To when? To July 24? No, sir; he settled with Dorsey to July 11, 1878.
The gentlemen had forgotten that he gave that. If he had only had a
little more brains he would have avoided the two hundred and fifty
dollars, that even amount, and he would have said, "Dorsey did look
over my books, and we had a little dispute about some items, and we just
jumped at two hundred and fifty dollars." But he swears that was the
actual settlement, and then we bring in his receipt in writing,
dated the 24th of July, 1878, saying that he received one hundred and
sixty-six dollars that day, and that it was in full of his salary and
expenses, not up to that date, but up to the nth of July, 1878. If his
testimony is true, he stole that one hundred and sixty-six dollars. If
his testimony is true, he settled with Dorsey in full for two hundred
and fifty dollars, and then he was mean enough to go and get one hundred
and sixty-six dollars more for the same time. No, gentlemen, he was all
right enough about it then; he told the falsehood here.
Now, what does Dorsey swear? Dorsey swears that he received an order
from Miner to give this man two hundred and fifty dollars. Miner swears
that if Dorsey paid him anything it was on his, Miner's, request. That
is a v perfectly natural proceeding for Mr. Miner to request Dorsey to
pay this man two hundred and fifty dollars. The man came to Dorsey's
house. Dorsey gave him two hundred and fifty dollars upon Miner's order.
He was trusting John R. Miner for the money, and it was none of his
business whether Miner owed it or not, and consequently he did not
look at his book. Now, every fact is consistent with the truth of Mr.
Dorsey's testimony; the fact is consistent with the truth of Miner's
testimony; and the receipt of this man given to Miner on the 24th of
July, 1878, demonstrates that he did not tell the truth, under oath, in
this court before you.
That is the end of Mr. Moore; that is the end of him. You never need
bother about him again as long as you live.
Why, they say, "Why didn't you impeach him?" He impeached himself. "Why
didn't you call so-and-so?" Because we had that receipt; that is why.
No need of killing a man that is dead. You need not give poison to a
corpse. When a thing is buried, let it go. When a man commits suicide,
you need not murder him. When he destroys his own testimony, let it
alone; it will not hurt you.
I am not afraid of the testimony of Mr. Moore. If these gentlemen can
galvanize it into the appearance of life, I should be very happy to see
them do it. Everything that he swore upon this stand that in any way
touched the defendants is shown not to be true.
Why should Dorsey have told him in 1878 to get up fraudulent petitions?
Even Rerdell does not swear that in 1879 Dorsey instructed him to get
up fraudulent petitions, and certainly he would go to the limit of the
truth. After he made his story out of a piece of true cloth there would
be very few scraps left. He would certainly go clear to the line. And
yet, even he does not swear that when he went West to make contracts, to
get up petitions, he was instructed by Mr. Dorsey to get up a fraudulent
petition--not once. And yet Moore swears that in 1878, when Dorsey was
in the Senate, he told him to get up these fraudulent petitions. It will
not do.
Mr. Major swears that what he says about it is not true; Mr. McBean
swears that what he says about it is not true; and then we have Moore's
own receipt showing that it is not true.
On page 4757 Mr. Bliss says--Moore stands before you, therefore, so
far as all this testimony is concerned, wholly and absolutely
uncontradicted.
His testimony was that he was employed by Dorsey; his testimony was that
he was settled with by Dorsey, and the testimony of the receipt that he
signed is that he settled with Miner and not with Dorsey; the testimony
of Miner is that he was settled with by Miner, and not with by Dorsey;
the testimony of Dorsey is that he never had any conversation with him
in the world except at the time he paid him the two hundred and fifty
dollars. They say Rerdell was present at the conversation. Why did they
not prove it by Rerdell after Dorsey had sworn to the contrary? And
yet Mr. Bliss tells you that he is not contradicted--"utterly
uncontradicted."
Mr. Ker, it seems, has an opinion of this same witness, I believe. He
says, on page 4511:
He says he started out and went to work, as these records show, and made
the subcontracts according to his instructions, and got up the petitions
according to his instructions.
He swears he did not get up a petition at all, not one; he swears that
he had not time. And yet these gentlemen say that he got up petitions
according to his instructions, and he swears he did not. He swears he
told Major to, and that Major signified his willingness to do it. Major
swears that that is a falsehood. He swears the same with reference to
McBean, and McBean swears that it is a falsehood. Now Mr. Ker goes on:
He fixed them up and changed the language a little in some, and in some
he did not take the trouble to change, but he fixed them all so that
there was a space between the writing and the names, so that they could
be cut off and pasted on other papers.
He expressly denies that he ever fixed a petition in the world.
Mr. Ker. What page?
Mr. Ingersoll. You ask the page! Talk to the jury seven days! I say that
this man never fixed up a petition, and he never says that he fixed up
a petition. Where is the page on which he says it? He was willing to
do it, but he had not the time. I will show you that language. There is
what they say about this man. Then he says he got a note from Miner, and
went to Denver and met Miner. That is right. Then Miner offered him a
quarter interest in the routes in this vast conspiracy.
