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The Commoner.
3
JARY 27, 1905
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6NT VOPICS J
remiblican caucus in the Missouri legisla
ture chose for United States senator, Thomas
leidringhaus. A few days after the caucu3
liourned. Representative Grace, republican,
anting in nart the city of St. Louis, intro-
I. a rpnnliitinn nrnvirilnir for an investigation
charxre that the St. Louis brewers had given
feidringhaus $21,000 to be used in the sena-
camDaicn. Many republicans vigorously
d the Grace resolution, but with the aid of
aratic votes It was adopted. Mr. Neidringhaus
iirman of the republican state committee and
beinc summoned before the Investigating
HftPA nnnnintpd hv the legislature, ho gave
Einteresting testimony. The Associated Pres3
t, referring to Mr. Neidringhaus's testimony,
that lie denied that he made the contribution
toned in the Grace resolution or any person
lone so for him. He al30 denied that the
fe $21,000 appeared in the statement filed
Itho recorder of deeds by tne state repuDiican
iittee, showing the campaign contributions.
ZZ2r
L NEIDRINGHAUS further, stated that he
contributed out of his own pocket $1,800 to
tpubllcan campaign tuna ana tnen, reiernng
k S91 nnn contribution, he said: "A few days
t the visit of benator Fairbanks to St. Louis
I found that the liabilities of the state com
ic were about $31,000, with practically no
y in tne DanK. l was personally respumuuie
9 Dersons with whom the debts had been con-
fl t snnlm of the matter to the chairman
to executive committee, who said: 'You are a
Kfor assuming that responsibility.' I replied:
Convinced im I of the possibilities of carrying
iburi with sufficient funds, that I will go any
fith beforo I will stop tne campaign at tnis
It.' About this time Senator Fairbanks came
It. Louis, and. on the renuest of Addlphus
Ih. who is a personal friend of the senator, a
fcer was aranged at Mr. Busch's house, at which
p former Senator Mason of Illinois, Congress-
f Bartholdt of St, .lows, w. a. uicuey, utto
fel. Senator Fairbanks and myself. During the
ler I explained that I had be n retu3ea con-
ltions by nrominent republicans and stated
'if I had $25,000 I would guarantee the state
tlssouri would cast its electoral vote for Roose-
fand Fairbanks.' Mr. Busch then said: 'I am
ing to join with yourself and Mr. Stlfel to
mtee this $25,000. I will assume hair that
mtee if you and Mr. Stifel will assume the
hnif ' t iTTunediatelv announced that I as-
fed mv share, and Mr. Stifel agreed. It was
Id, however, that we should make one more
lal to the national committee for $25,000, and
any time we should be fortunate enough to
Ive this sum this guarantee snouia De re-
fed to the guarantors."
Cyy
rREPLI to a question put by a member of the
j committee, Mr. Neianngnaus statea mat ne
under no obligation of any kind on account or
guarantee to use any influence whatever to
2t legislation before the assembly of Missouri.
K Neidringhaus further explained that the de-
jency of $31,000 was reduced to $21,000 by collec
ts and that the latter amount was taken care
Mn accordance with the agreement between him-
t, Busch and Stifel. lvir. Neidringhaus statea to
I- committee that he did not consider the $25,000
Jdged by Busch, Stifel and himself in the light of
Contribution to tne st te campaign iuna, as uau
money been later secured from other sources
nmnlrl Viava ViDnil rpflinilpil tn thfiTTI. Mr. Nfild-
ighaus also stated that if the republicans had
led to carry Missouri for Roosevelt ana i'air
Sks he would have been personally responsible
J half the sum subscribed.
