
McGrew and Tyner and Turner and Lilley for corrupt purposes."

What else did he have? After he had agreed to make the
affidavit, Dorsey wrote out what he wanted him to swear to, in
pencil, and gave it to him. And when he got his liberty, when he
walked out of that room a free citizen, he had all the papers I
have spoken of not only, but he had in his possession a draft, in
Dorsey's handwriting, of the affidavit Dorsey wanted him to make.
He made the first affidavit from friendship; the second from
fright. You know he never took a dollar for an affidavit. He was
not that kind of a man. You might get around him by talking
friendship or you might scare him, but you could not bribe him; he
wasn't that kind of a man. Armed with all these papers he was
frightened; so he made the affidavit of July 13.

Now, let us see. He admits that -- I will not say every word,
but the principal things in the affidavit of June, 1881, are false.
He swore to them knowing them to be false. But he tried to get out
by saying he did not write them all. Writing is not the crime. The
crime is swearing that they are true when they are not true. It
does not make any difference who wrote it. For instance, you swear
to an affidavit, and you afterwards say, "I did not write it." "Did
you know the contents?" "Yes." "Did you swear to it?" "Yes." What
difference does it make who wrote it? And yet he endeavors to get
behind that breastwork and say, "I did not write all that
affidavit; I only wrote part of it. What I wrote was true, but what
I swore to was not." That will not do.

So the affidavit of July, 1882, he now swears was a lie. But
he gives a reason for writing that, that you know is utterly,
perfectly, completely false. You know that Dorsey never threatened
to have him arrested for perjury because he had sworn in favor of
Dorsey. You know it, and all the eloquence and all the genius of
the world could not convince you that at that time Rerdell was
afraid that Dorsey would have him arrested for perjury. No, sir

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Now, let us take the next step. Mr. Rerdell testified, on page
2275, that this letter (32X) was received by him in due course of
mail in 1878. Upon being asked whether he did not know that S.W.
Dorsey was here in Washington at that time, he replied that he knew
he was not. I will read it to you, gentlemen:

Chico Springs, P.O.
Mountain Springs Ranch, Colfax County, New Mexico,

April, 3, 1878.

M.C. RERDELL, 1121 I Street:

"Dear Rerdell: I wish you would get fullest information in
regard to all the new post-office lettings and keep posted as to
the schemes going on in the department. There are certain routes we
want advertised and others we do not. I shall be in Washington as
soon as the 12th unless something unexpectedly happens

Faithfully,

DORSEY.

Q. What Dorsey was that? -- A. That is S.W. Dorsey's
handwriting.

Q. And signature? -- A. Yes, sir.

There is where he first speaks of it. At the time that letter
was introduced, or in a little time, gentlemen, they also
introduced the envelope. I do not know that I should have suspected
the letter if they had not introduced the envelope. Whenever there
is an effort to make a thing too certain I always suspect it. When
that Morey letter was gotten up, what made me suspect it was that
they had the envelope, and I said to myself, "Why did they want the
envelope if it was clearly in the handwriting of Garfield? What
difference did it make whether it was, sent to Morey or to somebody
else? What difference did it make when it came from Washington?"
The only question was, "Did Garfield write it?" And upon that
subject the envelope threw no light. When a man feels weak and
thinks that other people will know what he does not want them to
know, then it is that he wants to barricade and strengthen before
the attack. So they got up this envelope, and when I looked at that
it did not look to me as if that stamp had been through the mail.
I noticed the handwriting of "Chico Springs, N.M.," and then I
noticed the 3 or the B on the postage stamp, and then I knew that
the man who wrote "Chico Springs" never made the letter or figure
on that stamp. It is utterly impossible for the man who wrote that
"Chico Springs" to make that mark on the stamp. This stamp looked
awfully clean, and I said, "Well, I wouldn't wonder if that was an
envelope used here in the city which has been got through the mail
in some way." They had it stamped on the back and I said, Perhaps
that was written in 1879." No. You see if it was not written in
1879 it did not do any harm, because in 1879 Dorsey was not a
member of the Senate. Having gone out on the 4th of March, 1879, if
that letter was dated in April, why then there was no harm in his
writing to Rerdell and telling him to look after the mail business.
But if it was written on the 3d of April, 1878, it went far to show

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that Dorsey was personally interested at that time in mail routes.
You will notice the printed date, April 3, 1878. They introduced
that letter. I noticed that that envelope was a funny looking
thing, and that the writing on it did not correspond with the mark
on the stamp, I noticed also that upon the back they had the stamp.
I do not know how they got it. When the Post Office Department has
possession of a paper they can put almost anything on it.

When I said to Mr. Rerdell on cross-examination, not knowing
anything about the letter, "Was that not written in 1879 he said,
"No, sir." Said I, "Don't you know as a matter of fact, that Dorsey
was not here on the 3d of April, 1879?" He said, "As a matter of
fact I know that he was here on the 3d of April, 1879." "Don't you
know, as a matter of fact, that he was here on the 3d of April,
1878?" He says, "I know as a matter of fact that he was not here on
the 3d of April, 1878; he was at Chico Springs." He knew as a
matter of fact that he was here in 1879, and he swore that so as to
preclude the possibility of his having written the letter in 1879.
And he swore to the positive fact that he was not here on the 3d of
April, 1878, so as to show that he wrote him that letter from Chico
Springs. They wanted some letter from Dorsey in 1878, to show that
he was personally interested in these routes while in the Senate.
They submitted that letter to Mr. Boone, who was their witness. He
looks at it and he tells you that Dorsey did not write that letter.
A clear forgery. Whom else do they bring now? They leave it right
there, and by that admit that Rerdell forged that letter. Mr.
Boone, their witness swears it. Nobody swears to the contrary
except Rerdell. Boone threw the letter from him contemptuously, and
said, "That is not Dorsey's handwriting," and they dare not bring
another witness. The country is filled with experts, gentlemen, who
know, about handwriting; the United States had plenty of men and
plenty of money, and they never brought a solitary man.

Now, gentlemen, do you want to know how this fellow got
through? I will tell you. There is the letter, and they dare not
put a man on the stand to swear that it is in Dorsey's handwriting.
Look it all over. But I want to tell you how Rerdell got caught;
about Dorsey being present on the 3d of April, 1878, and I might as
well tell you how I found it out. I do not want to pretend to be
any more ingenious than I am. I found it out because I made the
same mistake myself. I stumbled on that same root. I hit my toe of
heedlessness on the same obstruction. I went up to look at the
Senate journal. I opened a book to see whether Dorsey was here on
the 3d of April, 1878. You see at the bottom there of the title
page, Mr. Foreman --

Washington; Government Printing Office. 1877.

You know I was not looking for the book of 1877, so I shut
that book up. I then took the next book and opened it, and it said
at just the same place:

Washington: Government Printing Office. 1878.

I thought it was the book. So I looked over here, and I found
that there was no session of the Senate in April, and I said to
myself, "Is that possible that there was no session in April, 1878?
Why, there must have been." But the book said "no." I looked back

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here, and it still said 1878. Then I happened to look back to this
book that said 1877, and it said that the session commenced
December 3d, 1877, and consequently April 3d, would be found in the
book marked 1877 on the title page. So I turned right over here and
looked up at the top and saw the date, April 3, 1878. He was
looking for the 1878 book, and that included April, 1879, and when
he got to April, 1879, there was no session of the Senate. So he
came right in here and swore that Dorsey was not here in 1978, but
that he was here in April, 1879. I looked in that book and found
that Mr. Dorsey, on the 3d of April, 1878, was appointed by the
Vice-President on a committee of conferees, on the part of the
Senate, together with Senators Windom and Beck, and I saw exactly
how Mr. Rerdell made his mistake. He opened the book, and at the
bottom of the title page it said 1877. That was not what he was
looking for. He was looking for 1878. And the book that said 1878
showed that in April the Senate was not in session. The book that
said 1877 showed that in April the Senate was in session on April
3d, 1878. That man thought he was backed by the records of the
Senate, and thereupon he manufactured that letter. And that is the
letter sworn by Boone not to be in the handwriting of S.W. Dorsey.
Now, gentlemen, there is nothing in this world that a man would be
prevented from doing, for its baseness, who would do that.

There is more evidence than this. I asked Mr. Rerdell, "When
you got that letter did you understand it?" He said, "No." Did you
do anything on account of it?" "NO." "Did you know what it meant?"
"No." And yet he has the temerity to swear that he received that on
the 3d of April, 1878.

How did he come to spell the name Reddell? I will tell you, On
page 2275 he had a letter to go by. That is the Very page on which
the Government puts in that letter, this letter is a letter of
introduction. When Rerdell manufactured that letter he had this
letter of introduction to go by:

Hon. J.L. Routt, Denver:

My Dear Governor: I wish to introduce my friend, Mr. M.C.
Reddell.

It was written Reddell in that letter, and when this man
wanted to manufacture one he had one in his possession that Dorsey
wrote about that time (April 14, 1879), and he noticed that in that
he spelled the name Reddell. So when he wanted to get up a fraud he
spelled the name Reddell. That is the way. There is no pretence
that Dorsey wrote that letter, and they dare not bring an expert or
another man on earth acquainted with the handwriting of Dorsey and
submit it to him and expect him to say that that is the handwriting
of S.W. Dorsey. So much for that.

Now, it is claimed that while Torrey was writing up Dorsey's
books, having in his possession the check stubs, he was uncertain
as to whether a charge was twenty-five dollars or twenty-five
cents, and he thereupon sent to Rerdell to ascertain the true state
of the account, so that he might open his books. Thereupon Rerdell
made the calculation in the evidence marked (94X,) and Donnelly
wrote under it that it was right. Donnelly made that little
certificate at the bottom. Here is the important paper [submitting

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94X to the jury], another piece manufactured out of whole cloth,
not whole paper. Now, I ask a few questions about this. In the
first place, they knew that unless this was corroborated it was
good for nothing, and we find on it:

Lewis Johnson & Co., note due 28th October, three thousand
dollars.

Was that note at Lewis Johnson & Co.'s? Why did they not bring
some of the officers of that bank, if there was such a note for
three thousand dollars there? But no one was brought. And yet they
knew that everything coming from Rerdell must be corroborated.

If Rerdell had come to Donnelly to find what the account was,
how did it happen to be in Rerdell's handwriting before it got to
Donnelly? Donnelly wrote this certificate at the bottom. Rerdell
had written all the facts before. If he went to Donnelly to get the
facts, how did Rerdell happen to write this before it got to
Donnelly? It is like me wanting to get some information from a man,
and writing the information before going to him.

Now, if Donnelly wrote that after Rerdell had written, where
did Rerdell get the information? If Donnelly had the books,
Donnelly should have given the information. If Rerdell had the
books, why did he want to go to Donnelly for information? And if
Donnelly had the books, how did Rerdell write the information
before he went to Donnelly? Then if he wanted that information for
Torrey, why did he not send it to him? How does it happen that
Rerdell wrote out the information for Donnelly, then got Donnelly
to certify it, because Torrey had asked it? And then how does it
happen that Rerdell kept it? It seems to me that that ought to have
been sent to Torrey. Torrey wrote to Rerdell for information;
Rerdell wrote it all down, and then got Mr. Donnelly to say it was
so. If Donnelly had the books, Donnelly should have given the
information. If Rerdell had the books, he did not have to go to
Donnelly for information. That is another manufactured paper. As I
say, how does it happen to be in the possession of Rerdell? They
claim that it was for Torrey's benefit. I believe when Torrey was
on the stand they asked him if there was not some dispute about
thirty-five cents. Now they bring that here to show that there was
a dispute about twenty-five cents. Was there any reason for
supposing that it was twenty-five cents? No, except that it was in
the dollar column, that is all. Of what use was Donnelly's
statement after Rerdell had made the calculation? Nobody on earth
can tell why that was given. Why did they not bring some of the
books or clerks from Lewis Johnson & Co.'s Bank to show that there
was a note there in October for three thousand dollars.

There is another little matter, a conversation between Rerdell
and Brady. Rerdell said he had a conversation with Brady in which
he told him about the Congressional committee; that he was summoned
to bring his books. Brady was astonished that Dorsey would be "Damn
fool enough to keep books," and suggested to have them copied,if
this is true, Brady at that tune made a confident of Rerdell. If it
is true, Brady at that time admitted to Rerdell that he (Brady) was
a conspirator; that he had conspired with Dorsey. And yet Brady
says that he never had but three or four conversations, I believe,
with this man, and Rerdell himself admits that he never had but

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four or five, and when he is pinned down on cress-examination he
accounts for enough of these interviews, without any interviews on
the subject of the books, to exceed all that he ever had. Do you
believe that he ever had any such conversation? Do you believe that
Brady would make a confident of him? Do you believe that Brady
would substantially admit in his presence that he had been bribed
by Dorsey? I do not.

Now, in order that you may know what this man is, I want you
to have an idea of his character. So we will come to the next
point. Mr. Rerdell admits that he sat with the defendants during
the early part of this trial; that he was willing to make a bargain
with the Government; that he proposed to the Government that he
would sit with his co-defendants, and would challenge from the jury
the friends of the defendants. Did any man wearing the human form
ever propose a more corrupt and infamous bargain? That proposition
ought to have been written on the tanned hide of a Tewksbnry
pauper. He went to the Government and deliberately said,
"Gentlemen, I am willing to make a bargain with you. I am willing
to sit with my co-defendants, pretending to be their friend, and
while so pretending I will challenge their friends from the jury.
I will so arrange it that their enemies may be upon the panel."
"And why do you say that, Mr. Rerdell?" "In order to show my good
faith towards the Government." He made the first affidavit for
friendship, the second for fear, and he made this proposition to
show his good faith. There never was a meaner proposition made by
a human being, under the circumstances, than that. He proposed to
do it. Mr. Blackmar says that the proposition was rejected; but
that does not affect Mr. Rerdell. He was willing to carry it out.

What more does he swear? He swears that he tried to carry it
out. In other words, that although it had been rejected, that made
no difference to him. Mr. Blackmar says they would not do it.
Rerdell swears that he tried to; went right along and did his level
best; and if the Court had allowed him four challenges he would
have challenged four friends of the defendants from the jury.

What more does he admit? That when the Court decided that all
of us together only had four, he endeavored to challenge one, Why?
Because he believed he was a friend of the defendants; because he
believed he would be against the prosecution; and he wanted to get
the friends of the defendants away. Why? To the end that the
defendants might be tried by an enemy. That is what he was trying
to accomplish.

Let us take another step. That proposition reveals the entire
man; that takes his hide off; that takes his flesh all off; that
leaves his heart bare, naked; you can see what he is made of, and
it shows the workings of his spirit, the motions of his mind; and
you see in there a den of vipers; you see entangled, knotted
adders. And yet that man is put upon the stand stamped by the seal
of the Department of justice, and that department says to twelve
men, "Here is a gentleman that you can believe; that gentleman
proposes to sell out his co-defendants to us, but we would not buy;
he is an honorable kind of gentleman, but we would not buy."

