V
.A
V
1
r Ad
The Alliance-Independent
It the best:
Advertising medium
In the west. It U especi
ally valuable as a means
of reaching the farmers.
Its circulation Is as large
la Nebraska as the cir
culation of all the "farm
Journals" combined.
Give The Alliaxce
Indefendent a trial if
you want good results.
VOL. IV.
A Eeview of the Evidence Taken in the
Oases Against Allen, Humphrey
And Eastings-
CELL-EATSE CROOKEDNESS AIRED-
Witnesses Unwillingly Divulge the Truth.
Dorgan's Bad Memory.
Working on the Asy
lum Matter.
A Summary,
In ita capacity as a court of Impeach
ment the supreme court is certainly
J maklnc a record for Indubtrv. It meets
promptly at 10 o'clock and usually holds
)Ll 6 in the evening. It was in session
Avery day last week except Saturday
and began again bright and early
monday morning. It has also dispatch-
business at a rapid rate during its
ssions.
By Friday evening the evidence of
the prosecution in connectiou with the
cell-house matter was nearly all in,
' and a start had been made on the
'asylum matter. This week the testi
mony on the cell-house matter has
been completed, and the testimony
Concerning the asylum frauds is well
'under way. The course of the defense
' has been such as to disgust fair minded
toeople. As attorney for the state
' officers. John L. Webster has taken
If the leading part, and has cross ex
j amined the witnesses. He has taken
! ( advantage of every possible technical
f ity to prevent the truth from coming
out. The impeachment committee has
j been obliged to depend on some wit
j nesses who are friendly to the state
officers. These witnesses have man
aged to forget nearly all they knew
that was damaging to the state officers.
Especially is this true of Bill Dorgan.
His memory seems to have been
v leaking ever since he was before the
; legislative committee. To questions
I which he answered clearly before that
I commitee, he now answers "I don't
know," or "I cant recollect " On the
I A HINT
CASES
'T other hand every fact or circumstance
IV which could in any way shield the im-
ached officials he remembers dis-
.' : ..insit.lir A nrl when Mir Wfthatpr
reels off a five minute speech in defense
of his clients under the pretext of ask
ing a question, Mr. Dorgan very cheer
fully and positively answeres "yes."
The same remarks apply in some de
gree to Atwood and several other
witnesses.
Mr. Lambertson, for the prosecution,
has shown the utmost fairness, in his
treatment of witnesses. He has in fact
been too mild to combat such a man as
t4 . -. nil . J f
ii -WeDSter. uut ne nas succeeueu in
V facts enough to establish all that was
claimed In the articles of Impeachment.
It has never been claimed or ex
pected that the real inside facts of the
case would be unearthed. No man can
hear and weigh the evidence fairly
without feeling morally certain that
there has been a well planned system of
robbery carried out, that the state
officers were privy to it, and in some j
wav cot a share of the blunder. Hut
1 the only parties who know such thing
j are members of the gang who are very
unlikely to tell what they know.
The witnesses examined up to Friday
evening were:
C. U. Caldwell deputy Secretary or
Slate, who brought lo vouchers, records
reiMrU etc,
W. II. Dorgan who testified, a far as
his memory would permit regarding tlie
whole cell house matter.
ln Hopkins, who was warden of the
penitentiary during last year, and who
succeeded iKirgia as superintended of
the cwll-hoiuw work. Mo U also the
nan who spent -', with the approval
of the board, u pay his expente to a
meeting of the prison coogroM at I'ltU
burg. H H. Atwood, of Nemaha county, of
Vm Morgan bought stono and nd,
J. W. ZhjI of Johnson county and K.
I). Van Court of Omaha of whom At
wood boug hi the ston htoh ho ld
V IXirgan. AIwoimI, .o-.k ana Van
l otirt ar ownors uf ston usrrt.
M. 1, Vlch,mank'ir wf tl Vi'ilirB,
Vlouf turtnif ntiutmny, which works
the (M)vtu at tha l'n. II ttltu4
MtuprU-v charged for wnvlct UUr,
Two stona mania whu worked oa
the re tou
WUlUw Ura.aa arvhluct who V"U-
tied as an expert in regard to prces of
stone and cost of cell-house. He said
at a liberal estimate the work done
ought not to have cost over 132,341.
