"Second. That in point of fact there was a free and fair election in East and West Feliciana, which was falsely protested and returned by said Anderson and Weber, by which the votes of those parishes were falsely and fraudulently excluded by the returning board.
"Third. That the offense of Anderson and Weber was encouraged by assurances by me.
"With the view, therefore, to meet this accusation, which, so far as it affects me, I declare and know to be absolutely destitute of even the shadow of truth, I respectfully ask, and now make formal application, for leave to be represented before your committee in the investigations of all charges affecting me personally. I tender and offer to prove that, in point of fact, the election in East and West Feliciana parishes was governed and controlled by force, violence and intimidation so revolting as to excite the common indignation of all who became conversant with it, and proof was submitted to that effect, not only before the returning board in evidence contained in ex. doc. No. 2, second session 44th Congress, but also in the testimony taken by the committee of the Senate on privileges and elections, report No. 701, second session 44th Congress.
"I will, if allowed, furnish the names of witnesses whom I desire to examine before you to prove the truth of this statement as to said parishes, and that the protests referred to were true, supported by the testimony and properly acted upon and sustained by the returning board. To my personal conduct during this examination I invite your fair and candid scrutiny, with entire confidence that not only myself, but my associates of both political parties, acted honestly and properly, from a sense of public duty. I have requested Hon. Samuel Shellabarger to deliver this to you, and I respectfully designate him as the gentleman I would desire, on my part, to be present to cross-examine witnesses testifying in relation to charges against me, and who will, as my counsel, tender evidence in proof of this statement. The favor of an early answer is requested.
"Very respectfully,
"John Sherman."
It is not necessary to detail the history of this investigation, of which so much was said or printed at the time. It was a partisan committee organized to stir up the controversy that had been settled by the decision of the electoral commission. The committee conducted a long and expensive investigation. The result was that the pretended letter was proven to be a forgery, and that my conduct during the sittings of the returning board was shown to have been that of a spectator, precisely like that of a score of other so- called visitors, of both political parties. The investigation proved to be a radical failure. The report was not made until March 3, 1879, the last day of the 45th Congress. No action was taken upon it.
During the investigation I specifically denied, under oath, that I had ever written or signed such a letter. There was not the slightest proof, direct or indirect, that I did so. The majority, with great unfairness, instead of frankly stating that they were deceived by a forgery, treated it as a matter in doubt. In their report they do not allege or pretend that I wrote or signed such a letter. The evidence of their own witnesses was conclusive that it was written by a Mrs. Jenks.
The report of the minority of the committee commented with severity upon the unfairness of the majority, in the following language:
"The majority seem to us to have come short of what we had a right to expect from their candor, when they fail to report explicitly whether the testimony on this subject sustains the charge that such a letter as Anderson and Weber testified to was ever written by the Hon. John Sherman. For our part, we report distinctly and emphatically that it does not, and that the palpable perjuries of both the witnesses named justify a feeling of deep disgust that they should be treated as capable of creating a serious attack upon the character of a man who has borne a high character in the most responsible service of the country for five-and-twenty years.
"The charge, if it meant anything, was that of corruptly bribing Anderson and D. A. Weber to perpetrate a fraud in the election returns of the Feliciana parishes.