Mr. MERRICK. It should be interpolated there -- if you will
pardon me a moment -- that the Government refused to accept Rerdell
until he himself had pleaded guilty.

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Mr. INGERSOLL. I understand that. I say now, Mr. Merrick, that
I would not for anything in the world, on a subject of that kind,
go the millionth part of an inch beyond the testimony. Although you
and I have not been very cordial friends during this trial, and
neither have I and Mr. Bliss, yet if I know myself I would not for
anything in this world put a stain upon your reputation, or upon
the reputation of either of you, by misstating a word of this
testimony. I would not do it. I am incapable of it. I admit that
the evidence is that the proposition was rejected, but I also
insist that the Government knew; the proposition had been made,
otherwise it could not have been rejected And so I say that after
this man had made that proposition, infamous enough to put a blush
upon the cheek of total depravity, the Government put that witness
upon the stand, sealed with the seal of the Department of justice.

Now, we will go another step, He sat with us from day to day,
gentlemen, as you know, went in and out with us, as one of the co-
defendants. In the meantime -- and there is a laughable side even
to this infamy -- he borrowed money from Vaile. He went to him as
a co-defendant, as a friend, and said, "I want a hundred and forty
dollars; I want to buy bread and meat to give me strength to swear
you into the penitentiary." And Vaile gave him the money. Would you
believe a man like that? You cannot think of a man low enough, you
cannot think of a defendant vile enough to be convicted on such
testimony.

Now, we will go another step. He wanted to make that bargain
with Mr. Blackmar. Mr. Blickmar swears that he told Mr. Merrick of
it, and that Mr. Merrick rejected it; would have nothing to do with
it.

At that time Mr. Woodward had two affidavits of Rerdell in his
possession -- an affidavit of Rerdell, made in September,
supplemented by another affidavit, I believe, of November, that he
made in the city of Hartford, covering seventy pages. When Mr.
Woodward saw Mr. Rerdell sitting with the defendants, pretending to
go with them, he (Woodward) had those two affidavits of Rerdell in
his pocket. Did the prosecution know that Rerdell had made the two
affidavits? I do not say they did, gentlemen. I only go right to
the line of the evidence; there I stop.

Another thing: Mr. Blackmar swears that they had a signal to
look at the clock, and that night Rerdell would meet him at six or
seven o'clock, I have forgotten the hour; but Mr. Blackmar could
not sit in his room all the time waiting for him, and so he gave
him a certain signal, so that he would know he was to wait that
night. Then what happened? Then Mr. Rerdell came to Mr. Blackmar
and gave to him written reports. Of what? I do not know. He sat
with the defendants; he gave to Mr. Blackmar written reports. What
were they? I do not know. What did Mr. Blackmar do with them? He
handed them to Colonel Bliss. What did he do with them? I do not
know. Did he read them? I do not know. Did he know that they were
in the handwriting of Mr. Rerdell? I do not know. That is for you.

Still another point:

Mr. Bliss, after this jury had been impaneled, stood before
them while Rerdell was sitting with us as a defendant, and said:

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The ranks of the defendants are closed up, and he --

Rerdell --

stands before you now as one of the defendants, whose testimony --

Meaning the confessions made to MacVeagh and to Postmaster-
General James --

will be accepted by the Court and by you, &c.

The question arises, "Did Mr. Bliss know at that time that Mr.
Woodward had in his pockets two affidavits made by Rerdell, one
made in September and the other in November? Did he know at that
time that Rerdell had given his papers over to Mr. Woodward? Did he
know at that time that he had offered to challenge the friends of
the defendants from the panel? And so knowing, did he give us to
understand that Rerdell had passed from the influence of the
Government and was now acting as one of the co-defendants? Is it
possible that Mr. Bliss would furnish Rerdell with a mask behind
which he could gather information from the defendants and sell it
to the Government for immunity? Is it possible? Those were the
circumstances. I do not say that he knew. I do not know.

Gentlemen, I do not believe that it is the duty of a
Government to prosecute its citizens. I do not believe that it is
the duty of a Government to spread a net for one of the people whom
it should protect. I do not believe in the spy and informer system.
I believe that every Government should exist for the purpose of
doing justice as between man and man. The mission of a Government
is to protect and preserve its citizens from violence and fraud.
The real object of a Government is to enforce honest contracts, to
protect the weak from the strong; not to combine against the one,
not to offer rewards for treachery, not to show cold avarice in
order that some citizen may have his liberty sworn away. The
objects of a good Government are the sublimest of which the
imagination can conceive. The means employed should be as pure as
the ends are noble and sacred. The Government should represent the
opinions, desires, and ideals of its greatest, its best, and its
noblest citizens. Every act of the Government should be a flower
springing from the very heart of honor. A Government should be
incapable of deceit. The Department of justice should blow from the
scales even the dust of prejudice. Representing a supreme power, it
should have the serenity and frankness of omnipotence. Subterfuge
is a confession of weakness. Behind every pretence lurks cowardice.
Our Government should be the incarnation of candor, of courage. and
of conscience. That is my idea of a great and noble Government.

The next point to which I call your attention is the
withdrawal of the plea of not guilty by Mr. Rerdell. You probably
remember the occurrence. I will read to you what he said upon that
occasion. I find it on page 2202:

After mature reflection and a full consideration of the whole
subject, I have determined to abandon any further defence of myself
in this case, and put myself at the mercy of the Court and the
Government; and if desired to do so by the counsel for the
Government, to testify to all my knowledge of any facts with

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reference to any of the defendants either against or for them,
myself included. Therefore, I now in person ask leave to withdraw
my plea of not guilty, heretofore interposed, and enter my plea of
guilty, and in so doing put myself upon the mercy of the Court. I
feel this to be a duty I owe to myself, my family, and to truth. I
have arrived at this fixed determination upon my own reflections
and responsibilities, and without any previous consultation with my
counsel, who, I believe, would not have advised me to this course,
and whom I now relieve from all and any responsibility for the
course I have adopted.

Now, gentlemen, is it not wonderful that if Mr. Rerdell was
about to tell the truth as a witness in this case, he could not
even withdraw his plea of not guilty without misstating the facts?
Is it not wonderful that he felt called upon at that time to tell
several falsehoods? He says that he took this step upon his own
responsibility. He says that he did it without the advice of his
counsel. He tells you that he believes if he had asked his counsel,
his counsel would have been opposed to it. He says he is willing to
be a witness for the Government if the Government desires it,
leaving you to infer that at that time no arrangement had been made
for him to be a witness; that it was all in the regions of
uncertainty; that he had withdrawn into the recesses of his own
mind, and consulting with himself and nobody else had made up his
mind to throw himself upon the mercy of the Government and the
Court, and took that step without even allowing his counsel to know
what he was about to do.

But he speaks farther on the subject. I read from page 2523.
I was then examining him:

Q. How did you come to do it? -- A. I finally made up my mind
to what I would do. I talked it over the evening before with my
counsel --

He so states under oath; and yet when he stood up before this
court and withdrew his plea of not guilty, he said he acted without
the knowledge of his counsel --

I read this to show you that the statement he made to the
Court at the time he withdrew his plea was absolutely false. What
next? I will go on a little further. The same man Rerdell, after he
had made up his mind to go over to the Government; after he had
made up his mind to swear away, if it was within his power, the
liberty of S.W. Dorsey, admits, on page 2525, that he endeavored to
get five thousand dollars from Mr. Dorsey.

On page 2589 Mr. Rerdell swears positively that he did not
know that he was to be used as a witness for the Government until
he was called in court to take the stand. Let us look at the
evidence of Mr. Bliss on Page 2590. I will read you what he said:

Mr. BLISS. Your Honor we propose to show, in substance, that
this witness, for reasons with which we have nothing to do,
connected with his own views of his own safety, from an early
period was desirous of being accepted by the Government as a
witness; that the counsel in the case refused to communicate with
him or to have anything to do with him until, in the presence of
his own counsel, he was brought to Mr, Merrick's office, and there

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the whole thing was explained; and that then for the first time the
Government accepted his willingness to be a witness; and they did
it under circumstances which held out to him no inducement and
which involved no training or anything of the kind by anybody
representing the prosecution.

Now, let us go to the next step. I want to be perfectly fair.
On page 2591 Mr. Merrick asked Mr. Rerdell this question;

Q. When did you first learn that you would be put upon the
stand after pleading guilty? -- A. It was the day before my plea
was made in court.

Yet when he rose to withdraw the plea he expressed his
willingness to go upon the stand for the Government, leaving you to
infer that no arrangement had been made, and he afterwards finally
swore that he did not know that he was to be called until he was
called.

These, things, gentlemen, you must remember.

On page 2515 Rerdell swears that on the Sunday after he got
out of jail he proposed to Mr. Lilley to have Lilley act for him,
and authorized Lilley to say to the Government that if the
Government would accept him he would go on the stand and rebut
Vaile. He told him that he had in his possession a letter or two of
Mr. Vaile's. Rerdell tells you that he made this proposition on the
16th or of September, 1882. which was after he made the affidavit
of June, 1881. On the same page he said it was just after Vaile
went off the stand. That is my recollection. In the last trial
Vaile testified on the 4th of August, 1882. So about that time
Rerdell, according to his testimony, went to Lilley and made a
proposition to sell out then. When he made the affidavit of July
13, 1882, the trial was then in progress. The very next month,
August while the trial was still going on, that same man, having
made the affidavit of July 13, 1882, went to his attorney, Mr.
Lilley, and authorized him to say to the Government that Mr.
Rerdell would take the stand to swear against Mr. Vaile. Remember
another thing, gentlemen. The only thing he offered to do then to
insure his own safety was to swear against Vaile, He did not offer
to swear against Dorsey. He did not authorize Mr. Lilley to tell
the Government about the pencil memorandum and the tabular
statement and his letter to Bosler and Dorsey's letter to, Bosler
and the Chico letter. Not a word. He simply went and wanted to sell
some letters he had that had been written by Vaile. Why did he make
that offer? Because that was all he had.

On page 2517 he says that nothing was said about pardon, but
he says that Lilley told him that he thought he could get him off
What does that mean? That means pardon. On page 2518 he swears that
he saw Woodward in November in Hartford, and Woodward and he wrote
out the statement, covering, I believe, about seventy pages of
legal cap. Then Mr. Rerdell, on page 2519, swears that he never
made an affidavit after that. Then he admits, on the same page,
that the day before he came into, court he met Mr. Woodward and
made another affidavit. That was supplementary to the first. In the
meantime he found some new papers. So we find, according to his
testimony, these affidavits:

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On page 2521 we find that he made an affidavit in June, 1881.
Remember, gentlemen, that he swore to that affidavit three or four
times. September and November of the same year, and another in
February, 1883. And yet he swears that he was not to have immunity.

Now, gentlemen, one point more about his plea of guilty. After
having withdrawn his plea of not guilty, after rising in court and
solemnly saying that he was guilty, and that he was guilty and that
he was charged in the indictment, which says that Rerdell conspired
with Brady and Vaile and Miner and John W. Dorsey and S.W. Dorsey
and Turner, that they all conspired, and that all the false
affidavits and false petitions and false everything else mentioned
in the indictment were made for the common benefit of all, then on
page 2570 he solemnly swears that he never entered into any
conspiracy or agreement with the defendants mentioned in the
indictment or any of them for the purpose of defrauding the
Government. When I asked him, With whom did you conspire, when did
you conspire, and what was the conspiracy? he could not tell; and
yet he had stood up in court and admitted that he was guilty, and
then on oath denied it. Did he not swear himself that after the
division was made in the routes Stephen W. Dorsey had not the
interest of a cent in any route that went to Vaile or Miner? Did he
not also swear that Vaile and Miner had not the interest of one
cent in any route that went to Stephen W. Dorsey? Did he not swear
that they were not mutually interested, and yet did he not stand up
in court, and by a plea of guilty say that they were not only
mutually interested, but he was one of the interested parties
himself? It seems impossible for that man to tell the truth on any
subject whatever. On page 2571 he swears he never made any
agreement with Vaile to defraud the United States. He stood up in
court and admitted that he had. He swore that he never made any
agreement with John W. Dorsey. He admitted that he had. He swore
that he never made any agreement with S.W. Dorsey, and yet stood up
in court and admitted that he had.

Now let us see whether he expected immunity. He swears that he
was taken to Mr. Merrick's office by Mr. Woodward and his counsel.
What Mr. Merrick told him we find on page 2590.

Q. And did I not say that, under the circumstances, the
Government would have nothing to do with you unless you pleaded
guilty? -- A. You did.

And that if you pleaded guilty you had nothing to trust to but
the mercy of the Government and the Court? -- A. That is what you
did, sir, exactly,

Now, on page 2523:

Q. Was it not arranged that Mr. Woodward was to come to your
house and then take you to one of the attorneys for the
prosecution, for the purpose of arranging the terms and Conditions
upon which you were to take the stand? -- A. It was not.

In another place he swears that it was, and that the
arrangement was carried out.

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The next point I wish to make, if the Court please, is that
whenever what is called an accomplice or an informer turns what is
called State's evidence, and whenever he is permitted by the court
to be sworn as a witness in a case, there is then upon the part of
the Government an implied promise that if he tells the truth be
shall not be punished. I read from the Whiskey cases, 9 Otto, page
595. Mr. justice Clifford delivers the opinion of the court.

Courts of justice everywhere agree that the established usage
is that an accomplice duly admitted as a witness in a criminal
prosecution against his associates in guilt, if he testifies fully
and fairly, will not be prosecuted for the same offence, and some
of the decided cases and standard text-writers give very
satisfactory explanations of the origin and scope of the usage in
its ordinary application in actual practice.

The COURT. What point are you now making to the Court?

Mr. INGERSOLL. I am making this point: It appears from the
evidence that Mr. Wilshire, the, attorney of Mr. Rerdell told him
at the time he was making up his mind whether he would go to the
Government or not, about the whiskey cases.

I make the point that when an accomplice turns State's
evidence the State cannot prosecute him after that if he testifies
fully and fairly; that the usage is immemorial, and that there is
not an exception in the records of all the cases in the books;
consequently that when Mr. Merrick told him, "You must look simply
to the Government and to the Court and you will have just exactly
what the law gives you and no more," his remarks meant that the law
gave him perfect immunity, provided he went upon the stand and
swore truthfully.

The COURT. You have demonstrated, as far as you have been able
to, that he has not sworn truthfully.

Mr. INGERSOLL. He has not; HE HAS NOT; and if the Government
will act fairly with him he will get no immunity.