William Randall, formerly employed
to receive and unload coil at the asy
lum, wko testified as to the amount of
coal received at the asylum.
Without going into the details of
each witness's testimony the following
is a suirmnary of the evidence in regard
to
THE CELL HOUSE.
The legislature of 1891, in order to
furnish more room and better accomoda
tions for convicts voted $40,000 to be
used in the construction of an addition
to the penitentiary which is now known
as the ne w cell house. The act requir
ed that the addition should be built bu
day's workt. This was a concession to
the demands of the laboring classes
Most public buildings are put up by
contractors who hire laborers at as low
wages a possible, and make big profits.
The "day s works" provision was in
tended to eliminate the contractor anl
make the sta'e employ the laborers
directly. It thus became the duty of
the Board of Public Lands and Build
ings to take direct charge of the con
struction of this building, to employ
superintendents, purer ase material etc.
and to disburje funds in payment there
for. It may be well to mention in this con
nection
THE PENITENTIARY CONTRACT.
The contract system of handling state's
prison convicts was adopted by the
'gislature away back in 1877. The
L.st contractor was H. B. Stout, com
monly known as '"Boss" Stout, probably
the most unscrupulous and successful
lobbyist ever In Nebraska, and that is
saying a good deal. That contract has
been extended from time to time down
to the present. The last extension (for
ten years) was voted in 1887. By that
time Stout had dropped out and C. W.
Mosher had taken his place. Also W.
H. Dorgan had appeared on the scene
as Mosher's first lieutenant. Since that
time Mosher and Dorgan have been per
sistent and successful lobbyists.
As Mosher's time became more and
more occupied with gigantic schemes
for swindling the people in his capac
ity as president of the Capital National,
Dorgan gradually took his place at the
pen and finally in February 1892,
Mosher formally assigned the con
tract to Dorgan as his successor.
The terms of the contract at pre lent ara
briefly: The state furnishes the prison
building and pays the contractor 40
cent per day for each convict. The con
tractor must clothe, feed and keep the
convicts, and paythe guards and ofheers
of the prison. He can put in machin
ery and set the convicts to work man
ufacturing such articles as be sees fit,
or he can let out the servlc3S of con
victs toothers, thecontractor of course
getting all the income from their labor.
DORGAN FOR SUPERINTENDENT.
Coming bick now to the cell house,
the board of public lands and buildings
on May 4th, 1891 met and hired W. H.
D3rgan to superintend the construction
of the cell house, Dorgan was at that
time in the employ of Mosher, and in
full control as Mosher's lieutenant at
the penitentiary. The board gave Dor
gan full power to adopt plans, purchase
material, and hire labor to build the
cell-house. Toe board voted him a
salary of $.",0 per month. This salary
is most suspiciously small. J f Dorgan
were competent to take full charge of
such a work, his services ought to have
been worth four times as much to say
the least. It fact It looks as thoutrh
the salary of $."0 per month were voted
as a mere blind to cover up the real
consideration in the case
Dorgan It seems took the whole mat
ter into his hands, adopted plans for
the building, purchased material etc ,
without any oversight on the part of
board. They simply furnished him
the money, and he spent it, and to this
day he has never made any full and
final report. Th only thing in the
shape of reports were somo ncraps of
paper pinned together that John L.
Webster himself declared were un
signed, never had been acted on, and
were not entitled to consideration.
The board paid out money to Dorgan
in advance in sums as high as tS,0O0at
a time.
CONVICT LABOR EMI LOYKD.
la direct violation of the spirit of
the legUlatlve act, Dorgan acting for
the board, employed the convicts to do
nearly a'.l the work. For their labor
h charged the slate tl. Mr day.
The loiuiony of Dorgan himself,
and of several other wltnesw. howe4
that ouUide parties have repeatedly
hired convicU of tht) contractor at 40
cent per day,
M, D, Welkin, manager of Western
Manufacturing aadoetalton tadlfted that
he lined about half of all the convicts
in h'.t factory and paid only l' cent
lr day and only for tlm actually ant
played. AIm many of the tut a ho
urd wr highly skilled.
