The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1871-06-17
SWORN EVIDENCE OF BRIBERY IN
THE LEGISLATURE!
A Senator Reveals What He Knows
About Brass Tacks!"



Il note given for a vote in favor of II bill
for the relief of that individual. We
trust Senator Braughn will further re-
licvc his conscience by disclosing the
names of :,ll the guilty parties in this
neftrious transaction:
After the meeting Of the General AS
sembly in 1868, the first Assembly af-
ter adoption of the new Constitution, Il
joint committee was appointed to inves-
tigate the conduct of the Board of
Levee Commissioners.
That Board had disposed of six mill
lions of dollars of Levee bonds without
any tangible sign of improvements.
John Ray and myself were the Sena-
tors appointed on this committee on
the part of the Senate.
During the sessions Of this commit
tee, Mr.. AngOmar proved to be an im-
portant witness; he was familiar with
the operations of the Levee Board from
beginning to end; and he gave us valu-
able infOrmatiOn; and without his in
formation our labors would have been
useless.
1t also turned out, that sometime
in 1866 or '67, Mr.. AdgOInar and Mr..
lizard were sent to Washington to pro-
cure national aid for the levees of the
State. They We're long time there;
lived there upon their own means, and
manipulated the lobbyists there, upon
their own means, upon the promise
that they were to be reimbursed.
When the session of the committee
was ended, NJ. Angomar requested that
in our report we should include a re-
commentator to allow these gentle
men, Angomar and lizard, compensa-
tion for the amount of their expenses.
Mr.. Ray, think, told them that it
was foreign to the purpose of the COM
mittee was appointed for a specific pur
pose, and could only report on that.
But he recommended that Angomar
introduce bill for his relief; and Mr..
Ray and myself promised that we
would vote for the bill, knowing all
the facts.
The bill was introduced in 1868, l
think in the latter part of the session,
in the House. 1t did not make its ap-
pearance in the Senate until the follow
ing session, or perhaps, the last session.
But when it came to the Senate, after
having passed the House, AngOmar
accosted me one day in the hall of the
Mechanics Intitute, and told me that
he found it impossible to get the bill
passed in the Senate, as he had found
it in the House, without resorting to
bribery. That did not astonish me, as
it was a matter of public notoriety, and
everybody knew that no private bill
could pass without resorting to such
means. l told him then that l advised
him to get the bill through the best
way he could; and l thought he was
justified in doing SO.
l saw no more of AngOmar until one
day when he came to my office and
said, he had seen some gentlemen who
would support his bill, and they had
agreed to do so for $500 each. He did
not have the money, he said, and Mr..
Barrett, his partner, did not wish to
advance the money. But they pro-
posed-this is all Angomar's statement
to mc-they proposed that if Barrett
would accept the drafts for their
amounts, they would take them. He
then went and saw Barrett, and he
agreed to accept them. He then ten
dered them to these parties; but they
said they wanted them all put up in
the hands of some responsible party
this is stiil AngoInar's statement to me.
Angomar told them he did not want
them put in the hands of some parties
they named, but he said he would put
them in my hands, as I had been his
attorney, employed by him frequently.
These parties agreed that if l took
charge of them they would be satitied.
AngOmar related to me this cOnVersa-
ton.
I consented to receive an envelope
with twelve or sixteen notes. l told
Angomar that l would give him no re-
ceipt, rs did not wish to be compro-
missed in the matter. He told me-:
ssTakc it, and put it in your bank-boX;
and when the bill passes l will give
you list of those to whom to give the
notes."
did so. l may have erred in taking
this envelope, but as / said before, it
was q matter of notoriety that private
bills could not pass without members
of the Legislature being bought. Not
! only did Senators know this, but Re
porters of the Press, and every one con-
nected with the Press knew it; and
when such II bill was up there were
certain Senators who would go around
and ask: "Any b,uss tochs in this bill;
and if so, how much ?'' Every one
knew that; and presumed that acting
as Angomar's legal adviser, ! was not
doing anything seriously wrong in adj
| viSing this course.
After the bill had passed he handed
me q list, and in accordance with tha
list l distributed these notes left will
me in that envelope.
/ heard nothing more of this unit
one day, when my Office was graced b.
the appearance of some Senators wh'
held some of these notes. They asked
me about them and l advised them t.
tear up the notes as they We're no
worth the paper they were written on