"VV-N
,BPRESENTATIVE COOK of Howell county
I prpntpfl nnriRfrlprnhlfi Rt.iv hv tharEringthn.t. he
offered money to influence his vote in favor
feldringhaus. The senate committee on Inves-
ition unanimously reported holding Mr. Neid-
;haus culpable in accepting campaign funds
tm the urewing companies. The committee found
tt these contributions were not used for the
rpose of influencing legislation but said that
Lwas the duty of -Mr. Neidringhaus as acting
treasurer of the state committee to show in his
statement of campaign receipts the source of tho
contributions.
'
ALTHOUGH Mr. Neidringhaus received tho ma
jority of the vote in tho lower houso on the
nrst day's balloting, he did not receive a majority
in the senate, which i3 democratic. Therefore
a vote on joint ballot was necessary. When tho
houso met in joint convention, January 18, six
republicans bolted NeldringhauB They were fol
lowed by two other republicans. After one ballot
had been taken, no election having resultod, ad
journment was taken to tho following day. On
Thursday, Jan. 19, the two houses met again in
joint convention wthout any change in tho vote.
On January 20, the house mot again and the eight
bolting republicans were joined by another bolter.
The vote on this, the fourth ballot, stood, Neidring
haus 80, Cockrell 81, Kerens 9, Pettijohn 1 Eighty
six votes are necessary to a choice. Tho conven
tion then dissolved and the two houses adjourned
until ten o'clock Monday, January 23. Those re
publicans who bolted Neidringhaus' nomination
have issued a signed statement in which they seelc
to justify their action on the ground that Neid
ringhaus obtained the nomination because of the
claim that he had contributed to tho Missouri
campaign fund the sum of $21,000. The statement
says that it has developed that mo3t of this money
was contributed by two St. Louis brewers and that
Neidringhaus in fact contributed only $1,400. These
bolters say that had these facts been known prior
to the holding of the republican caucus Mr. Neid
ringhaus would not have been the nominee of tho
party.
AN IN'-CRESTING letter, said to have been
written by Field .larshal Blucher, has been
discovered in the archives of a Polish family liv
ing in Paris. The Paris correspondent for the
New York American says: "The ancestors of thla
family acquired possession of the document during
the war that finished Napoleon's reign in France
and Europe, the courier, carrying Blucher's letter,
being caught by a detachment of French troops.
The letter is dated from Compiegne, June 17, 1815,
and addressed to Blucher's wife. 'Here I am sit
ting in the room where sialic Louise celebrated her
wedding night,' writes the general. 'There can be
nothing more beautiful and pleasant to behold.
Too bad I must be off tomorrow for I am due at
Paris within three days. I still hope to catch
Bonaparte and will surely hang the scoundrel to
the. nearest tree, with weights on his boots. When
he ia dead the emperors and kings may indulge
in all the protesting they like. I want to see him
good' and dead; I am tired of chasing after him.'
The letter winds up: 'This place is full of tho
most beautiful things that you would appreciate
immensely, but I have no time to pack anything.' "
ADMIRAL DEWEY, as president of the naval
board, lias recommended the creation of a
reserve list of the navy to which commanders and
captains who are past a given age shall be trans
ferred. Admiral Dewey says: "It is imperative
that steps be taken to promote the younger officers
to command and flag ranks, thereby prolonging
their tenure of responsible commands and insur-.
ing in the highest rank officers who have had ex
perience in other subordinate duties." To bring
this about the board recommends that all cap
tains, on reaching the age of 60, shall be placed
on tho reserve Hat, and that this age limit shall
be decreased to 50 years; that all present cap
tains and commanders formerly of the engineers'
corps, and all other officers who on promotion to
the rank of commander are by existing law re
stricted to engineering duty on shore, shall be
placed on the reserve list; that officers on the re
serve list "shall perform shore duty only, and shall
receive the same pay and allowances as officers on
the active list performing similar duty; in short,
that there shall be no difference between officers
on tho reserve and thoee on the active list, except
that the former shall not go to sea." The board
further recommends that in order to provide of
ficers for the new ships the course at Annapolis be
reduced from four to three years until 1913, the
number of midshipmen at the academy to bo
maintained at Its present strength until that year;
that tho ontranco ago into tho navy bo from 15 to
18 yoars; that tho graduated midshipmen bo com
missioned after one year at sea after competitive
examination; that ensigns after ono year bo pro-
moted to the grade of Leutenant, junior grade.