Th time ot ius convict was kept by
tha (uarU In charga of them. Aecoru
log ui t,irf an's owb aOmtulon, when a
ganirof mea wm aligned to work on tha
cwlt h"Ut,thMm of tha whula gang
wa uhareud up to tha stal whether
thay worked or not. Tha tentliiumy
(how that time wa frequently charged
and paid for by Vh slato whsa
L --JS
LINCOLN, NEB., THURSDAY, MAY 11, 1693.
Address to American Monopolists.
You boast of Independence,
Of equal rights of birth,
And name yourselves descendants
Of men of noble worth.
They leaped with sword and rille
Their manhood to maintain,
Nor deemed the tax a trifle
That tyrants sought to gain.
Your fathers faced oppression,
And bled on freedom's soil,
They fought to hold possession
Of all the fruits of toll.
Yet you, who should be hatars
Of every tyrant's band,
Are numbered with the traitors
Who've cursed their native land!
You're false to all your teaching
To what is right and just;
You've gained by over-reaching,
By interest and trust;
You've pulled the land from under
The equal heirs of earth;
And sun and rain and thunder
You hold, for all they're worth.
You sit, as money lenders.
And suck the blood of toll;
You loll amid the splendors
Heaped up by those who moil;
You hold tbe robber stations
And all commercial gates,
And gatt er princely rations
By simply fixing freights -
convicts were not at work. On one
occasion the time of the whole gang
was charged up for ten days during
which they did not worK.
CHARGED IT ALL TO THE STATE.
On one occasion Dsrgan purchased
brick and fire clay costing $232 and
used them In resetting the boilers used
in heating the prison. He also had the
convicts do the work, and paid for it
all out of the cell house fund, and re
ported the same to the board. These
repairs (should properly have baen paid
by the contractor, and there was no
shadow of excuse for spending the cell
house fund for such a purpose. The
testimony also shows that in a number
of other instances the cell house fund
was used to pay expenses which could
not properly be charged to the state.
THE STONE PURCHASED.
In the purchase of materia! Dorgan's
methods were shown to be even more
crooked than in the employment of
labor. Shortly after his appointment
he bigan looking around for material.
He struck up a deal with one S. H. At
wood the owner of a stono quarry in
Johnson county to furnish the stone.
Dorgan did not make any effort to In
form himself as to prices of' stone, or to
secure competition among quarry men.
He agreed to pay Atwood prices that
were from two to four times the actual
cost. The stone from Atwood's quarry
was too hard to work easily, and At
wood bought most of the stone furnish
ed from other men. He r-ought mostly
of J. W. Zook and E. D. Van Court.
These men were all before the court.
The substance of their testimony was as
follows:
Atwood bought of Zook stone "plug
ged to size" at 10 cents per cuMc foot,
and turned It in to Dorgan at 35 cents
He bought of Van Court dimension
stone at 4 k cents per foot, and turned it
in to Dorgan at Ml cents per foot. On all
stone Atwood furnished from his own
quarry ho charged Dorgan twice- the
market price.
Zxk testified that ho wrote a letter
to Dorgan In which he quoted
him the same prices he was getting
from Atwood, but Dorgan "couldn't
remember" having received such a
letter. Van Court testified as to prices
of stone. He thought tha prices paid
by Atwood were low, hut were market
prices at the time. The defuoito under
took to shield Dorgan by showing that
he nude the deal with Atwood In May
when prices of stone were high, and
Atwood bought the stone In January
when prices were low. Van Court,
,ook and other testified oa this point
that there was a difference. l'er
hai tha ttoue for which Atwood
rmldlOeenUln January would have
been worth hi cent in May cm account
of Increased demand. Thto was tha
stone which Dorgan paid Atwood .'15
cent for, Van Court Untitled that he
had never known that kind of stone to
l worth over H rent.
A number of other wttaec htv
bea oten'.loncd lu regard lo price but
they alt 4tv substantially. Tha (oU
proven ara that th 'ate m charged
eight and tn eeut for Vne which a
worth from 3 to 4 1 rents; lo for slo
worth r, and & to cenu for sUuva
worth 19 oeaU. friomwbera between
tb quarry cner and tha stat, uie
body got the rate-off.
tT er THS CM.!, II HU
As mitMl tha lilt a wt up by
tha duftM, they tried lo show that
would tw Bough to BnUh h
-ai t.l. g -a-. ' . ..
Your youngest babes inherit
Command of many a slave;
And, forced by legal merit,
A holt their service crave.
