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Democrats used this letter to their advantage and started to print and circulate the letter wherever they could. They were able to get over 500,000 copies out. They put the letter in store windows and sent it to areas with a great number of
Chinese immigrants, to maximize controversy. The letter was
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Garfield received a telegraph on
October 20, 1880, regarding about a letter the candidate had allegedly written regarding "the Chinese question", that is, the question of the railroad companies hiring and importing Chinese labor to complete projects. Later that same day, he received the text of the
173:"Garfield's death warrant. That letter in which he advocates an extended Chinese immigration --- He advises that employer's union of Lynn, Mass., "that the question of employees is only a question of private and corporate economy" ---Read, Workin"
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During this time, Republicans also sent an investigator to Lynn, Massachusetts to try to find any trace of the letter. The investigator could not find H. L. Morey or the
Employers Union. Shortly after, Garfield wrote and told the
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Democrats said that the delay was evidence of
Garfield's guilt. Most voters eventually thought the letter was a forgery, and just another political trick to win votes. The Morey letter was thought to be a forgery emanating from
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Garfield requested a photo reproduction of the letter, and once he laid eyes upon it, he denied that he wrote the letter. He stated that it was a "manifestly bungling attempt to copy hand and signature".
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Garfield narrowly lost the state of
California by 144 votes. His popular vote margin was the smallest in US history; however, he had a decisive victory in the electoral college.
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and creator of the
Spoopendyke humor stories, was the author of the Morey letter. Huntley himself had made fun of the question of who wrote the letter in one of his stories.
52:. The letter stated, "individuals and companies have the right to buy labor where they can get it cheapest. We have a treaty with the Chinese government
56:... I am not prepared to say that it should be abrogated until our great manufacturing and corporate interests are conserved in the matter of labor."
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The letter was written on House of
Representative official stationery dated January 23, 1880 and addressed to H. L. Morey of the Employers Union in
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Garfield's real letter did not get published by any newspaper for about a week, and was often printed side by side with the original Morey letter.
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presidential candidate, and suggested that
Garfield was in favor of Chinese immigration at a time when many white Americans were strongly opposed.
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featured the letter with a quote from a reporter saying that a friend of
Garfield's had confirmed that the handwriting was indeed Garfield's.
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that the
Democrats thought would flip the vote to their favor. They even called the letter "Garfield's death warrant".
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While never proven, there was much public speculation at the time that Stanley Huntley, journalist at the
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203:"The Enduring Mystery of James A. Garfield's Immigration Scandal"
148:"The Phony Document that Almost Cost a President His Election"
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to reproduce a letter of him denying that the letter was his.
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operatives, and produced a backlash against the Democrats.
28:was a forged letter that appeared during the
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146:Gyory, Andrew (October 24, 2004).
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32:. It was purportedly from
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212:2021-09-07
182:2019-05-07
154:7 December
134:References
38:Republican
61:The Truth
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67:Reaction
44:Scandal
109:Result
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