JOHN NICHOLAS BROWN of Providence, R. I., .
I enjoys tho distinction of being tho richest
small boy in tho world. The Brooklyn Standard
Union says: "In 1900 tho boy's fathor, tho late
John Nicholas Brown of Now York and Providence,
bequeathed him proporty valued at $0,000,000. A
later bequest from tho boy's uncle, the lato Harold
Brown, added $4,000,000 to his available wealth.
Ho is also the heir apparent to several other im-'
mense 'estates, and if ho should reach middle life
ho will be ono of the richest landed proprietors in
tho United States."
THE customs officers, as well as tho financiers,
seem to bo somewhat interested in tho af
fairs of Mrs. Chadwlck. A dispatch to tho Cincin
nati Enquirer undor dato of Cleveland, Ohio, Jan.
12, says: "Nathan Looser, receiver for Mrs. Chad
wick, has made an examination of tho jewels held
by Henry W. Wuorst of Elyrla, Ohio, as collateral
for a loan. Ho estimates their value at $17,000.
Wuerst's claim amounts to $20,000. Tho moat
valuablo piece in tho lot is a magnificent collar,
sot with diamonds, rubies, pearls and other pre
cious stones. Tho value of this collar alono la
placed at $10,000. Tho entire collection is believed
to have originally cost Mrs. Chadwlck $25,000 or
more. It is stated that tho customs officers have
succeeded In finding a number of additional lots
of jewels brought into this country by Mrs. Chad
wick upon which no duty was paid. It is estimated
that the officials have up to this time located not
less than $125,000 worth of such diamonds and
jewelry. Those valuables wero either put up as
security for loans or given away by Mrs. Chad
wick. It is declared- that of all the great quantity
of jewels brought into this country by Mrs. Chad-r
wick, duty on less than $11,000 worth was actually
entered and paid. So far as can bo learned no
duty was paid on the jewels now in tho possession
of Henry Wuerst of Elyria. A customs Inspector
recently made a thorough examination of the lat
ter property."
REFERRING to tho speech delivered by Mr.
Bryan at Lafayette, Ind., the Dubuque, Iowa,
Telegraph sayc: "In other words Mr. Bryan would
have the federal government own the railroads
doing an interstate business and have the several
states own tho railroads Coing business only lo
cally, within their own boundaries. This assuredly,
would relieve some of the tension of centraliza
tion. However strongly one may believe in tho
individualism of Jefferson and however much he
may in principle be opposed to the centralization
of power and to the government's encroachment
in a .field of business that should be left to the
individual who will operate public franchises for
the public benefit on the most favorable terms, tho
fact stands that when these terms are no longer
determined by competition, but are dictated by a
group of a few men who are buttressed in federal
and state courts, in the national congress and tho
state legislatures, protection of our very liberties,
endangered by corruption, demand that we wipo
out "the e-'il. Experience has demonstrated that
we can not hope successfully to regulate the rail
roads. The ono means of ending the abuses of
freight rates, of corruption of the legislatures, tho
courts and politics is for tho government to take
over tho railroads. We must como to that some
day and he is blind indeed who doe3 not discern,
the irresistible onrush."
SOME recently published statistics show that'
the owners of tho coal supply have, accord
ing to tho Washington Post, been making deals
that "make Mrs. Chadwick'3 efforts look amateur
ish, and which are perfectly safe and devoid of
risk." Tho Post explains: "At the most conserva
tive estimate the consumers are to be asked to
contribute $8,000,000 cr $10,000,00p to the coal com-
bine, above all questions of cost or ordinary
profit. Tho statistics from an authentic source
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