One infant of the Astors
Each month a million draws!
We bow to babbling masters,
Enthroned by evil laws.
Monopolize subsistence,
The tools, exchange or land,
And "freedom" means, existence,
To serve as kings command.
Whoever then engages
To meet his pressing need
Must take the proffered wages
'And be a slave of greed.
But, hear us now, oppressors,
We've traced your crafty work:
You can't remain possessors,
And hone? t labor shirk;
You shall not deed to others
Tbe gifts of God to all,
And rule for aye your brothers '
On whom the burdens fall.
The paltry tax our neighbor
Old England sought to raise,
A burden light on labor,
Set all the land ablaze.
Then think not that the toilers,
Deceived and patient long,
Will always serve the spoilers
And suffer legal wrong.
Chicago, 111. CfiorHowARD Gibson.
cell-house. They claimed that the wall
of the old prison on the side where the
cell-house joins had to be torn down
and repaied which cost about $2500. If
it hadn't been for that the fund would
have been sufficient to complete the
work. Inasmuch as neither tbe legis
lature nor the board had ever laid out
any plan for the building, leaving every
thing to Dorgan, it can be seen how
much that plea is worth. In fact it ap
pears that Dorgan deliberately set out
to spend $40,000 in putting up a cell
house worth about 120,000, and now he
comes in with the plea that if he hadn't
had to repair the old wall, the funds
would ha, a held out!
Several experienced architects who
have carefully examined the cell -house
as it stands today testified before the
court as to what they thought It
ought to cost:
Wm. Gray placed his estimate at
$32,341. He allowed liberal prices for
material and high wages for citi
zen labor. Gray's estimate has since
been carefully gone over by two Omaha
architects who claim that he made er
rors and miscalculations amounting to
$6,000 which would reduce the estimate
to about $20,000.
n (J. Itnllnck of Linooln cave a com
plete detailed estimate of the work
done, showing that the whole building
as it stands ought not to have cost over
$18,827.40. ,
George Jensen, a building contrac
tor of extended experience made a de
tailed estimate showing that the cost
of cell house as It stands should not
have been over $20,147.20.
These witnesses and several others
examined on Monday testified regard
ing market values ol the various kinds
of stone ustd fully confirming
the claim of the prosecution.
Architect Flske of Lincoln, one of the
be it in the slate, made an estimate of
the cost of the building completed. He
based his estlmrte on material used and
work actually done, and gave all detail.
He said the entire cost should not be
over $21,270.50. Inasmuch as Dorgan
claims that it will take $200 to finish
the building, this would make Fluke's
estimate of the work already done less
than $19,000
THAT JUNKETimJ TRIP.
Dorgan and Hopkins testified regard"
Ing tho trip taken by Allen, Humphrey
and Hastings at theexpense of the cell
house fund. Dorgan supplied the $T00,
from funds which the hoard had already
paid over to him. Warden Hopkins
went with the board and they paid hi
espens. They vltltrd and inspected
trUon In Kansas, at St. Louis and at
hieago. When they caina back no re
port of expense wa ever tnde out,
nor did they aver tell Ikirgan what
they hd learned regarding prlwn.
and ccll-houa. In short It doe not
appear that tb state ever got anything
for tha to hi. which tha hoard spent on
this trip ia direct violation of the U
they wera elected to administer.
.IK) MOKK.
Ikiriraft aU pld out of tha cetl houw
fund .tiO which w u.l by Warden
Hot'kin and Chaplain Howe on a trip
to 1'ituhurg to attend a prison con
gee. Th only excitae glvta for
itch a umi of tho cell-hooi fund wa
that I'retUtefct Have wa treoiJe lit of
ot tha coogrvM,
norms aivcfctp ifiuiAN.
In tha spring of Ift'C' oin Urn a'ter
Ikirgan had succeeded Mtwher a con
tractor of tha Ten, tha boaH appoluted
Dan Mopkio tu take hi placo auper
intendent of the cell-houso. . He was
instructed to settle with Dorgan and
continue the work. He never made
sny settlement. Dorgan turned over
what money be had on hand, a little
over $0,000 and Hopkins took the ma
terial off his hand without checking
it up. Hj continued to buy material,
at the same prices paid by Dorgan, and
followed the same plan generally,
Djrgan has never made a final set
tlement with the board. He says he
was getting ready to make a settlement
when tho grand jury got after him
lant fall, but that prevented.