When he went to the Government he understood the law to be
that if he swore fully and fairly, or if he swore in such a way
that they could not prove that he did not swear fully and fairly,
he was to have immunity. He understood that the more he swore
against the defendants the better was his chance for immunity. He
knew that the. Government would never complain of any lie he swore
against the defendants

Now, the next question is what is the law of accomplices, of
informers? There was a remark made by Mr, Bliss in his speech, that
they had plenty of evidence in this case without the testimony of
Mr. Walsh or Mr. Moore or Mr. Rerdell; plenty of evidence without
the testimony of Mr. Rerdell. if that had been so then the
Government had no right to put Mr. Rerdell on the stand. There is
but one excuse for using the testimony of a man who pleads guilty,
and that is that without his testimony a conviction cannot, in all
probability, be obtained. And upon that point I refer to 10
Pickering, 478, and to 9 Cowen, 711; and not only upon that point,
but upon the point I made at first, that whenever you put such a

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man upon the stand that of itself amounts to a promise of absolute
immunity;

The object of admitting the evidence of accomplices is in
order to effect the discovery and punishment of crimes which cannot
be proved against the offenders without the aid of an accomplice's
testimony. In order to prevent this entire failure of justice
recourse is had to the evidence of accomplices. -- 1 Phillips on
Evidence, 107.

If, therefore, there be sufficient evidence to convict without
his testimony, the court will refuse to admit him as a witness.
Roscoe's Criminal Evidence, 127.

Neither do I believe that Mr. Rerdell had a right to go upon
the stand until his case was finally disposed of. Precisely the
same language is used by Wharton on Criminal Evidence, 439;

An accomplice is used by the Government because his evidence
is necessary to a conviction.

That is the opinion of Mr. Justice MacLean, in 4 MacLean's
Circuit Court Reports, 103.

Mr. MERRICK. If not improper I may remark that all those cases
refer to a condition of things prior to the trial in which the
party appears as the witness.

Mr. INGERSOLL. The usual question is -- and the court
determines that question -- whether a man shall be a witness or
not.

The COURT. How can the court determine that without passing
upon the evidence in the case? That is not the duty of the court;
it belongs to the jury.

Mr. INGERSOLL. The prosecuting attorney has to pass upon that
himself when he makes up his mind to put him upon the stand; and he
only has the right to do that when he believes that no conviction
can be had without that testimony.

The COURT. Then it belongs to the prosecuting attorney.

Mr. INGERSOLL. I go further than that, and say that the
prosecuting attorney cannot do that without consultation with the
court, and without saying to the court that he believes no
conviction can be had without that testimony.

Mr. MERRICK. May I be allowed to suggest a point which
probably you would like to comment upon -- that all these cases
refer to accomplices prior to the trial. My own opinion in
reference to the case was that I would not put Rerdell upon the
stand until he had pleaded guilty.

The COURT. I do not see the ground for the distinction between
the cases. Undoubtedly, when an accomplice goes over to the
Government and offers his testimony, he does it always in the hope
of pardon or immunity from prosecution.

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Mr. INGERSOLL. That is all I want at present. I want it
understood, if the Court please, that I shall argue to the jury
that at the time he made up his mind to go to the Government, he
understood that that meant immunity.

The COURT. Oh, well, of course it did.

Mr. INGERSOLL. The next point is that the Court has to take
all his story or none; and I read from the second volume of Starkie
on Evidence, side-page 24:

In judging of the credit due to the testimony of an
accomplice, it seems to be a necessary principle that his testimony
must be wholly received as that of a credible witness or wholly
rejected. His evidence on points where he is confirmed by
unimpeachable evidence is useless. The question is whether he is to
be believed upon points where he received no confirmation. And of
this the jury are to form their opinion from the nature of the
testimony, his manner of delivering it, and the confirmation which
it receives derived from other evidence which is unsuspected. If
his character be established as a witness of truth, he is credible
in matters where he is not corroborated. If, on the other hand,
notwithstanding the corroboration upon particular points, doubts
and suspicions still remain as to his credit, his whole testimony
becomes useless.

That is the point I want to make. If they are only to take his
evidence where it is corroborated, they might as well have had the
corroboration in the first place without him.

Now, gentlemen, the evidence, in my judgment, shows, and shows
beyond a doubt -- and I believe it is now admitted -- that at the
time Mr. Rerdell made up his mind to go to the Government he
expected that he was to have absolute immunity. You must judge of
his evidence in the light of that fact, in the light of that
knowledge, in the light of what had been told him by his counsel.
Now, it is for you to say. You know something of this man. You have
seen him from day to day. You saw his manner upon the stand. Why,
they tell you that at one time he was overcome with emotion, and
that that is evidence that he was telling the truth. It may be that
there is left in that man some little spark of goodness still. When
he was swearing, or endeavoring to swear, away the liberty of the
man who had been his friend, may be at that time the memory of the
past did for a moment rush upon him. He may have remembered the
thousand acts of kindness; he may have remembered the years of
liberality; he may have remembered the days that he had spent
beneath that hospitable roof; he may have remembered the wife and
children; he may have remembered all these things, and for just
that moment he may have realized what a wretch he was. In no other
way can you account for his having emotion.

But I am about through with that gentleman. I shall not take
up your time in the remainder of my speech by commenting upon Mr.
Rerdell. Let us finish his testimony now; let us put him out of
sight; let us put him in his coffin, close the lid, nail it down:

First nail -- affidavit of June 20, 1881; drive it in.

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Second nail -- the letter of July 5, 1882, when be says that
affidavit of 1881 was made by the persuasion of Bosler; drive it
in.

Third nail -- affidavit of July 13, 1882, where he swears that
they were all perfectly innocent.

Fourth nail -- the pencil memorandum; drive that in.

Fifth nail -- the tabular statement that gave thirty-three and
one-third per cent. to Brady; drive it in.

Sixth nail -- his pretended letter to Bosler telling about the
advice of Brady; drive that in.

Seventh nail -- the letter he pretends that Dorsey, on the
13th of May, 1879, wrote to Bosler, the copies being made by Miss
White; drive that in.

Wind his corpse up in the balance-sheets from the red books
made by Donnelly.

Then you want a plate for his coffin, Let us paste right on
there the Chico letter, April 3, 1878.

Now, we want grave-stones. Let us take the red books, put one
at his head and one at his feet.

And let his epitaph, written upon the red book placed at his
head, be --

Up to this moment I have been faithful to every trust.

My prayer to Gabriel is, "When you pass over that grave don't
blow." Let him sleep. There are, there never were, there never will
be twelve honest men who will deprive any citizen of his liberty
upon the evidence of a man like Mr. Rerdell, It never happened; it
never will.

And now, gentlemen, it becomes my duty to answer a few points
made by the gentlemen who have addressed you on behalf of the
Government, The first gentleman who addressed you was Mr. Ker, and
he had something to say -- considerable to say -- about what are
known as the Clendenning bonds.

They claim, gentlemen, first, that an immense fraud was in
view when these proposals -- I think they are proposals -- with
accompanying bands and oaths of sureties were sent to Mr.
Clendenning. I wish to give you, in the first place, my explanation
of this paper. See if I understand it. If you sent this paper to
that officer or to that gentleman as a form to guide him in making
up the bonds, you would only fill up that portion of the band in
giving him a sample which you wanted him to fill Up, and you would
fill it up in order to show him exactly how he was to fill it up;
and you would leave out that part which was already filled up in
the bond. That is exactly what was done in this case. There was not
one of those bonds that had an oath of the surety or the flames of
the sureties, because they were unknown. The names were unknown,

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and the amounts that the postmaster would certify to, and so all
that was left in blank in the bond sent. But this being only a
sample, it was sent to him so that he might know how to fill up the
bonds that were sent. Consequently that portion which was
absolutely blank in the bond sent would be filled up as a guide to
him, and that potion which was filled up in the bonds sent would be
left blank in the guide, because he had nothing to do with that
part. Now, that is all there is to it.

What was left out, as they claim? Why they claim that the name
of the bidder was left out and the amount of the bid. It makers no
difference. That is not the slightest evidence of fraud, is it ?

What was the next thing? They were never used, never. No bond
included in that bundle was ever accepted by the Government. No
bonds were ever made, no contract ever based upon them, not a
Solitary cent taken from the Government by those papers. Why, then,
this secrecy? Because when a man is in this business he does not
want anybody else to know that he is bidding, in the first place;
and, in the second place, he does not want anybody to know the
amount of the bid. If the amount of the bid is put in, then the
persons going security will know it, and they may tell. The
postmaster who approver, the security will know it, and he may
tell. The object of the secrecy is not to defraud the Government,
but to prevent other people finding the amount of the bid and then
underbidding. That is the object, and it is the only object. And
yet this little, poor, dried-up bond, soaked in the water of
suspicion, swells almost to bursting in the minds of the counsel
for the prosecution. There is nothing of it. It was never worthy of
mention, in the first place. You will never think of it when you
retire. It will never enter your minds; but if it does, remember
that the object of the secrecy was simply as a precaution against
other bidders, and had nothing whatever to do with the Government.

There is one other point. I believe Mr. Dorsey did say, in his
examination-in-chief, that he did not talk to anybody about it, and
it afterwards occurred that he did go and ask Mr. Edmunds whether
what he had asked Clendenning to do was illegal or improper. To
that contradiction you are welcome.

Mr. Ker gives the date of Boone's circular to postmasters
asking for information, and says it was dated December 1, 1879-
Thereupon Mr. Merrick corrects him, and says it was in 1878. The
Court does the same. As a matter of fact, these circulares were
dated December, 1877. Gentlemen, I just simply speak of this to
show how easy it is for people to be mistaken. Those circulares
were gotten up for the purpose of getting information before
bidding. All the bids were put in in February, 1878. The circulares
were sent out, I believe, in November and December, 1877. And yet
upon that one point Mr. Ker is mistaken two years.

On page 4512 Mr. Ker states that Miner, in April, 1878, said
to Moore that it all depended upon affidavits of the contractors,
and that "they were all good affidavit men." The object of this, if
it had an object, was to show that this conspiracy was entered into
with Moore, and that S.W. Dorsey was a part of it in April, 1878.
The evidence of Moore is that the conversation took place, not in
April, but in July, 1878, at the city of Denver. And yet Mr. Ker

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tells you that it was in April, 1878. It is not, perhaps, a very
material point, but it simply serves to show you the manner in
which this evidence is repeated to you by the counsel for the
prosecution.

At page 4537 Mr. Ker says that before J.W. Dorsey went West he
made an arrangement with his brother to sell out his interest for
ten thousand dollars; that he did this before he started West; that
he did it before there was any service put on; and that these
contracts were taken at such low figures; yet John W. Dorsey had
raised his interest up to ten thousand dollars. Mr. Ker tells you
that the evidence shows that before any service was put on and
before John W. Dorsey went West he tried to sell out his interest
for ten thousand dollars. Now, what was the object in making this
statement, unless it was pure forgetfulness? Why it was to connect
Vaile with this business some time in April, 1878.

On pages 4100 and 4102 J.W. Dorsey swears that he was here in
Washington in November, 1878; before that time he had gone to the
Tongue River route: he had come back from Bismarck; and it was
then, not in April; it was then, not before he went West; it was
then, not before any service was put on, that be talked with Vaile
about selling out to him for ten thousand dollars; and it was in
November that be left the instructions for his brother to sell to
Vaile. It was not in April; it was not before he went West; it was
not before any service was put on.

At page 4540 Mr. Ker states that --

Dorsey held thirty-three routes, and there was not one of
them, I suppose, that was not expedited to the fullest extent.

What evidence is there of that? Is there any evidence that any
route of Dorsey's was expedited not mentioned in this indictment?

Did not Mr. Ker know whether the routes had been expedited or
not? Did not I offer in this court to prove what was done with
every solitary route we had? I say to the gentleman that the other
routes were not expedited. I say to the gentleman that only two
other routes were, and we were not interested in them. And I say
also that they know the record, and they knew the record when this
statement was made; but they may have forgotten it. But is it fair,
gentlemen, for a prosecuting officer to state to you that he
supposed all the routes of Dorsey were expedited? One of those in
the indictment was not expedited; and not a route outside of the
indictment belonging to Dorsey, in which he had an interest, was
expedited. So much for that statement.

At page 4546 you are told by Mr. Ker that --

Nobody ever heard of expedition on a route before.

We proved what form of contracts bad been in the Post-Office
Department for twenty years, and proved that in every one of them
there was a clause for expedition. So much for that evidence,
gentlemen.

At page 4546 Mr. Ker tells us that J.W. Dersey testified --

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That the routes were taken so low as to cut out other people,
but that they knew they were to be expedited, and they knew they
were to be increased.

J.W. Dorsey testified upon that subject, and his testimony
will be found at Page 4085;

Q. Did you have an arrangement by which you should bid an
extremely small amount on the routes, with the further
understanding that the service was to be increased and expedited?
-- A. No, sir; I never thought of such a thing.

And in his entire testimony in chief and cross, I believe
there is not another question on that subject.

On page 4549, referring to the letter of John M. Peck, which
was in fact written by Miner, Mr. Ker says:

Cedarville ought to, have had as many mails as the other
points between, according to the order, but they were going to
supply it only once a week.

As a matter of fact, gentlemen, this letter was written on the
22d of October, 1879, and at the time the letter was written the
mail, according to the contract, was carried only once a week on
that route, and consequently Cedarville would have had exactly the
same mail as any other point; that is to say, once a week.

Page 556 of the record shows that three trips a week were put
upon this route to Loup City with a schedule of thirteen hours, but
not until the 10th of July, 1879, nine months after this letter was
written.

On page 4609 Mr. Ker, in commenting upon an affidavit on the
Toquerville and Adairville route, reads from the evidence of John
W. Dorsey, citing page 3945, and ends at this question and answer:

Q, It was done so entirely, was it not? -- A. It ought to have
been so.

Now, let me read you the balance:

Q. Was it not so done? -- A. No, sir.

Q. It was not? -- A. No, sir.

Q For whose benefit was it done? -- A. He --

Meaning Rerdell --

stole five thousand dollars on that route, or very nearly that
-- four thousand nine hundred dollars on that very route.

Q. When did he steal that five thousand dollars? -- A. About
a year ago or a year and a half; I do not remember the time.

Q. From whom? -- A. From Mr. Bosler and myself.

Q. At what time? -- A. I should think in February, 1882.

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The question now arises, did Mr. Rerdell take this money as
charged? Read now from the record, at pages 734 and 735, and you
will find in the last line of the tabular statement introduced in
this case that on this very route four thousand eight hundred and
twenty-seven dollars and eighty-three cents was paid to M.C.
Rerdell as subcontractor on that route. We also find that it was
paid on the 4th of February, 1882. This is the money that Dorsey
swears Rerdell stole, and that gentleman never took the stand to
deny it.

At page 4616, Mr. Ker, after going over all the evidence with
regard to the affidavits as to the impossibility of the number of
men and horses doing the service rendered necessary by the
affidavit, comes to the following conclusion: That under the oath
the proportion was, as nine to twenty-three; that under the oath of
Johnson the real proportion should have been, and was, eight to
twenty-two.