Let us find what Moore thinks of himself. We find that on page 1398. He
is a good man, worthy of this case, according to the eternal fitness of
things. I come to this quicker than I thought I would. It is page 1396:
Q. Did you get up any?--A. No, sir; I didn't have the time.
There it is. Now, of course, Mr. Ker forgot. I call your attention to
this to show how little weight such evidence is entitled to in reference
to a conversation five years ago, when Mr. Ker could not remember this
with the book before him.
Mr. Ker. I asked you for the page on which Mr. McBean's testimony
appears.
Mr. Ingersoll. Mr. Moore is the witness. Mr. Moore swears that he never
got up such a petition. Mr. Ker says he did. He and Mr. Ker will have to
settle their own difficulty.
On last Friday, in reply, I think, to a question of Mr. Ker, I stated
that I thought McBean swore that Mr. Moore did not make any arrangement
with him to get up false petitions. In that I was mistaken. Mr. Moore
swore that he made an arrangement with McBean to get up petitions. He
did not quite swear that McBean agreed to get up false and fraudulent
petitions. He just came to the edge of it and did not quite swear to it.
Afterwards McBean was recalled by the Government and the Government did
not ask McBean whether he had ever agreed to get up any petitions or
whether he had ever made any such arrangement with Moore. They did not
ask him and we did not ask him. I do not know why they did not ask him.
They probably know.
I also stated that Moore swore that he got his instructions about these
petitions from Dorsey. The evidence is that he got his instructions
not from Dorsey but from Miner; that Miner so instructed him, and that
thereupon he made the bargain to get up such petitions with a man by the
name of Major on the Redding and Alturas route. I make this correction
because I do not want you or any one else to think that I wish any
misstatement made in our favor. We do not need it and consequently there
is no need of making it. You will remember that after Moore swore that
he made a bargain with Major to get up false petitions, Major swore that
it was untrue. You will also remember that Judge Carpenter called
for the petitions that were gotten up upon the routes that Moore had
something to do with, and I think he showed you on one route eleven or
twelve petitions. Mr. Major swears that every petition was honest, that
the statements in each petition were true, and that the signatures were
genuine. All those petitions were shown to you. So that the result of
the Moore testimony is this: Moore swears that Miner told him to get
up such petitions. He then swears that he made that bargain with Major.
Major says it is not true. Moore almost swears that he made the same
bargain with McBean. McBean says nothing on the subject. Then we bring
here the petitions upon those very routes, and especially upon the
Redding and Alturas route, and we find no such petitions as are
described by Moore. That is enough in regard to Mr. Moore upon that one
point.
There is one little piece of testimony to which I failed to call your
attention on Friday, and to which I will call your attention now. Moore
was the friend of Boone. Boone recommended him to Miner. It was through
Boone that Moore was employed. Now, I ask you if it is not wonderful
that Moore never told Boone that there was a conspiracy on foot? Is it
not wonderful that Moore did not tell Boone, his friend, the man to whom
he was indebted for the employment, "There is a conspiracy in this case.
Senator Dorsey as good as told me so. I know all about it."
The fact is he never said one word, and the reason we know it, is that
Boone swears that when he went out on the 7th or 8th of August he never
even suspected it. I cannot, it seems to me, make this point too plain.
Boone had been known by Dorsey for a long time. They were very good
friends. Dorsey had enough confidence in him to select him as the man
to get the necessary information after he had been requested so to do
in the letter. Boone was the man who attended to this business more than
anybody else. Boone was interested with John W. Dorsey. Boone had every
reason to find out exactly what was happening. He was at Dorsey's house,
where Miner was. He talked with Miner day after day. He helped get
up the bids. He did a great deal of mechanical work. He had the
subcontracts printed. Yet during all that time Dorsey never let fall a
chance expression that gave Boone even the dimmest dawn of a hint that
there was a conspiracy. Nobody told Boone. Moore, his friend, never
spoke of it.
Now, there is one other point with regard to Mr. Moore. Mr. Moore
swears, on page 1371, that Miner offered him a fourth interest in these
routes. That was the conversation in which he said Mr. Miner told him
they were good affidavit men. According to Moore's testimony he then
knew there was a conspiracy, and he understood that he was part and
parcel of it. Let me ask you right here, is it probable that Moore
would have been offered a quarter interest at that time if a conspiracy
existed, and if they had their plans laid to make hundreds of thousands
of dollars, and if the profits had depended upon the affidavits alone?
I ask you, as sensible, reasonable men, if he would have been offered a
quarter interest under those circumstances? Now conies in what I believe
to be the falsehood. Mr. Moore says that the interest was offered to
him by Miner, but Miner said it would have to be ratified by Stephen
W. Dorsey. That is brought in for the purpose of having some evidence
against Dorsey. You must recollect, gentlemen, that this evidence was
all purchased. This evidence was all bargained for in the open shamble.