The above is a very brief and Incom
plete summary of the testimony taken
1 1 regard to the cell-house.
The prosecution demand tho convic
tion of Allen, Humphrey and Hastings:
1. Because they employed Dorgan
who was already in the employ of the
penitentiary contractor.
2. Because ot tho uttetly loose and
Irregular way in which they did busi
ness with Dorgnn.
3. Decause, Dorgan being merely an
agent of the board, the members of the
board are directly responsible for the
squandering of the state's money In
paying for convict labor and building
stone more than twice what other
parties had to pay at the same time.
4. Because t ney ued and permitted
to be used in all $700 of this fund, con
trary to law, in paying traveling expen
ses for themselves aad others.
THE SECOND WEEK.
Monday morning the trial proceeded
with all the attorneys for the prosecu
tion present. Lawyer Green who had
been reported "sick" lat week was on
hand to take in active part.
On Monday a number of witnesses
testified regarding cell-house matters,
but tielr evidence was substantially the
same as that already given.
Most of the time has been occupied
in taking testimony regarding asylum
coal. The impeach ir cot committee is
attempting to show that a great many
car-lo-ids of coal were charged to the
state the? were never delivered at the
asylum.
The first important witness was Wm.
Randall who lives in Valley county.
He was employed by the coal firm of
Betts and Weaver at the asylum switch
to unload coal from the cars. Ha was
afterward employed ia the same capa
city by the Wbttebreast Coal Co. lie
kept a record of the cars In a little
book. In spite of many objections from
Webster, Randall gave some very valu
able testimony, lie said he had enter
ed cars in his book that wore never
delivered. He did this under the orders
of the firm he was working for.
He kept a record of cars by numbers
on the cars. On one occasion the firm
gave him a slip containing a large list
of car number, and instructed him to
enter them on his book. He did so
although the cars were not delivered.
Several pages were torn out of his
book. He explained that after he had
moved to Valley county John Dorgan
(brother of W. H. who is connected
with the Whitebreast Coal Co.) visited
him one night last November, and tried
to get this book from htm. He refused
to give up the book, but tore out five
pages containing a summary of all car
numbers and gave them to Djrgan. He
also testified that cars were hauled to
the asylum, and hauled away again
without unloading, th same being
charged to the state.
A large number of B." & M. freight
agents, book-keepers and other em
ployes have been examined regarding
the methods ot handling freight and
the records of the coal delivered at the
asylum.
HOOKS LOST.
The first Important fact developed
was that the principal record books
which were examined by the legislative
committee have since mysteriously dis
appeared. The railway men say they
have searched diligently but can not
find them. It afterward camo out that
copies of these records had been made,
and preserved. The prosecution has
proven the correctness ot these copies
by the men who made them, and olTer
ed them in the place of tho originals.
The testimony of these witnesses is
of such a character a not to be easily
understoou by person who are not
familiar with railroad book-keeping.
It is sufficient to say that, while It may
take a good deal ot Urns and labor, the
prosecution will sift tho record com
pletely and without doubt will fully
establish tho fao. that a great many
car of coal were paid for by the state
which were never delivered.
KKWICK TOtt Tlir.M.
tl C. Ho wick, tha man who made the
Mr.tr xpoure testified that in February
1 ",:', he told Hasting and Humphrey
that fraud were being practiced at the
ay!uru. Thl 1 very important testi
mony a it establishes tha fact that
ortU-laU hail nottca of tha fraud.
Fred llaeo, book-keeper at the aflura
during Im2 went on tha stead Tuesday
evening, and will prohobty be on tha
Itand several hourot Vetneta. He
U one of tho slat' mot valuable
wltoev,
TUB APPHOI'KIATIOX VAUB,
Oa luenday the supreme court eom
mission haiulid down It decUlon re
garding the appropriation. It hold
that tr appropriation I valid for K
UU. The inUtas of an enrolling clerk
van not invalidate a legislative act.
The Alliance-Independent
Advocates J
The government own
ership of railroads and
telegraphs.
That freight rater it
Nebraska be reduced tr
a level with thoee la
force in Iowa.