In other words, the real proportion, according to Mr. Ker's
own statement, would have taken more money from the Treasury than
the wrong proportion made under the fraudulent affidavit, and that
was nine to twenty-three. Nine into twenty-three goes twice and
five-ninths; that is, two hundred and fifty-five percent. and a
fraction. That is the fraudulent portion. Mr. Ker says that the
real proportion was not nine into twenty-three, but as eight to
twenty-two. Eight twenty-two goes twice and six-eighths; that is to
say, and three-quarter; that is to say, two hundred and seventy-
five per cent. The fraudulent proportion, according his claim, only
gave us two hundred and fifty-five per cent. real proportion, which
Mr. Ker admits was right, according to the evidence of Johnson,
would have given us two hundred and seventy-five per cent. In other
words, we got twenty per cent. less under the fraud than we would
under the evidence of Johnson that Mr. Ker admits to be correct.
Finding that it is twenty per cent. less under the fraudulent
affidavit than under Johnson's estimate, he shouts fraud.

On page 4617 Mr. Ker tells us that Sanderson "had no more to
do with the route than you or I had." On page 731 I find that Mr.
Sanderson drew all the money on the route from Saguacbe to Lake
City, I believe, with one exception -- the third quarter of one
year -- 1878, it may be. He drew every dollar upon that route,
anyhow, up to February 17, 1882, except for one quarter. And yet
Mr. Ker stood up before you and said that Sanderson "had no more to
do with the route than you or I had."

Let us see if we have any more evidence. I find on page 3271
a subcontract executed on route 38150, from Saguacheto Lake City,
by Miner, Peck & Company to Sanderson for the whole time until June
30, 1882. I find that subcontract is signed by John R. Miner and
J.L. Sanderson. This contract was to be from the 1st of July, 1878,
and was made the 15th of May, 1878, and here it is in evidence. The
evidence is that the contract was made between Miner, Peck & Company and Sanderson; the evidence also is that Sanderson drew the
pay. And yet Mr. Ker stands up before you and says that Sanderson
"had no more to do with the route than you or I had.

The subcontract, gentlemen, states that Sanderson is to have
the entire pay, and it was before the contract term began. So much
for that.
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Mr. KER. When was it filed?

Mr. WILSON. That does not make any difference.

Mr. INGERSOLL. "When was it filed? " There was a trial in my
town of a suit against the city, I believe, for allowing a culvert
to get filled up and flood a man's cellar. They brought in evidence
to prove, don't you see, that the culvert was not filled up, and
one witness swore that the day before the rain he saw a dog go
through there. One of the jurors got up and said that he would like
to ask a question; he said, "What the color of that dog?"

On page 4631 Mr. Ker states that during the investigation by
Congress --

Contractors got out printed letters and sent them to every
subcontractor upon every star route in the country, asking them to
write to members of Congress urging their members of Congress to
vote this appropriation.

On page 1346 is Rerdell's letter upon this very route, in
which not one word is said about the contractor doing anything one
way or the other. There is no evidence that any other letter was
written on that route. I call your attention to it to show how the
prosecution strained every possible point, and how they endeavored
to patch and piece and putty and veneer this evidence. Mr. Miner
wrote a letter page (669). I do not remember any other evidence
upon this subject. And certainly it would be impossible to write a
milder letter than Mr. Miner wrote. He did not ask the people to
get up petitions against reduction, or ask for more service. Here
is what he says, and I will read you Mr. Miner's letter;

It will be well for the people of your section to send to the
member of Congress from your district such petitions as will
express their opinions on the subject of this reduction.

Truly, yours,

JNO. R. MINER, Ag't.

Could you write a milder letter than that, to save your life,
and refer to the subject? Could you write a fairer letter than
that, to save your life?

He does not say, "Get up petitions against it." He does say,
"Send those petitions to your member of Congress tell him to do
what he can to prevent it." Not one word of that kind.

Yet that is considered as evidence of fraud; that is
considered as evidence of conspiracy.

The next point made is that Mr. Ker states, at page 4632, that
Brady endeavored to bribe the members of Congress into making this
appropriation by doubling every star route in the Southern and
Middle States, and did so during the Congressional investigation.
What are the facts? The deficiency bill passed April 7, 1880. That
appropriated money only for the purpose of carrying the mails up to
June 30, 1880. The regular appropriation bill was passed at the

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same session, and appropriated money to carry the mails from the
1st of July, 1880. Now let us see if Brady doubled the trips in
these Southern and Middle States during that investigation. On page
3393 Brady says:

Practically on July 1, 1880, we doubled up the entire service
for all the Southern and Middle States.

This was after the deficiency bill had passed it was after the
money appropriated by that bill had been expended and it was paid
for out of the regular appropriation for the Post-Office
Department.

Yet that was a bribe. It just shows that Congress by the
regular appropriation indorsed the policy of Mr. Key to have a
dally mail to every place where there was a county-seat.

At page 4652, on the route from Mineral Park to Pioche, there
were two petitions, marked 17K and 18K. It is somewhat singular
that the Government brought no persons whose names are on these
petitions to show that they had not authorized their names to be
signed thereto, but they brought persons to show that the
signatures were not genuine.

On page 1621 the witness Wright swears that the names are the
same on both petitions. He is then asked if he knows the signatures
of any other people, and he says "Yes." He then says that the
signature of John Deland is not genuine. He swears that he knows
nearly every one of the people. He is then asked whether these
signatures are in the handwriting of the people, and he replies
that he thinks not. Then he is asked as to the signature of
Cornell, and he says:

That is not in his handwriting.

Here is his cross-examination, gentlemen:

I asked him, "Do you know these people;" made him swear that
he knew Mr. Street; that he knew the signatures of many; that he
knew these people. I proved where they were living; that they are
living in the country now, good, respectable, honest people. And
yet the Government did not bring one man whose name had been
written here to prove that he had not authorized it. Why? Because
they could not. They knew by the testimony here that the petitions
were absolutely and perfectly honest. And it is in that way that
they seek to deprive men of their liberty. They did not call a man
whose name appeared on those petitions to say that his signature
was not genuine or not authorized. I proved that many of them are
still living and first-rate men.

Now, gentlemen, you remember besides that, that Mr. H. S.
Stevens, the delegate from that Territory, recommended the same
thing asked for by those petitions (pages 1635, 1636), where it was
admitted by counsel for the Government that the letters of Stevens
were genuine. It is upon that same route that General Fremont also
wrote a letter (page 1636). And I will show you that the names are
exactly or substantially the same on 18K as those found at pages
1638 and 1639.

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Mr. Ker and Mr. Bliss both endeavored to show that there were
no petition on this route, and that it was simply done on a letter.
If you will look at page 1603 you Will find the evidence of Mr.
Krider, who was postmaster at Mineral Park, in which be says there
were petitions.

In order to show that there was a conspiracy between these
parties, or between Dorsey and Vaile, or Dorsey, Rerdell, and
Vaile, Mr. Ker called the attention of the jury to two letters, one
written by Rerdell to the Sixth Auditor, and one written by Vaile.
Here is a letter dated the 21st of August, 1880. It is introduced,
of course, to show that there was a conspiracy at that time between
Mr. Vaile and Mr. Dorsey. It was written by Mr. Rerdell to the
Sixth Auditor:

TO THE SIXTH AUDITOR:

SIR: H.M. Vaile was subcontractor on route 40104 during the
first quarter of 1879. In the first settlement for that quarter
Vaile was paid for certain expedited service -- it was subsequently
discovered that the expedition thus paid for was never performed --
the department therefore, and very properly, too, charged back to
the route the amount thus paid for expedition never performed, viz,
some two thousand eight hundred dollars.

Meanwhile Vaile, who alone was in fault, had ceased to have
any connection with the route -- the charging back, therefore, fell
on the wrong man, the man who was in no way responsible for the
non-performance of the expedition, except so far as he stood
between the department and the subcontractor.

It is true that this payment was made by the regular
contractor to the subcontractor, but it is equally true that it
was, in a measure, a compulsory payment. By the rules of the Post-
Office Department it is made obligatory on the regular contractor
to pay the subcontractor before the department will settle with him
-- it is not, therefore, a payment as between two individuals. The
receipt is on the form prescribed by the Post-Office Department,
and is witnessed by (the then) Postmaster Edmunds, as the rules
prescribe. It is on file in the Post-Office Department, and I
maintain that our covenants were fulfilled when we put the receipt
on file. If Vaile had performed the service as he agreed he would
do, and for doing which he received this money, we should have been
reimbursed by a certificate of service from the contract office.
Now, will you Permit Vaile to take advantage of his own wrong, and
thus enable him to defraud another man out of his money?

I refrain from discussing the question as to what would be the
duty of the department if Vaile, who had received the money
wrongfully, had ceased to have any connection with the department,
because it is not pertinent to this issue; if it were, I could cite
you to many authorities and precedents to the effect that even then
it would be your duty to refund the money to me. But this is not
necessary, because Vaile is still doing business with the
department.

He is subcontractor on route 44156 for the full contract pay,
which is twenty-two thousand dollars per annum, hence the

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department will have no difficulty in reimbursing itself for what
was, in simple truth, an overpayment.

I think you will agree with me when I ask that this money be
refunded to the subcontractor on route 40104 and charged to route
44156, because it is simply correcting an error. You have the same
authority to charge it to one as you have to charge it to the
other, and you have already charged it to me.

The law-merchant would experience no difficulty in adjusting
a matter of this sort. The merchant who would refuse to correct an
error of this character would be justly called a lame duck, and
would be scouted from "Change." Vaile was erroneously paid for the
performance of a service which he never did perform. Therefore I
ask that he be compelled to render unto Caesar the things that he
ceasers.

Respectfully,

M.C. RERDELL.

Acting for himself and for the regular contractor on route
40104.

That is to show also, gentlemen, that there was a conspiracy
between Vaile and Rerdell. Now, Mr. Vaile wrote a letter also to
the same man. I will read it

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 9, 1880.
Hon. J. McGrew:

SIR: In reply to yours of July 8th, relating to the Jennings
case, I would state that I did not receive the money in manner and
form as stated by one M.C. Rerdell, nor was the draft of J.W.
Dorsey, on said route 40104, for the quarter named, to get an
advance of money for myself or for my own use.

At the time I receipted for my pay as subcontractor on said
route I did not, in fact, receive any money, but did so receipt
that J.W. Dorsey might negotiate his draft on said route, and for
no other purpose.

Although I was subcontractor of record on said route at the
time named, I was not a subcontractor in my own behalf, but as
trustee for J.W. Dorsey, S.W. Dorsey, Isaac Jennings, and others,
to collect said money and pay it over as said parties should
direct. I further state that all money that ever came into my hands
from said route I did pay over to the parties named as trustee, as
by them directed.

Acting as trustee of said Jannings, and believing that he had
performed the mail service on said route as by him agreed, and in
accordance with the laws and regulations of the Post-Office
Department, I did pay said Jennings, on the 1st day of April, 1879,
the sum of $1,257.73, the sum of money he was entitled to provided
he had carried the mail three days per week on the schedule
required, which I fully believed at that time he had done, and for
a long time after.

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I further state that I am informed that said Jennings is not
responsible; that it would be utterly impossible for me to receive
back the $2,800, or any part thereof; that in fact this sum of
money sought to be collected of me, if collected for said
Jennings's benefit, or go into his hands in addition to the sum he
now has unlawfully, doubly remunerating him for his neglect of
duty.

I further state that all the money collected on said route not
paid to said Jennings was paid to liquidate the debts of J.W.
Dorsey, S.W. Dorsey, and others previously contracted, and not one
dollar ever remained in my hands.

I further state I believe both J.W. Dorsey and S.W. Dorsey are
irresponsible, and it would be impossible for me to collect any
part of said money from them. As above stated, said money came into
my hand only as their agent or trustee, and at once paid out as
they directed; that my subcontract was put on file simply to enable
J.W. Dorsey to negotiate his draft on said route, when in fact said
Jennings was the real subcontractor. Said Jennings agreed to
perform the service on said route strictly in accordance with the
laws and regulations of the department, for the annual sum of
$12,600.00, the duplicate of which contract was delivered over to
S.W. Dorsey by myself, and which I believe is now in the hands of
M.C. Rerdell, and which, or a copy thereof, I demand shall be filed
with you in this case, that you may see what said Jennings agreed
to do.

This is certainly a strange claim. Jennings agreed to perform
mail service on said route. I believed he had done it, and paid him
accordingly. It turns out long after he did not properly perform
the service, but was attempting a swindle, and a deduction is
ordered for not performing the service properly. Then this man, the
guilty party, having got money from me, as trustee, wrongfully, as
well as from the Government, and asks that the Auditor compel me to
pay him the sum of $2,800.00, when, as I am informed, he is seeking
to get this same deduction remitted.

Surely if he succeeded in all this he will make a good thing
out of his rascality and I a good victim without remedy. I state
again I did not hypothecate said draft for myself, did not receive
one cent as subcontractor, but became the payee of said draft that
said J.W. Dorsey might negotiate it, and I to dispose of the
proceeds as he should direct, all of which I did. Therefore I
request you not to compel me to pay the sum of money asked, but if
I am liable at all let the parties seek their redress at law, where
all the facts can be obtained and justice rendered me. And it is
also well known that I am a man of means, and any judgment rendered
against me could and would be, collected, dollar for dollar.

I am, very respectfully,

H. M. VAILE.

That was introduced to show that at the time Vaile was in a
conspiracy with S.W. Dorsey. Why did they introduce it? Simply for
one line in it in which he says he was acting as the trustee of
S.W. Dorsey. He was. How? Dorsey had advanced money. The routes

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were liable, and the persons who held the routes had agreed to
refund it. The sub-contracts were made to Vaile, and Vaile agreed
out of the proceeds of the route to pay the debt to S.W. Dorsey. To
that extent he was the trustee of S.W. Dorsey. Dorsey swears it.
Vaile admits it, and we all claim it to be true. And yet they
introduced that letter simply because that line was there. Now,
gentlemen, I have read both of those letters, and I want you to
remember them if you can, and tell, me whether at that time Vaile
and Dorsey were in a conspiracy together to defraud this
Government. And yet the Government introduced this letter just to
prove that one thing, and no more.

On the Julian and Colton route there is this peculiarity: The
Government failed to prove the number of men and horses necessary
on the original schedule for three-times-a-week service, and
consequently we are left without any standard by which to judge,;
without any standard by which to measure.

On page 4685 Mr. Ker calls attention to the fact that the
proposal marked 6P, originally contained an offer to carry the mail
at thirty-six hours for seven thousand seven hundred and twenty-two
dollars additional, but he states that the thirty-six was rubbed
out and twenty-six was put in its place.

