The Morey letter was evidently written by an uneducated man. Here are three instances of wrong spelling that a man of Mr. Garfield's education could not possibly make. The words "ecomony" and "Companys" in the eighth line and "religeously" in the twelfth line give evidence of a fraudulent and deceitful letter at once.
The misplacing of the dot to the "i" in the signature to the left of the "f" and over the "r" is a mistake quite natural to a hand unaccustomed to making it, but a very improbable and remarkable mistake for one to make in writing his own name. Another noticeable feature in the Morey letter is the conspicuous variations in the sizes and forms of the letters. Notice the three "I's" in the fifth line. Variations so great in such close connection seldom occur in anything like an educated and practiced hand. The "J" in the signature of the Morey letter has a slope inconsistent with the remainder of the signature and the surrounding writing. It is also too angular at the top and too set and stiff throughout to be the result of a natural sweep of a trained hand.
The Morey letter was written in January, 1880, and made public in October of the same year. If Mr. Garfield wrote the Morey letter in January there was at that time no motive to write it in any other than his ordinary and natural hand. The letter of denial is in his perfectly natural hand; these two letters should therefore be consistent with each other.
The signature of the Morey letter is a clumsy imitation of General Garfield's autograph. Observe the stiff, formal initial line of the "F"—its sharp, angular turn at the top, absurd slope and general stiff appearance, while the shade is low down upon the stem, and compare with the free, flowing movement, round turns and consistent slope of the same letter in his genuine autograph. We might extend the comparison, with like result, to all the letters in the signature, and to a multitude of other instances in the writing of the body of the letter.
Many persons, and some professed experts, have remarked what appeared to them striking and characteristic resemblances between the Morey letter and General Garfield's writing.
It should be borne in mind that if the letter is not in the genuine handwriting of Mr. Garfield it was written by some person whose purpose was to have it appear so to be. That being the case, we should naturally expect to find some, even more, forms than we do, having a resemblance to those used by Mr. Garfield. All these resemblances appear to be either copied or coincidences in the use of forms. There are no coincidences of the unconscious writing habit, which clearly, to our mind, proves the Morey letter, as Mr. Garfield well characterizes it, a very clumsy effort to imitate his writing. Indeed, the effort seems to be little more than an endeavor, on the part of the writer, to disguise his own hand, and copy a few of the general features of Mr. Garfield's writing, adding a tolerable imitation of his autograph.
A WARNING TO BANKS AND BUSINESS HOUSES
Information for Those Who Handle Commercial and Legal Documents—Peculiarity of Handwriting—Methods Employed in Forgery—Means Employed for Erasing Writing—Care to be Used in Writing—Specimens of Originals and Alterations—Means of Discovering and Demonstrating Forgery—Disputed Signatures—Free Hand or Composite Signatures—Important Facts for the Banking and Business Public—How to Use the Microscope and Photography to Detect Forgery—Applying Chemical Tests—How to Handle Documents and Papers to Be Preserved—The Value of Expert Testimony—Using Chemical, Mechanical and Clerical Preventatives.
The following chapter is written by Mr. William C. Shaw, of Chicago, the well-known handwriting expert and expert on forgery, whose services are called in all important forgery and disputed handwriting cases in the country. It is replete with facts and suggestions of the greatest importance, and will be found not only interesting reading, but an instructive article throughout.