LS as president-elect signed “J. A. Garfield,” one page both sides, 8 x 10, Mentor, Ohio letterhead, November 15, 1880. The newly elected president writes to the Honorable E. W. Stoughton of New York. In full: “I watched with great interest the progress of the work of bringing to justice the rascals who perpetrated and circulated the Chinese forgery. I concur with you that no greater crime could be committed against the American people than that which was attempted in this case. Your interview in the [New York] Times has been read with great satisfaction by our people in the West and they are anxious that you and your associates shall continue the good work until the very truth is discovered, and the principal movers in it are brought to justice. The man who forged the letter may be of far less consequence than the men who procured the work to be done and poisoned the American mind by its distribution.” Matted (secured from the reverse by two pieces of clear tape) with a colorized portrait and photocopy of the first page of the text, with glass on the front and back to allow for viewing of both sides, and framed to an overall size of 29.25 x 15.5. In fine condition, with intersecting folds, one passing horizontally and one vertically through his name.
“The Chinese forgery” was a reference to a 1880 letter supposedly written by Garfield during the presidential campaign to ‘H.L. Morey’ of Lynn, Massachusetts. Said to have been written in January 1879, the letter—just three sentences written on congressional stationery—implied that Garfield favored unrestricted Chinese immigration...a controversial issue, with both the Republican Garfield and his Democratic opponent Winfield Scott Hancock stating as being against further immigration. Historians theorize that a New York journalist had perpetrated the hoax, though voters of the era blamed Democratic Party members for submitting the text to discredit a member of the GOP, which may have played a role in Garfield’s electoral win. Oversized. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RRAuction COA.
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