That is, they offered to carry it in thirty-six hours for
seven thousand and odd dollars, and then afterwards fraudulently,
of course, rubbed out the thirty-six and inserted twenty-six. But
they did not change the sum for which they offered to carry it.
They offered to carry it in thirty-six hours for seven thousand
seven hundred and twenty-two dollars, and afterwards they rubbed
out the thirty-six and put in twenty-six, and then offered to carry
it in twenty-six hours for seven thousand seven hundred and twenty-
two dollars. The question arises, how did that hurt the Government?
The question arises, was that a fraud? If it had been originally
twenty-six hours and they had rubbed out those figures and put in
thirty-six hours, then you might say the intention was to defraud
the Government. But the proposition had to be accepted after that
was done, and consequently in no event could the Government be
defrauded by the change of the proposal before the Government
accepted the proposal. I might say to a man, "I will let you have
a house and lot for ten thousand dollars." He does not accept the
proposal. Have I not the right on the next day to charge him twelve
thousand dollars for it? Is that a fraud? If I tell him, "You may
have it for ten thousand dollars," and he accepts, then, as an
honorable man, I cannot change the proposal. But if I tell him he
may have it for twelve thousand dollars and then afterwards tell
him he may have it for ten thousand dollars, Mr. Ker calls that a
fraud of two thousand dollars. If one of the jury should give me a
contract to deliver one hundred horses for ten thousand dollars,
and I should scratch out the one hundred and put in seventy-five,
certainly you would not consider yourself defrauded. Or if I agreed
to carry the mail in thirty hours for the Government for seven
thousand seven hundred and twenty-two dollars, and then afterwards
changed and said I would carry it in ten hours less time for the
same price, can that be tortured into a fraud -- unless I might be
indicted for defrauding myself?

On page 4569 Mr. Ker says that Mr. Farrish, who was the
subcontractor says:

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I always carried the mail in from six to ten hours before
expedition. I carried the mail from Greenhorn to Pueblo. I did not
stop at Saint Charles.

On page 835 Mr. Farrish says he carried the mail for three
months in 1881. That is the only time Farrish carried the mail.
This route was expedited on the 26th day of June, 1879, and yet Mr.
Ker says that Farrish carried the mail before it was expedited and
carried it in from six to ten hour. Mr. Farrish did not carry the
mail until about two years after it had been expedited.

On page 4768 Mr. Ker, speaking of the two affidavits on the
route from Pueblo to Rosita, laughs at the idea that the proportion
was the same in both.

Now, what is the proportion in both? One affidavit says that
on the then schedule it would take eight men and horses; that is,
the horses and men added together make eight, and that on the
proposed schedule it would take twenty-four. Then they would be
entitled to just three times the money they were receiving on the
original schedule, because three times eight are twenty-four. Let
me explain here what I mean by proportion. If I am carrying the
mail with, say, four horses and two men, making a total of six, and
if then that service is increased so that it takes twelve men and
horses, I get twice the original pay; if it takes eighteen men and
horses, I get three times the original pay. You understand that
there is always a relation between the pay and the number of men
and horses used. If I am using one man and one horse and am getting
a thousand dollars for the service, and if it is expedited so that
I have to use two men and two horses, I would get two thousand
dollars. In the first affidavit they had eight men and horses. If
they put up the service to what they were going to, it would take
twenty-four. Three times eight are twenty-four. Then they would get
three times the original amount of money. In the second affidavit
he swears that it takes fifteen men and animals on the present
schedule, and on the proposed schedule it would take forty-five men
and animals. Three times fifteen are forty-five. Three times eight
are twenty-four. You see that on both affidavits you get the same
amount of money to a cent, because the proportion is absolutely and
exactly the same. Yet Mr. Ker laughs at the idea of the proportion
being the same. It took eight men and horses in the first affidavit
on the present schedule, and twenty-four on the proposed schedule.
There the contractor would be entitled to three times the original
sum. In the next affidavit it took fifteen men and horses on the
original schedule and forty-five men and horses on the proposed
schedule. Again, he would be entitled to three times the original
sum.

On page 4579 Mr. Ker says the oath was put in for three trips.
By looking at page 867 we find that it was for seven trips and not
three. There is nothing like accuracy.

On page 4580 Ker says that Brady had on the jacket before him
the evidence that Hansom was a subcontractor at three thousand one
hundred dollars a year, and the contract gave the contractor a
clear profit of five thousand and forty-eight dollars. The fact is,
that Brady's order was made on July 8, 1879. That order is on page
866. Hansom's subcontract was filed October 22, 1879, about three

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month's after Brady's order was made. And yet Mr. Ker tells you
that on that jacket when Brady made the order he had notice of
Hansom's subcontract. Unless he had the gift of seeing into the
future he knew nothing about it. He would have had to see into the
future three months in order to have had it before him at that
time.

On page 4703 Mr. Ker says that the letter of J.W. Dorsey,
written April 26, 1879, referred to the Perkin's affidavit as not
putting the number of men and animals high enough. Let us see.
Another case of arithmetic. The letter refers to Dorsey's statement
transmitted with the letter. It could not be the way stated by Mr.
Ker for the following reasons: The affidavit of Perkins said three
men and six animals one trip a week on the then time. That makes
nine. On one trip a week with the reduction to eighty-four hours,
eight men and twenty-four animals would be required. That makes
thirty-two. The proportion then gives three and five-ninths or
three hundred and fifty-five per cent. increase of pay. That is the
affidavit, he says, that Dorsey wrote out and said was not high
enough, and then fixed up one that was. The affidavit that John W.
Dorsey sent in the letter says that it will require for three trips
a week on the then time four men and twelve animals, making
sixteen; on the proposed schedule for the same number of trips
eleven men and thirty-two animals, making forty-three. As sixteen
is to forty-three -- that is, two hundred and sixty-nine per cent.
increase of pay. Now, that letter, he says, claims that the Perkins
affidavit did not put it high enough. I say that he did not refer
to the Perkins affidavit. He could not say that did not put it high
enough, because that put it at three hundred and fifty-five per
cent., and the affidavit he inclosed in the letter, put it at two
hundred and sixty-nine per cent. -- nearly one hundred per cent.
less, According to Mr. Ker he was complaining that that affidavit
was too low, and so he inclosed one, one hundred per cent. lower.
That will not do. Besides all that the affidavit of John W. Dorsey
is for forty-five hours, while the first affidavit, I believe, is
for eighty-four hours. John W. Dorsey offers to carry it in forty-
five hours for two hundred and sixty-nine per cent., and the other
affidavit on the basis of eighty-five hours calls for three hundred
and fifty-five per cent. Do you not see, gentlemen, it is utterly
impossible to believe that?

On page 4738 Mr. Ker again falls into mathematics. He says
that Mr. Brady allowed on the Bismarck route for three hundred men
and three hundred horses.

I tell you this prosecution ought to go into the stock
business. One hundred and fifty men and one hundred and fifty
horses were called for by the affidavit. Now, Mr. Ker says when
Brady doubled the trips he doubled the horses, and when he doubled
the trips he doubled the men. That would make three hundred men and
three hundred horses. If he had doubled the trips again he would
have had six hundred men and six hundred horses, enough cavalry to
have protected that entire frontier, Yet after all the Bismarck and
Tongue River business, Mr. Vaile comes in and swears, on page 4062,
that the loss on that route to Vaile and Miner was at least fifty
thousand dollars; and Mr. Miner swears that the loss on the route
was between forty and fifty thousand dollars. Vaile says if he had
known at that time of the clause in the contract by which he could

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have gotten out of it he would have abandoned the route, but that
he had not read a contract for ten or twelve years. Now, as a
matter of fact, gentlemen, and it seems to me the prosecution ought
to be perfectly fair, Brady allowed only forty per cent. of the
affidavit made in regard to the one hundred and fifty men and the
one hundred and fifty horses, and yet according to Mr. Ker he
allowed for three hundred men and three hundred horses; instead of
allowing for forty per cent. of one hundred and fifty men and one
hundred and fifty horses, he allowed for one hundred per cent.
more. That would have run the pay up, I should think, to about a
million dollars. Mr. Ker also says that Mr. Vaile swears that he
induced Brady to give an extension to August 15th, and thereupon
Mr. Ker makes the remarkable statement that Vaile did not do it;
that Boone did it; I am very thankful for the admission. From that
it appears that Boone was more potent with Brady than Vaile was.

If he was, why did they have to get somebody close to Brady?
Afterwards we are told, by Mr. Ker that Mr. Boone was kicked out to
make a place for Vaile, so as to get a man close to Brady.

Mr. KER. Will you tell me what page it was I spoke about
Boone?

Mr. INGERSOLL. It was Mr. Bliss. It is Mr. Bliss's turn to
explain now. The notes that I have were handed to me by another,
and I supposed referred to Mr. Ker. Mr. Bliss said:

This, I think, can leave no doubt in the minds of any one that
the extension was obtained by Mr. Boone.

Mr. Bliss says that on page 4899, and so I will relieve Mr.
Ker of that charge.

Mr. KER. I am glad to be relieved of something.

Mr. INGERSOLL. I do not want to do any injustice to Mr. Ker;
between Mr. Bliss and Mr. Ker I am perfectly impartial.

Mr. Ker attacks the affidavit made by Vaile on the Vermillion
and Sioux Falls route. Let us get at the facts. The route was let
as fifty miles long. that is the distance that was given in the
advertisement by the Government. They wanted expedition on that
route. The Government asked for it. Mr. Vaile asked if he could
make the affidavit, and he made it, supposing the route was fifty
miles long. He never had been over it. It turned out that it was
about seventy-three miles long, and consequently the affidavit
provided for too fast time. The affidavit called for ten hours.
That made over seven miles an hour; or, including the stoppages, I
presume about ten miles an hour The difficulty arose out of the
mistake in the distance. Vaile so swears, on page 4030. He also
swears that he went to the department and there saw Mr. Brewer, who
was in charge of that bureau, or at least of that business, and it
was Brewer who suggested to him to make the affidavit. Mr. Vaile
did not ask for any expedition on that route. Mr. Brewer spoke to
him about it. Mr. Vaile swears that Brewer spoke to him first. Mr.
Vaile swears that he made the affidavit at the instigation of Mr.
Brewer. Mr. Bliss says Brewer is an honest man, and calls him
honest Brewer. Why did he not call honest Brewer to the stand and

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let him deny that he asked Mr. Vaile to make that affidavit?

The COURT. Yes.

Mr. INGERSOLL. [Resuming]. If the Court please, and gentlemen
of the jury, on page 4645 there is the letter from Miner to Carey.

John Carey, Esq.,
Fort NcDermitt, Nev.

Dear Sir: One S.H. Abbott, who was postmaster at Alvord, I
find, by accident, is writing to the department that you do not pay
your bills, and that there is no need of anything more than a
weekly mail.

I wish you would see this man at once and satisfy him; pay him
whatever is reasonable and report to R.C. Williamson, at The
Dalles. I suppose that is what he is after. He knows nothing of the
through mail, and probably a weekly is all he needs; but more
likely he wants some money. He complained once before to the
department that he had to make a special trip to Camp McDermitt to
make his returns, and I sent him thirty dollars, and it was all
right. Now, I suppose, he wants a little more money.

Yours, &c.,

JOHN R. MINER.

That letter was introduced to show that there was a conspiracy
between Miner and Brady; and yet when that man complained that the
service was not put on at the time it should have been, and that he
was postmaster, was forced to carry his returns to the nearest
post-office, and consequently spent about thirty dollars, Miner
sent him the money. why? Because he and Brady were not
confederates; because they were not conspirators. For that reason
he sent the man thirty dollars. The letter says, "The man that was
postmaster." When this letter was written Mr. Abbott was not
postmaster; he had ceased to be postmaster; Yet they have
endeavored to impress upon you the idea that when this letter was
written to Abbott he was then postmaster. He had written a letter,
stating that a weekly mail was all that was wanted, and that Mr.
Carey did not pay his bills. Mr. Miner wrote to Carey on that
account, "The man is trying to make trouble. He tried to make
trouble once before, and we sent him thirty dollars. He is not
postmaster now. He has no official position. Go and see him. Give
him what is reasonable, and tell him to mind his own business."
why? If he had been in a conspiracy with Brady he would not care
what Mr. Abbott wrote to the department. If he was absolutely
certain there he would not care anything about it. But having no
arrangement with the Second Assistant, having no arrangement of the
kind set forth in the indictment, he did not want Mr. Abbott to
write letters; he did not want Mr. Abbott to make trouble. That
letter, instead of showing that there was a conspiracy, shows
absolutely that there was not, and the letter was not written to
him while he was an official. The man was not then postmaster. He
simply had been.

Bank of Wisdom
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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PART 2, CLOSING ADDRESS OF THE STAR ROUTE TRIAL

The next point made by Mr. Ker is a very powerful point, that
Mr. Vaile came from Independence, where the James boys came from,
and where they steal horses. Suppose I should say that Mr. Ker
comes from Philadelphia, the town that Mr. Phipps lives in, the man
who stole the roof off of the poorhouse. Would there be any
argument in that?

Mr. Ker says that J.W. Dorsey wrote in his letter that the
profits would be one hundred thousand dollars a year. That was a
mistake. I turn to the letter and I find that it says one hundred
thousand dollars in the life of the contract, and not one hundred
thousand dollars a year.

Mr. Bliss. Your Honor, I claim the right to call attention to
the fact that Mr. Ker read the letter in full referring to the one
hundred thousand dollars clear of expenses. He read it and then
followed it by the statement of one hundred thousand dollars a
year, which was obviously a mistake.

Mr. INGERSOLL. That only makes it worse. After he had read the
letter to the jury, and while the echoes of the letter were still
in the courtroom, he then said one hundred thousand dollars a year,
while the letter said one hundred thousand dollars within the life
of the contract. Upon such statements, gentlemen, they expect to
strip a citizen of his liberty. [To counsel for the Government.]
You will have some work to do in a little while. It may be that Mr.
Ker forgets these things. I do not say how it happened.

Mr. Ker also tells you that Miner wanted to cut out S.W.
Dorsey and J.W. Dorsey and Mr. Peck. Was that because he was a co-
conspirator? He also tells you that Miner deserted his friend S.W.
Dorsey. Was he at that time a conspirator? Mr. Ker tells you that
S.W. Dorsey wanted to gratify his spite against Vaile and that the
first thing he did after he got out of the Senate was to write that
letter to the Second Assistant Postmaster-General against the
subcontracts. Does that show they were co-conspirators? Did he want
to gratify his spite because he had made a bargain with them by
which they were to realize hundreds of thousands of dollars?

Mr. Ker also says that Miner's letter to Tuttle shows the
conspiracy.

It is perfectly wonderful, gentlemen, how suspicion changes
and poisons everything.

Let me read you the letter from which Mr. Ker draws the
inference that there was a conspiracy. It is on page 885:

Washington D.C., August 19, 1878.

FRANK A. TUTTLE, Box 44, Pueblo, Colo.,

Dear Sir: Yours 14th received. We accept your proposition,
provided (so that there shall be no conflict) that a friend of
ours, who, has recently gone to Colorado, has not made different
arrangements before we can get him word.