You must recollect that there are upon the records of this court some
seven or ten indictments against A. E. Boone. You must remember that
Moore was Boone's friend. You must remember that Moore was a part of the
consideration that Boone was giving to the Government for immunity.
Mr. Merrick. Is there any proof of that?
Mr. Ingersoll. I think there is. Mr. Moore swears as to the number of
indictments against Boone. He was his friend. The jury have a right to
infer what motive prompts a witness. Moore wished to swear enough, so
that Mr. Boone would not be troubled. In my judgment, Mr. Boone,
being under indictment, gave evidence in this case in order that
the Government would take its clutch from his throat. He swore under
pressure. That is the system, gentlemen, that is dangerous in any
country. Whenever a Government advertises for witnesses; whenever a
Government says to a guilty man, or to a man who is indicted, "All we
ask of you is to help us convict somebody else;" whenever they advertise
for a villain, they get him. That is the result of what they call the
informer system--an infamous system. A court of justice, where justice
is done between man and man, is the holiest place on earth. The informer
system turns it into a den, into a cavern, into a dungeon, where crawl
the slimy monsters of perjury and treachery. That is the informer
system. It makes a court a den of wild beasts. What else does it do?
Under its brood and hatch come spies; spies to watch witnesses, spies to
watch counsel, spies to follow jurymen, so that a juror cannot leave his
house without the shadow of the spy falling upon his door-step. That is
not the proper attitude of a Government. The business of a Government
is to protect its citizens, not to spread nets. The business of a
Government is to throw its shield of power in front of the rights of
every citizen. I hold in utter, infinite, and absolute contempt any
Government that calls for informers and spies. Every trial should be in
the free air. All the work should be done openly. These sinister motions
in the dark, the crawling of these abnormal and slimy things, I abhor.
Now, to come back to Moore. Upon my word I think he was trying to help
his friend. After Mr. Miner had offered him a quarter interest, then
he came back to Washington. He arrived here, according to his evidence,
about the 11th day of July, I think. He went immediately to see Stephen
W. Dorsey. Recollect that. That was the time Dorsey settled with him
without looking at his books. After he settled with him and gave him
two hundred and fifty dollars he asked him to telegraph to see if the
service had been put on The Dalles and Baker City route. He waited here
until he received an answer, and after that he talked with Dorsey not
only about that matter, but in that conversation Dorsey said, according
to Moore, that it took a good deal of money to keep up their influence
in the department. When I asked him when that conversation was, he
said two or three days after the first conversation. According to the
evidence in this case Stephen W. Dorsey left this city on the 12th of
July. This man Moore arrived on the nth, and he says two or three days
after his arrival Dorsey said it took money to keep up their influence
here. When he swears that Dorsey told him that, Dorsey was in the city
of Oberlin, Ohio. Recollect these things. Whoever tells stories of this
character should have a most excellent memory.
Now, there is another thing. When did Miner get back? He got back by the
24th of July, because on the 24th of July he settled with Moore, and I
believe then Moore went West again. Now, remember there was a contract
made, as Moore swears. He has not got it. Nobody sees it. He says there
was a contract made by which he had a fourth interest in something.
He got back here I believe some time in November, and on the 20th of
November he and Miner settled. I will now look on page 1430 for that
settlement. I want you to see how everything was situated at that time.
I find on page 1430 that Mr. Miner settled for everybody with Mr. A. W.
Moore. Remember the situation. Moore knew there was a conspiracy. All
the service was on. You see, this was November 20, 1880. Vaile was
in. They had a man who was close to Brady. Everything was running in
magnificent style. Mr. Moore understood that there was a conspiracy.
What more did he understand? That he had the claw of his avarice in the
flesh of a United States Senator and in the flesh of a Second Assistant
Postmaster-General. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were to be made.
He came back here and settled up and sold out his interest for how much?
Six hundred and eighty-two dollars. Do you believe that? Credulity would
not believe it. Nobody believes it, that is if the rest of the story is
true. Why did he settle with him for so little? He said Mr. Miner told
him he hadn't a dollar. He did not reply to him, "When this conspiracy
is completed you will have plenty. I can wait." No. Miner said he hadn't
anything and so Moore settled for six hundred and eighty-two dollars.
Then I asked him, "You had a contract with Dorsey, did you?" "Yes;
verbally." "Did you ever say anything to Dorsey about it?" "No." "Did
you ever claim anything from Dorsey?" "No." "Did you ever write to
him?" "No." "Did you ever say anything to anybody that you had any
claim against Dorsey?" "No." You saw Mr. Moore, gentlemen, here upon the
stand. Do you think he is the kind of man who would let such a chance
slip? It is for you to judge. In my judgment that is the eternal end of
Moore's testimony. We can call him buried. We can put the sod over his
grave. We can raise a stone to the memory of A. W. Moore. Let him rest
in peace, or to use the initials only, let him R. I. P. That is the end
of him. If the Government wishes to dig up the corpse hereafter let them
dig.