The building by the
national government of
a great trunk line from
North Dakota te the
Gulf of Mexico.
NO. 48
DESPERATE BATTLE.
TEN THOUSAND BRAZILIANS
IN DEADLY COM DAT. . rj
THE SLAUGHTER WAS TERRIBLE.
Four Thousand Government 'Troops and
Bis Tliotimntl InfturgentiCietTog-etherQ
ud Bill It I'p in Klo Grande do
6ul Great Determination Ex
hibited on Ilotu KldeaTb j ,
JU-tult in Doubt.
Valtab Also, May 10 A battle which
lasted six hours was fought latt Sat
urday near Uruguayna, Kio Grande do
Sul, Brazil, in wqich 4,000 govern
ment troops and G,000 Jnsurgents
were engaged. Conflicting reporta'
have been sent out concerning the re
sult of tho engagement
The contest began about noon and
lasted until nightfall. Great deter
mination was displayed by the soldiers
in each army. Charge after char go
ordered by Generals llipolyte and
Slum, who commanded the two
wng of the government forces!
Were repelled by the insure
gents. The slaughter was terrible.
Men on each side fought with tho
knowledge that the result of the com
bat would probably settle the fate of
the revolution, the insurgents being;
the more desperate bceause they
realized that ahould they win.
the 'victory "housand of secret
sympathizers would openly Join their
ranks and fight for their cause. With
out decisive result for either army the
battle raged until near nightfall Al
though the insurgents far exceeded
the government forces in number they
were not so well equipped or well dis
ciplined. As the night approached tho revolu
tionists attempted to withdraw to a
better position, but the movement had
been foreseen by the commander
of the government army, who
threw all their forces against
the retreating revolutionists, and
turned the defeat into a
complete disaster. The attack in the
rear, according to the report tele
graphed from JJuenos Ayres, demoral
ized the revolutionary forces, and
they ran before the advancing govern
ment anny as fast as possible.
ABSOLUTISM FOR CERM ANY.
The Younff Kalier Declares That H
Will Have III Way.
Bep.lix, May 10. While reviewing
the troops at Tempclhof the German
emperor directed the imperial guard
to gather around him and ad
dressed them as follows: "I have
been seriously disappointed in the
patriotism of the late reichstag. I
Hope the coming reichstag will adopt
the military bill, but if it refuses to
adopt it I atn determined to carry the
bill into effect despite the unpatriotic
opposition. 1 know myself that I am
alone with the federated princes and
the people."
The emperor's concluding words ia
, Uhe-sinjr his otlieers were: "I felt
necesnity to tell you candidly my
decision, as I told you mv hopes when
b." bill was first proposed." s
T .to oflicer who heard the emperor's
words maintained absolute silence,
although evidently In deep sympathy
vith tlie kaiser'a views. The speech
m causing enormous excitement among
l!ie people. There is a profound and
- Uk-spread impression that the em
ror would not hesitate to risk a con
.1 it with the new reichstag should it
rove hostile to the bilL
UtW LEADERS IN THE FIELD.
lii Itennbllran National Ltag-aa Meeting
l.ltu-ly to He a Lively Una.
Ijot'iHViM.K, Ky., May JO. -Hualne&a
.,.w and publlu buildings are dec
orated with liug and bunting and tha
ity ia assuming a holiday attire while
he hotel are taut filling with ineom
iog Kepubllean from every part of
;he vttuntry, gathere I for tha meeting
f tlie national league of Uepubliean
e'ulw here to-morrow. Tho prlneipal
evt-nta of the week will tw tho election
of ofileer f r the enlg year of tho
Uepubliean national eotuMittee; of tho
national UepubiU-a league and of tha
American Ucimlillcan college league.
In the national KepublU-an league
there will be a lively contest for tha
presidency. The candidate now la
the Held are VV. W. Tracy of prlof
Held. 111., president of tha llllnola
tte Iraguei W, I, Niuire of Toledo
and J. Moat r'actl of New York. U
UUikttll that J. H ilurk will not
le a candidate tr re election, but tht
ha not leru formally announced. K
Senator uHiiir of VlMsm;u will
ahwi ntak bid forth oflloe of prl
dttl
V0 Korlbwwtero llr.e to Chicago
Uw rate. Jt train. Office 11M
U at.
ir