Bank of Wisdom
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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PART 2, CLOSING ADDRESS OF THE STAR ROUTE TRIAL

The petition for expedition should be separate from the
petition for increase of number of trips. We make no boast of being
solid with anybody, but can got what is reasonable.

Yours, truly,

MINER, PECK & CO.

You are told that is evidence of a conspiracy. Suppose the
letter had been this way: "We boast of being solid. We can get
anything, whether reasonable or not." That probably would have been
evidence of perfect innocence. He writes a letter and says:

We make no boast of being solid with anybody, but can get what
is reasonable.

They say that is evidence of conspiracy. Suppose he had
written the opposite, "We do boast of being solid and we can get
anything, whether it is reasonable or not." According to their
logic that would have been evidence of absolute innocence. Whenever
you are suspicious you extract poison from the fairest and sweetest
flowers. Prejudice and suspicion turn every fact against a
defendant.

On page 4557 Mr. Ker tells us that Vaile never saw Peck, and
yet had the impudence to write that his subcontract was signed by
Peck in person. The subcontract is in evidence here. Nobody
pretends that it was not signed by Peck, and yet that is brought
forward as a suspicious circumstance against Mr. Vaile, because
there is no evidence that Mr. Vaile ever saw Mr. Peck. Is there
anything in a point like that? "My contract was signed by Mr. Peck
in person." He does not mean by that that he saw him sign it. The
evidence here is that it was signed by Peck, and yet the fact that
he says Peck did sign it, and the fact that he had never seen Peck,
Mr. Ker endeavors to torture so that you will think he wrote what
he knew to be untrue.

On page 3251 Mr. Ker says that Miner does not deny writing the
letter marked 63E. This letter was dated the 10th day of May, 1879,
and was on one of the Dorsey routes.

Miner swears that he never signed a paper, never touched pen
to paper on any of the Dorsey routes after the 5th day of May,
1879.

Now, gentlemen, after having made all these statements to you,
and I have only taken up a few of them, these misstatements, these
mistakes, Mr. Ker winds up by telling you it is the safer plan to
find a verdict of guilty, because if you find them guilty
wrongfully the Court will upset your verdict.

Gentlemen, you have sworn to try this case according to the
law and the evidence. You are the supreme arbiters of this case. It
is for you to decide upon this evidence, and for you alone. Yet you
are told by Mr. Ker to shirk that responsibility. You are told by
him to violate your oaths and find against these defendants, for
the sake of certainty, and then turn them over to the mercy of the
Court. That is not the law. These defendants are being tried before

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you. They have the right to your honest judgment. If you have any
doubt as to their guilt you must find them not guilty or violate
your oaths. You are told it is the safer way to find them guilty
and then let them appeal to the Court for mercy! That doctrine is
monstrous. It is deformed. Such a verdict would be the spawn of
prejudice, and cowardice, and perjury. You cannot give such a
verdict and retain your self-respect. You cannot give such a
verdict and retain your manhood! If you have any doubt as to the
guilt of these defendants you must say they are not guilty. You
have no right to turn them over to the Court, no matter whether the
Court is merciful or unmerciful. You must pass upon their guilt,
and you must do it honestly. I never heard so preposterous, so
cruel a sentiment uttered in a court of justice. It amounts to
this, gentlemen: If you have any doubt of guilt resolve the doubt
against the defendant. If the evidence is not quite sufficient,
find against the defendants and turn them over to the mercy of the
Court. Why should we have a jury at all? Why should you sit here at
all? Why should you hear this evidence, if after all you are to
shirk the responsibility and turn the defendants over to the Court?
You never will do it, gentlemen.

Now, gentlemen, I wish to call your attention to a few points
made by Colonel Bliss. You must remember that Colonel Bliss has
been very highly complimented by his associates as a kind of
peripatetic index of this case, an encyclopedia of all the papers;
that he never makes a mistake; that he recollects amounts with
absolute certainty, and that he is infallible. Keeping all these
things in your mind, I wish to call your attention to some
statements that he has made. First of all, I will refer to a little
of his philosophy, or law, and that is, that in every affidavit you
should state not the number necessary on the then schedule, but the
actual number, and that there could be no doubt about the number of
men and horses used at the time when an affidavit was made, and
that consequently anybody making an affidavit should put in the
number then actually used.

Let us see how that will work. He says the oaths are false
because they do not state the actual number of men and horses
employed in carrying the mail at the time they were made. He says
that the person making the affidavit, swore to the number actually
employed, and that where that number was not employed that fact of
itself shows the affidavits to be false. I say that is not the law.
The law calls for the number necessary, not the number actually
employed. Let me show how easy it would be to cheat the Government
on the principle laid down by the gentleman. I will show you how
infinitely silly that is. Let me illustrate. Here is a route one
hundred and fifty miles long, once a week. You know it is possible
for one man and one horse for a little while to carry that mail and
to go one hundred and fifty miles one way and one hundred and fifty
miles the other, making three hundred miles in a week. You can take
a magnificent horse and a good, stout, tough man, and you can do
it.

The COURT. Or a boy.

Mr. INGERSOLL. Or a stout, tough boy.

The COURT. A boy would be best.

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PART 2, CLOSING ADDRESS OF THE STAR ROUTE TRIAL

Mr. INGERSOLL. You do not need any boy, just one man and one
horse will answer. The man can ride the horse one hundred and fifty
miles in three days, and then ride one hundred and fifty miles back
in the next three days. All you have to swear to, according to Mr.
Bliss, is the number actually used, and so you would come in and
swear to two on this route. Now, when you are making an affidavit
as to the number to be used on a schedule to be made, you cannot
swear to the number actually in use, because they are not then in
use. You have to swear to the number necessary. You have to swear
to the number required.

Now, see. On a mail route one hundred and fifty miles long I
would only want a good smart horse, and one good active man or boy.
I would not need to carry it more than one week, because I could
make the affidavit for that week, and then the question would be
how many men and horses would be required for a daily mail on the
same route. I would put in a reasonable number, and the difference
between the number then actually used and the reasonable number to
use would be the standard by which to fix my pay.

If you take the man and horse actually used, and then take the
number that would reasonably be used, you would make a difference
of a thousand per cent. And yet that is the doctrine laid down here
to guide us as to these affidavits.

Let me tell you what the law is. It does not make any
difference what you are really using at the time. You must swear to
the number that would be reasonably necessary to carry the mail on
the then schedule. You must swear to the number that would be
reasonably necessary to carry the mail on the proposed schedule. In
the first place, if you put a great deal of work on a man and
horse, you must put the same proportion on man and horse in the
second schedule. If you are easy on man and horse in the first
schedule, you must be easy on man and horse in the second, The only
object, gentlemen, is to keep the proportion, because you are to be
paid according to the number of men and horses used.

Now, they say it would be necessary to go out there in order
to tell how many men and horses would be necessary, and that the
men who made these affidavits had never been on the routes. There
was no need of being on the routes. I could give you the number
required on any route two hundred or five hundred miles long. I
could give you the number of men and horses reasonably required to
carry the mail once, twice, three times, or seven times a week; and
I could give you the number reasonably required to carry it at the
rate of three miles an hour or five miles an hour or six miles an
hour without going there. I need not go there for the purpose of
the affidavit. I can take it for granted that the road is good and
level, and I can keep exactly the same proportion and nobody can be
defrauded. If you take the rule of Colonel Bliss it would be the
easiest thing on earth to defraud the Government. That would be by
taking the actual number in use and then taking the number
necessary.

On page 4761 Mr. Bliss makes the point that according to law
the Second Assistant Postmaster-General was not bound to allow
according to the affidavits. He is right as to that. That is what
Mr. Bliss says, and that is what John W. Dorsey swore he thought,

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PART 2, CLOSING ADDRESS OF THE STAR ROUTE TRIAL

and that is what Mr. Thomas Brady swore he did. He did not take the
affidavit as a finality. Mr. Thomas J. Brady said that he took it
for granted that the man, when he made the affidavit, thought it
was true, and that the man, when he made the affidavit, swore to
the best of his knowledge and belief. But Thomas J. Brady never
swore that he considered himself bound by the affidavit. On the
contrary, he swore that he had a standard in his own mind, and that
expedition was to cost thirty dollars a mile, or something of that
kind. He went by that standard, and he gauged the affidavits by it.

On page 4762 Mr. Bliss says that Brady admitted that he made
no inquiry as to the truth of affidavits, and that he accepted them
as absolutely conclusive. On page 3434 Mr. Brady swears;

I accepted their statement as conclusive so far as they knew.

Brady also swears that he had his standard in his own mind, as
I said before, and that he had an opinion of his own, and that by
that standard and opinion he was governed.

On page 4765 Mr. Bliss charges that Brady took the oath of
Perkins on route 38113 as the basis for the expedition. Mr.
Turner's calculation on file shows that that affidavit was not the
basis of the calculation.

Mr. BLISS. Your Honor, allow me to say that subsequently I
stated to the Court and to the jury distinctly that while the
indorsement on the jacket recited the Perkins affidavit as being
the one used, or the affidavit of the subcontractor, and while Mr.
Brady transmitted to Congress that Perkins affidavit as the one
upon which he acted, I still believed that the calculation showed
that he used the other affidavit.

Mr. WILSON. He never made that statement until he made it
during the progress of my argument when I was discussing that very
point.

Mr. BLISS. You are mistaken.

Mr. MERRICK. He made it while I was here and I was not here
during Mr. Wilson's argument.

Mr. INGERSOLL. If he has taken it back three times, that is
enough. On page 4766 Mr. Bliss charges Brady with having two
affidavits on the Pueblo and Greenhorn route, from John W. Dorsey,
on the same day.

Mr. BLISS. Mr. Henkle called my attention to the fact that it
was not the Greenhom route, but the Pueblo and Rosita route, and I
corrected it.

Mr. INGERSOLL. Good enough. I did not know about his taking it
back. I was not here at the time. The fact was, however, that only
one affidavit was ever filed, and that was an affidavit, not by
J.W. Dorsey, but by John R. Miner.

Mr. BLISS. There were two on the Pueblo and Rosita route by
John W. Dorsey.

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Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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PART 2, CLOSING ADDRESS OF THE STAR ROUTE TRIAL

Mr. INGERSOLL. We will come to them. You will get tired of
them before we get through with them.

On page 4767 Mr. Bliss refers to two affidavits. The first
affidavit, the one not used, calls for three men and seven animals
on the then schedule. That makes ten. On the proposed schedule of
eighty hours it called for nine men and twenty-seven animals. That
makes thirty-six. The proportion then in this affidavit is 3.6,
that is, the pay would be 3.6 times the original pay. In the second
affidavit five men and fifteen animals, twenty in all, are called
for on the then schedule, and on the proposed schedule twelve men
and forty-two animals. The proportion there is 2.7. So that the
affidavits, leaving out the fractions, which are substantially the
same, stand in this way: By the first the contract price would have
been multiplied by three and the contractor would have had three
times the original pay, and by the second he would have had twice
the original pay. Substituting an affidavit at only double the pay
is called a fraud, because they withdrew an affidavit for treble
the pay. That is what Mr. Bliss calls a fraud. He says still that
it is a fraud.

Now, then, there were two affidavits, and these two
affidavits, gentlemen, Mr. Bliss well knew were filed on different
schedules. The first affidavit was filed on a proposed schedule of
eighty hours. The second affidavit was filed on a proposed schedule
of fifty hours. The affidavit agreeing to carry the mail in fifty
hours offered to do it at double the pay. The affidavit on eighty
hours wanted three times the pay, or substantially that. One was
3.7 and the other was 2.6. just think of trying to make that a
fraud on the Government. Suppose they had filed a third affidavit
and offered to carry it for nothing. That would have been carrying
a fraud to the extreme.

Mr. BLISS. Your Honor, with reference to that, I said,
expressly referring to these two affidavits: It is not a question
of proportion. The question is whether the mere existence of those
double affidavits did not give Brady conclusive notice that the man
who could make those affidavits was not a reliable man, because no
matter what the time was to which it was to be increased, he stated
the number necessary on the then schedule, as so and so in one
affidavit and in the other he stated the number differently. I
referred to it solely in that connection, as the language shows on
the page referred to.

Mr. INGERSOLL. For instance, a man writes, "You owe me five
hundred dollars according to my books", and writes the next day, "I
have made a mistake. You don't owe me anything." Mr. Bliss insists
that the second letter would show that the man was not to be relied
upon. That is his idea of honesty. If in the first letter he had
written that I did not owe him anything, and in the second letter
I did, that might be suspicious. But when in the first he writes
that I owe him and in the second that I do not, there can be no
suspicion as to his honesty. In the first affidavit this man stated
so much, and in the second affidavit he put it one-third less, That
simply shows the man was paying attention to it and wanted to make
an honest offer. And yet everything in this case is poisoned with
prejudice and suspicion.

Bank of Wisdom
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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PART 2, CLOSING ADDRESS OF THE STAR ROUTE TRIAL

Another point: Mr. Bliss, on page 4770, says that on the
Pueblo and Rosita route the number of trips was seven and that
there was no increase. Upon that statement he bases an argument of
fraud. The argument is that there was no increase of trips. Now, on
page 866, the order shows that in the first place there was one
trip a week and there were six trips added. That makes seven. The
original pay was three hundred and eighty-eight dollars. Six trips
were added, and the value of the six trips, which gave two thousand
three hundred and twenty-eight dollars of additional pay. Yet Mr,
Bliss tells you that there was no increase of trips. As a matter of
fact, six trips were added, and that was all that could be added.

Mr. BLISS. Were they added coincidently with the affidavit for
expedition?

Mr. INGERSOLL. You say they were not added; I say they were.

Mr. BLISS. No, sir; I said at the time of the expedition there
was no increase of trips and the affidavit was based upon the seven
trips.

Mr. INGERSOLL. I say that at that time there was an increase.

Mr. BLISS. Your Honor, the point is this: I think I am right
in saying that the increase of trips took place after the
expedition. That is my recollection about it. I have not referred
to the record. I think Colonel Ingersoll will find that is so.

Mr. INGERSOLL. We Will see whether you are right. At the time
the affidavit was made there were just three trips, and afterward
there were four trips added. Let us get it exactly right. I read
from page 866:

Date, July 8, 1879. State, Colorado.
Number of route, 38134.
Termini of route, Pueblo and Rosita.
Length of route, fifty miles.
Number of trips per week, one.

Mr. BLISS. I see you are right. The trips were increased.

Mr. INGERSOLL. When anybody gives it up I will stop. That is
fair and that is horrible.

Now, the next point. On page 4771 Mr. Bliss says that the oath
on the Toquerville and Adairville route was made for seven trips,
although the order only gave them six trips, of course the
inference being that they got as much pay for six trips as they
were entitled to for seven trips. On Page 3290 the original order
was for one trip. Two trips were added. Look on page 949 and you
will find that more trips were added. The second order increased
four trips, and that made seven in all; and yet Mr. Bliss makes the
statement that there were only six. That is another mistake.

Another Point. On page 4772 Mr. Bliss states that Mr. Rerdell
spoke in his testimony about J.B.B. I have referred to that, I have
referred before to the claim that Rerdell was sustained by the
testimony of Mr. Bissell. As a matter of fact, I do not remember

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that Mr. Rerdell ever said one word in his testimony as to charging
anything to J.B.B.

Ninth point. At page 4778 Mr. Bliss states that Dorsey
admitted in his letter to Anthony Joseph that the average rate for
mail service on star routes was only five dollars a mile. Mr,
Dorsey says in his letter no such thing. He says the "average cost
of horseback service"; he does not use the language employed by Mr.
Bliss, "The average rate for mail service on star routes," but he
says, "The average cost of horseback service." That is a small
point, but it shows how anxious the gentlemen are to get the thing
fully as big as it is.

Tenth point. At page 4783 Mr. Bliss Says that Brady cut off
forty-nine thousand dollars of increase on the Mineral Park and
Pioche route on the 22d of January, 1879, because the mail bills
showed so little business. That is another mistake. The order
cutting off the forty-nine thousand dollars was made on the 22d of
January, 1880, not 1879. I mention this simply for the sake of
accuracy.

Eleventh point. At page 4785 Mr. Bliss Says that the mail
bills on the Silverton and Parrott City route showed that Brady ran
the service up from seven hundred and forty-five dollars to
fourteen thousand nine hundred dollars and that the fourteen
thousand nine hundred dollars was afterwards increased to thirty-
one thousand three hundred and forty-three dollars and seventy-six
cents. The record shows nothing of the kind (see pages 1894-'5).
The original pay was one thousand four hundred and eighty-eight
dollars (page 1854). The pay under the order of June 12, 1879, was
six thousand five hundred and twelve dollars and twenty-eight cents
(page 1855). No other increase was ever made. On page 1855 is the
increase and expedition, being in all fourteen thousand eight
hundred and eight dollars and sixty three cents. The original pay
was one thousand four hundred and eighty-eight dollars. A little
change was made in the route that brought it up to one thousand
seven hundred and three dollars and sixty-five cents. That,
together, with the expedition, makes a total of sixteen thousand
five hundred and twelve dollars and twenty-eight cents. And yet Mr.
Bliss told you that it was thirty-one thousand three hundred and
forty-three dollars and seventy-six cents. So that this
encyclopedia of the papers made a mistake, in one year, of fourteen
thousand eight hundred and thirty-one dollars and forty-eight
cents. For the whole contract time it would be a mistake of forty-
five thousand dollars. And yet, strange as it may appear, that
mistake was made against the defendants. Well, let Us go on.

Twelfth point. On page 4800, bottom line, Mr. Bliss says:

They got so much in the way of offering petitions that Mr.
Rerdell being told by Stephen W. Dorsey, upon this route from
Pueblo to Greenhorn, to go to work and alter the petitions,
inserted the words "and faster time."

As to this petition, 7B, in which are the words "and faster
time," George Sears swears, at pages 829 and 830, that it is in the
same condition now as when it was signed by him, he thinks.
Thereupon Mr. Bliss told you that he was mistaken in the paper. You
must recollect these things.

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Mr. BLISS. Are there not two petitions there altered?

Mr. INGERSOLL. That is on another route. There were 7B, 11B,
and 12B. 7B was the written paper, and you introduced 11B and 12B.
One said "quicker time," and one said "on faster schedule," and yet
in the very next paragraph they asked to have it run in eight
hours. Mr. Rerdell had to admit that he put in the words without
knowing what the petition called for, and that Dorsey instructed
him to put them in.

Mr. BLISS. Your Honor, in the very same paragraph, the very
line, where I said "faster schedule," I called attention to the
fact that the words were unnecessary.

Mr. INGERSOLL. That is not the only point. The point is, who
wrote "faster time"?

Mr. BLISS. That is not what I said. You have not given the
whole sentence.

Mr. INGERSOLL. You cannot expect me to read your whole seven
days speech. That would be too much. This is what you said:

They got so much in the way of altering petitions that Mr.
Rerdell being told by Stephen W. Dorsey, upon this route from
Pueblo to Greenhorn, to go to work and alter the petitions,
inserted the words and faster time."

That is it exactly.

Mr. BLISS. Then follows this:

He inserted "and faster schedule" "on quicker time," though
there was not any necessity for doing that, because if they had
gone further down, after some argument in the petition, to the
request for expedition, they would have seen that there was no
necessity for that little forgery up there.

Mr. INGERSOLL. That is a magnificent admission. "There was no
necessity for" putting that in. I am glad he admits that. He would
ask you to believe that S.W. Dorsey, a man of intelligence and
brains, would ask to have a petition forged, altered, interlined,
without knowing what was in that petition. It will not do,
gentlemen.

Thirteenth point. At page 4810, Mr. Bliss says that McBean
told Moore, in reference to route NO. 44140, Eugene City to Bridge
Creek, "that he could carry all the mail in his pocket."

Now, as a matter of fact, Mr. McBean does not state any
conversation with Moore covering this route. That was another
mistake. No matter.

Fourteenth point. At page 4814, Mr. Bliss, in speaking of the
Ojo Caliente route, says the service in fact never was performed in
fifty hours; that the evidence of that is conclusive. Now, let us
see. Here is a jacket on page 3008, and that jacket shows that out
of seventy-eight half trips, expedition was lost on twenty-three

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and made on fifty-five. Yet Mr. Bliss tells you it never was made.
The jacket on page 3040 shows that expedition was lost on twelve
half trips and made on sixty-six. And yet Mr. Bliss says it was
never made. The jacket on page 3056 shows that at the time they
were carrying seven trips a week, nineteen expeditions were lost
out of one hundred and ninety-two half trips. And yet Mr. Bliss
says the fifty-hour schedule never was made. Another mistake.

Mr. BLISS. That is long after the time I was referring to. As
to the other point, I simply repeat it.

Mr. INGERSOLL. It will not help it to repeat it. For every
expedition lost on this route or any other the Government did not
pay. When the expedition was lost, the pay was deducted; when the
expedition was made the pay was given, and not otherwise. You see,
gentlemen, how they have endeavored to get the facts before you;
what a struggle it has been over all these obstacles -- lack of
memory, the immensity of this record -- how they have climbed the
Himalayas of difficulty; how they have gone over the Andes and
Rocky Mountains of trouble to get at the facts!

Fifteenth point. On page 4820 Mr. Bliss states that there
could not have been legally allowed, on the evidence on The Dalles
route, on expedition over $4,144. As a matter of fact, the evidence
does not cover the whole route as to the number of men and horses
used. The Government never proved the number of men and horses
necessary to carry the mail over the whole route, but only a part.
Mr. Ker admits that the evidence is defective in that regard. When
you have no standard, gentlemen, you cannot measure.

Sixteenth point. On page 4820 Mr. Bliss, in speaking of the
route from Eugene City to Bridge Creek, says that, taking the
undisputed facts as they were, before and after the expedition,
Brady could not legally have allowed more than $2,991.23. The
evidence is (page 1343) that Wyckoff was the subcontractor from
July 1878, to 1880. Powers first carried the mail in 1880. The
route was increased and expedited in June, 1879. Mr. Powers never
carried it from the expedition. Mr. Wyckoff was the only man who
did that, and Mr. Wyckoff was not called. Consequently there was no
evidence as to the number of men and horses used on either
schedule. That left the gentleman without a standard and without a
measure.

Seventeenth point. On page 4820 Mr. Bliss says that on the
Silverton and Parrott City route the oath was made for seven trips
a week on the present schedule, when it ought to have been two
trips on the old schedule and seven trips for the new schedule. As
there is no evidence as to the number of men and horses used on the
old schedule, of course there is no evidence in this record to
impeach that oath; you cannot find it.

Eighteenth point. On page 4822 Mr. Bliss states that after the
passage of the act of April 7, 1880, there were two increases upon
the white River route. The fact is there was just one after the
passage of that law. Of course a little mistake like that does not
make much difference in a case of this magnitude.

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Nineteenth point. On Page 4824 Mr. Bliss states that Raton was
put on the Trinidad route April 24, 1879 (page 1031), The office
was embraced on the routes July 1, 1878. The first order in
reference to it was made June 6, 1878. It was put on the route from
July 1, 1878, increasing the distance twenty-three miles. Yet Mr.
Bliss tells you that it was put on the route April 24, 1879,

Mr. BLISS. Is not that the date of the order?

Mr. INGERSOLL. It may have been the date of your order.

Mr. BLISS. Is not that the date of the order in the case?

Mr. INGERSOLL. I do not know anything about that. I give you
the exact facts.

Twentieth point. On page 4825, Mr. Bliss, in speaking of the
Ojo Caliente route, charges that by the order increasing the trips
on this route in February, 1881, there was paid from the Treasury
illegally two thousand and eleven dollars and forty-six cents. As
a matter of fact had we been paid for that entire quarter it would
have amounted to seven thousand one hundred and thirty-nine dollars
and forty-one cents. The pay was not adjusted until April 22, 1881
(page 731). The amount that was then paid was not seven thousand
one hundred and thirty-nine dollars and forty-one cents, but it was
three thousand seven hundred and twenty-seven dollars and twenty-
two cents. It was not for the entire quarter, but simply for the
actual service rendered. The quarterly pay for the preceding
quarter, before the expedition, was three thousand three hundred
and fifty-eight dollars and twenty-six cents; showing that we
received only for that quarter an excess, on account of expedition,
of three hundred and sixty-eight dollars and ninety-six cents. But
he told you that we got illegally two thousand and eleven dollars
and forty-six cents. That is a small matter.

Twenty-first point. On page 4897, Mr. Bliss says in effect
that Dorsey undertook to state that he kept no books; that he was
doing a business amounting, I think he says, to six million dollars
a year, and yet he kept no books, On the contrary, Dorsey swore
that he did keep books; on the contrary, be swore that Kellogg was
his book-keeper. Kellogg swore that he did keep the books. Torrey
swore that he was his book-keeper, and kept the books, And yet Mr.
Bliss stood up before this jury and said to you that Mr. Dorsey
wanted you to believe, or stated that he kept no books of that
immense business. It will not do. No books but the red books, I
suppose, were kept.

Twenty-second point. At page 4883, Mr. Bliss says that in
regard to one of Vaile and Miner's routes (Canyon City to Fort
MeDermitt) there were large profits, amounting to twenty thousand
dollars a year. Then he says eighty thousand dollars during the
four years. And yet Mr. Bliss knew at that time that that
expedition lasted only eleven months. Trying to fool the jury about
sixty-two thousand dollars.

Twenty-third point. On page 4815 Mr. Bliss states that the
fines on the Bismarck and Tongue River route, during Brady's
administration, were only thirteen thousand dollars. If you will

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look at page 727 of this record, where the table is put in evidence
as to the fines, you will find that he deducted from the pay
twenty-nine thousand two hundred and twenty-four dollars. Mr. Bliss
made a mistake of sixteen thousand two hundred and twenty-four
dollars. But in a case like this that is not important. Gentlemen,
you know you cannot always be accurate.

Mr. Bliss is an accurate man, as a rule. He has been called
the index of this business for the Government.

Twenty-fourth point. On page 4987 Mr. Bliss says:

The one fact of the evidence of the payment of money by Dorsey
to Brady remains the same whether the books were put out of the way
by Dorsey or by Rerdell. That is the great central point, so far as
the books were concerned; and as to that the testimony is
absolutely uncontradicted,

Mr. Brady swears that Dorsey never gave him a dollar. Dorsey
swears that he never had a money transaction with Brady amounting
to one cent. Mr. Rerdell does not pretend to swear that he knows of
Mr. Dursey having paid a dollar to Mr. Brady. He does not pretend
to swear that he knows of any one of these defendants having paid
one dollar to Mr. Brady. And yet Mr. Bliss will tell you that the
fact that Dorsey paid Brady money is uncontradicted,

Mr. BLISS. I did not intend that, Colonel Ingersoll. I do not
think it is capable of that interpretation.

Mr. INGERSOLL. What did you mean?

Mr. BLISS. As to the statement being in the books it is
uncontradicted.

Mr. INGERSOLL. Let me see. He now turns and says he did not
mean the money, he meant the books. The evidence is overwhelming on
our side that the books did not exist. When you deny the existence
of the book I take it you deny the existence of any item in it. It
is a question whether any such books ever existed, gentlemen.
Rerdell swore in the affidavit of June 20, 1881, and he swore to
that affidavit three times hand-running, that no such books
existed. He swore substantially the same thing on the 13th of July,
1882. He told Mr. French that no such books ever existed. He told
Judge Carpenter that no such books ever existed. He stated to
Bosler that no such books ever existed. And now this gentleman says
the evidence is uncontradicted that Brady was charged in those
books. That is a good deal worse than the other. Let us go on.

Twenty-fifth point. At page 4962 Mr Bliss says that Mr.
Dorsey, according to his own statement --

Had brought Rerdell up and led him to infamy.

Did Dorsey make any such statement? Did Mr. Dorsey, gentlemen,
in your presence, swear that he had brought Rerdell up? Did he, in
your presence, swear that he had led him to infamy? Did he, in your
presence, swear that he had done anything of the kind? I have got
the exact words.

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Who, according to his own statement, he, Dorsey, had brought
up, had led to infamy, and who, according to his own statement, had
stated that MacVeagh had told a lie.

A curious use of the English language. I believe it is in that
connection, though, that he speaks about Mr. Dorsey having the
impudence to go to the President of the United States. That is not
a very impudent proceeding. In this country a President is not so
far above the citizen. In this country we have not gotten to the
sublimity of snobbery that a citizen cannot give his opinion to the
President; especially a citizen who did all he could to make him
President; especially a citizen in whom he had confidence. Not much
impudence in that. I do not think that during the campaign General
Garfield would have regarded it impudent on the part of Mr. Dorsey
to speak to him. I do not believe in a man, the moment he is
elected President, feeding upon meat that makes him so great that
the man who helped put him there cannot approach him, and every man
who voted for him helped to put him there. I am a believer in the
doctrine that the President is a servant of the people. I have not
yet reached that other refinement of snobbery.

Mr. BLISS. In point of fact, Colonel Ingersoll, I made no such
statement. Now let me read the passage on the very page you refer
to.

Patched up the affidavit of Mr. Rerdell, addressed it to the
President, admittedly went to the President with it, and then had
the impudence to come here and malign the character of General
Garfield by saying that upon that affidavit of an accused man,
instead of seeking a trial, he would have removed two members of
his Cabinet.

I meant nothing about the impudence of going to the President.

Mr. INGERSOLL. He had the impudence then to come here and
malign Garfield by saying that upon that statement he would have
turned out two members of his Cabinet. That is Mr. Bliss's idea of
impudence; and yet, upon the testimony of the same man, he wants to
put five men in the penitentiary,

Mr. BLISS. Not upon the sole testimony, I suppose.

Mr. INGERSOLL. Not upon the soulless testimony. Now, I think
that Mr. Dorsey had a right to go and see Mr. Garfield. I think he
had a right to take that affidavit with him. General Garfield was
told what this man had said concerning Mr. Dorsey. He had the right
to take that affidavit of that man with him so that General
Garfield, or the then Attorney-General rather, might know how much
confidence to put in the statement of that man. He had a right to
do that. If he found in this way that his Attorney-General and his
Postmaster-General were seeking to have a man convicted by means
not entirely honorable, then it was not only his privilege, but It
was his duty to discharge them from his Cabinet. But I am not
saying anything in regard to them now, because they are not here to
defend themselves.

Mr. BLISS. I want to correct myself. Further down on that page
I see I did refer to the impudence of this man going to Garfield,

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Mr. INGERSOLL. Well, as Mr. Bliss has been fair enough to
state it, I will not follow up my advantage. On another page Mr.
Bliss says that the idea that Mr. Vaile did what he did for Miner
out of any sympathy is "too thin." Mr. Bliss cannot believe that
Vaile became Miner's friend so suddenly, but he thinks it highly
probable that they conspired instantly. That is his view of human
nature. Friendship is of slow growth; conspiracy is a hot-house
plant. Gentlemen, is that your view of human nature, that a man
cannot become the friend of another suddenly? Whenever he does
become his friend the friendship has to be formed suddenly, does it
not? There is a first time to everything. A moment before it did
not exist; a moment afterwards it is dead very suddenly.

There was a boy came to town one morning and met an
old friend. The old friend asked the boy, "How is your father?" He
says, "Pretty well, for him. "How is your mother? Pretty well, for
her." "Well, how is your grandmother?" "She is dead,"  "Well," says
the old man, "she must have died suddenly." "Well," said the boy,
pretty sudden, for her."

Whenever one man becomes the friend of another, a moment
before that he was not, and a moment after he is. It must be
sudden. But I imagine that there was a friendship sprang up between
Vaile and Miner, and I will tell you why. They have been partners
ever since. You, gentlemen, have had the same experience a thousand
times. It is not necessary to conspire with a man in order to like
him. Neither is it necessary to like him to conspire with him. Men
have conspired without friendship a thousand times more, probably,
than they have formed friendships without conspiracy.

Mr. Bliss says that because Miner failed to produce the power
of attorney that Moore swore was given to him when he went West,
the jury have a right to infer that instructions to get up false
petitions were in writing and were included in that power of
attorney. Mr. Moore did not swear to the contents of that power of
attorney. Do you think that it is within the realm of probability
that a man ever gave a power of attorney to another and inserted in
it: "Yon are hereby authorized to get up false petitions; you are
further authorized to have them so written that you can tear them
off and paste others on?

"N.B. You will make such contracts with all contractors.

"P.S. Don't tell anybody."

There was another witness in this case, Mr. Grimes (page 808).
Not the one that wore the coat --

All buttoned down before --

but Mr. Grimes, postmaster at Kearney, He came all the way here to
swear that he stopped using mail bills on the route from Kearney to
Kent because he was so ordered by a letter from the Post-Office
Department. Then it was discovered that he did not have the letter
with him; he went home to get the letter, but he never came back
any more.

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We introduced Spangler (page 341) from the inspection division
of the Post-Office Department; I think he was in charge of that
division. He swore, as a matter of fact, that there never were any
mail bills on that route at all.

Mr. CARPENTER. He was in charge of the mail bills on that
route.
Mr. INGERSOLL. The mail bills on that particular route. That
man Grimes was brought clear here to prove that he stopped using
mail bills, and then we proved that there never were any mail bills
used on that route for him to stop using. I do not suppose that
that man was dishonest. These people just got around him and talked
to him until he "remembered it." They just planted the seed in his
mind, and then came the dew and the rain and the lightning until it
began to sprout and in time blossomed and bore fruit -- mail bills.
When we come to find out that there never were any mail bills used,
away went Mr. Grimes.

On page 4969 Mr. Bliss says:

They have not, up to this moment, dared to state under oath,
I think, that those books are not in their possession.

On page 3784 Dorsey swears that he never received any book .
Never saw any such books. He Swore again and again that he never
heard of any such books.

Mr. BLISS. I stated distinctly that the defendants had not
stated that in the form required to excuse them from the
production. I stated that distinctly.

Mr. INGERSOLL. All right; away goes that.

On page 4983 Mr. Bliss says:

Is it not an absurdity to suppose that Dorsey would leave
Rerdell in charge of his business from JulY, 1879, to August, 1880,
and then on from that time until the close of the contract term in
August, 1882, leave all the business in that way, and then through
Bosler settle the accounts with Mr. Rerdell and have no knowledge
in any way, not only of the entries contained in the books which
Rerdell kept, but have no knowledge that he kept any books
whatever? Is it not absurd to suppose any such thing? These ten
routes represented an income of two hundred and fifty-odd thousand
dollars a year, or a total business, including income and outgo, of
five hundred thousand dollars a year, for three years, going no
further than that. These ten routes alone represented transactions
amounting to half a million dollars a year. There were one hundred
and thirty routes and Mr. Dorsey took one-third in value if not in
number. If the value was the same, Mr. Dorsey took not less than
forty routes. As ten routes involved a business of one million five
hundred thousand dollars in that period, the forty routes involved
in that proportion transactions amounting to six million dollars.

You made a calculation on the supposition that all the routes
were expedited the same as those in the indictment, and when you
made that calculation you knew they were not expedited.

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Mr. BLISS. I object, your Honor, to his making any such
statement as that. In the first place, it is not evidence; and in
the second place, which is of more importance, it is not true. I
did not know any such thing, and I do not know any such thing.

Mr. INGERSOLL. Do you say now that the other routes of his, to
the number you talked of, were expedited?

Mr. BLISS. I am not on the stand to be cross-examined now. But
I do say to your Honor that there is no evidence of that in this
case. And then I go beyond that, and say that I did not know those
things then and I do not know them now.

Mr. INGERSOLL. Very well he made the argument on the
supposition that all the routes were expedited. I say that not one
of them was expedited in which Mr. Dorsey had an interest.

Mr. BLISS. There is no evidence on that subject.

Mr. INGERSOLL. Is there any evidence of what you say?

Mr. BLISS. I put a supposititious case; you have stated a
fact.

Mr. INGERSOLL. I Will put another supposititious case, and
mine is that the other routes were not expedited.

The COURT. That is the right way to meet it. Counsel ought not
to turn to counsel on the other side and make an appeal to his
knowledge in regard to matters not in evidence.

Mr. INGERSOLL. I know, but he said he did not know it. Then I
asked him, as a matter of fact, if he did not know ---

The COURT. [Interposing.] He stated his supposition, and you
met that supposition ---

Mr. INGERSOLL. [Interposing.] I am always glad to get
information.

Now, then, I will go to another point, and that is the $7,500
check. Mr. Bliss speaks of that check at page 4997, and he says:

There is a question raised as to whether it was drawn in Mr.
Rerdell's presence.

I do not think there was. How could such a question be raised,
gentlemen? The check was made payable to M.C. Rerdell, or his
order. On the back of the check is Mr. Rerdell's name put there by
himself. He is the only indorser. And yet Mr. Bliss tells you that
there is a question raised as to whether the money was drawn in Mr.
Rerdell's presence or not. The check shows, and the evidence is
absolutely perfect, that the money was paid to Rerdell in person.
The question is this: Whether it was drawn in Mr. Rerdell's
presence. If it was paid to him in person, I imagine that he was in
that neighborhood at that time. The check was written by him,
everything except the signature of Dorsey. It was drawn to Mr.
Rerdell, or order, and indorsed by Rerdell himself. There was no

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other indorser. So that it is absolutely certain that he drew the
money in question. And yet Mr. Bliss says the question is whether
it was drawn in Rerdell's presence or not.

Mr. Bliss continues and states that the money went to S.W.
Dorsey. Did it? Mr. Dorsey, on page 3965, states the circumstances.
He was packing to go away. He had not the time to go to the bank
himself. He had the check written payable to Mr. Rerdell, or order,
and he signed it. Rerdell went to the bank, got the money, brought
it back and put it in his carpet-sack. That is the testimony.

Now, Mr. Bliss says:

No evidence was given as to what Stephen W. Dorsey was wanting
just at that time with seven thousand five hundred dollars in
bills.

According to Mr. Rerdell, he wanted that money to give to Mr.
Brady. That is what Mr. Rerdell intended to swear. But when he
found that that check was made payable to him, and indorsed by him,
then they had to take another tack. They dare not say then, "That
is the check." They dare not say then, "That is the money." Rerdell
had forgotten at the time he swore that that check was payable to
his order. When he told his seven thousand dollar story to MacVeagh
he forgot about that check. When he told it to the Postmaster-
General, if he did -- I have forgotten whether he did or not -- he
forgot about that.

Now, gentlemen, I will call your attention to the part to
which I really wish to direct your attention. It is an admission by
the Government, an admission by Colonel Bliss; it is in these
words, on page 4997, speaking of this very thing:

However that may be, they themselves put in a check here for
seven thousand five hundred dollars, drawn about the time Mr.
Rerdell spoke of, the money upon which admittedly went to Stephen
W. Dorsey, though there is a question raised as to whether it was
drawn in Mr. Rerdell's presence or whether it was not drawn by him.
But the money went to Stephen W. Dorsey, and there was a promise
made to show you what was done with that seven thousand five
hundred dollars. But, like many another promise in this case, it
remains unfulfilled to-day. No evidence was given as to what
Stephen W. Dorsey was wanting just at that time with seven thousand
five hundred dollars in bills.

Mr. Dorsey offered to tell you what he did with it, and you
said you did not want it; you did not want to know when he was on
the stand. He offered to tell you what he did with the money, and
you would not take his statement. Hear what he says:

Mr. Dorsey was not taking seven thousand five hundred dollars
in bills to the West.

How do you know? Who ever told Mr. Bliss that he was not
taking seven thousand five hundred dollars to the West? He must
have got that from Mr. Rerdell. May be that is the reason they
would not allow Dorsey to tell, because before that time they had
been informed that he would swear that he took the seven thousand
five hundred West. How else did Mr. Bliss find this out?

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It is not in the evidence, not a line. Somebody must have told
him. Who could have told him? Nobody, I think, except Mr. Rerdell.
Is it possible, then, that Mr. Bliss was afraid that Mr. Dorsey
would swear that he took it West? And was he afraid also that you
would believe it? I do not know. He did not want him to state. Now
here is what I want to call your attention to:

After all the talk about that evidence, all the talk about the
seven thousand dollars, all the talk about the seven thousand five
hundred dollar check, Mr. Bliss at least, admits to this jury

Of course all that transaction might have occurred precisely
as Mr. Rerdell testified, and there might have involved no
corruption on Mr. Brady's part.

If, then, it may have occurred exactly as Rerdell swore, and
involved no corruption, certainly it might have occurred as Mr.
S.W. Dorsey swore and involved no corruption. I will go on now with
a little more from Mr. Bliss:

The drawing of the money and going to Mr. Brady's room might
have been a mere accident, as a call there to attend to some other
business.

Of course, that is reasonable. I might go the bank and draw
five thousand dollars, and then I might stop in the Treasury
Department, but that is no evidence that I am bribing the Secretary
of the Treasury. I might step over to see the President; that would
be no reason to believe that I bribed the Executive.

Of course that is not conclusive. It is only a little straw in
this case, as showing a transaction of that kind involved in
connection with all the evidence you have in this case --

A little straw

evidence of Mr. Brady's acts, and particularly as at the time when
that occurs evidence in connection with the large increases which
Mr. Brady was then ordering; evidence in connection with the books,
and the evidence they bear; evidence in connection with the
declarations of Brady to Walsh -- evidence all consistent.

And then he adds this piece of gratuitous information:

Mr. Dorsey was not taking seven thousand five hundred dollars
in bills to the West.

How does he know? How did he find that out? And has it come to
this? Has all the testimony upon that point -- has the confession
of Rerdell to MacVeagh and James shrunk to this little measure --
that it is "only a straw"? Has it shrunk to this measure that
Mr.Bliss admits that the whole thing might have been exactly as
Rerdell swears, and yet have been perfectly innocent? Has it shrunk
to this little measure? The Government would not tell us -- I
presume the Government will not tell us, what check it was, the
proceeds of which were taken by Mr. Dorsey to Mr. Brady. Neither
will they say whether that sum was made up in one check or by
adding together a number of cheeks; and, if so, what number?

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At page 295 Mr. Bliss told you, in his opening speech, that
Rerdell had on one occasion gone with Mr. Stephen W. Dorsey to the
bank, and that seven thousand dollars had been drawn; that he had
gone with Dorsey to the door of the Post-Office Department, or to
Brady's room, at the time he would not undertake to say which --
Mr. Dorsey stating to him that he intended to pay that money to Mr.
Brady, and that he (Mr. Dorsey) then went in. But when they come to
put this man on the stand he will not swear that Dorsey ever told
him that he intended to pay the money to Brady. Probably that part
of the statement, that Dorsey told him that he was going to pay
that money to Brady, can be found in the affidavit made before Mr.
Woodward, in September, and repeated in the affidavit made at
Hartford in November. But it is not in evidence here.

Now, we brought all the checks that we had given on
Middleton's bank, with the exception of two, I believe, that
amounted to some hundred and odd dollars. We gave the Government
counsel notice that there were two others.

Among those checks was this one for seven thousand five
hundred dollars There were many others. I asked the gentlemen to
pick out their check; they would not do it. I asked the gentlemen
to pick out the checks; they did not do it. And now if we had
failed to produce checks that were important in this case, the
Government could have produced the books and clerks of Middleton & Company, and shown exactly the checks we drew upon that bank that
month. They did not do it. As a matter of fact, I offered all the
checks on all the banks I could think of that we had any business
with in any way, except one, and that turned out to be the German-
American Savings Bank, and it turned out that that went into
bankruptcy eight months before this business; so there is no
trouble About that. Why did they not pick out the checks upon which
they claimed that the money was drawn that was paid to Brady?

Mr. Rerdell, on page 2254, in speaking of the money, swore
that money was charged to Brady on the stub. He says that Dorsey
told him, "You will find the amount on the stub of the cheek-book."
The jury will notice that he speaks of the "amount," the "stub,"
and the "book," all in the singular. That was followed, I believe,
by about six pages of discussion, and everybody who took part in
that discussion, the Court included, spoke of the sum of money as
an "amount," upon a "stub," in a "check-book."

I call attention to 2254 - '55 - '56 - '57 - '58 - '59. On all
those pages it is spoken of as a stub of a check-book, or amount on
a stub in a check-book. After the discussion was closed, then the
witness began to talk about "books," "checks," "stubs," and
"amounts." Why did he do that?

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