Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1875-10-28
$40 BILL.
ROIe Of a Bride GIser-0h. Reform! How
Corruption cloaks Itself In Thy Drapery!
Prom the Portage Register,

4
SO much has been said about III,
attempt of William r. Taylor e
bride his fellow mem ber,of the boarc
of supervisors of Dane county, thai
We determined to ascertain for our
selves the exact truth about the mat.
ter. Accordingly we addressed a
letter the other day 10 Mr.. Hugh II
Brereton, the superv isor whose name
had been coupled with. the affair. in
which we said If DO had no ohiec-
tons. we should be glad to receive
the exact particulars Of the affair re-
ferred to. In reply 10 our letter we
received the following sworn state
ment from Mr.. Brereton, giving a
full history of the transaction. No
citizen of Wisconsin can peruse 1t
without hanging bis head in mortifi-
cation and shame that the principal
actor in the disgraceful, corrupt
affair is now the Governor of the
great State of Wisconsin, elected in
the name of "Reforml"
STATE or WISCONSIN,
DANE County. -
Hugh A. Brereton, being duly sworn. on
oath, SAYS he is resident of the town of
Dane in said county, and has resided there
over twenty-five years last past In the year
1871 | was chairman of the board OF supervi.
sors of said town of Dane, and member of
the board Of supervisors of said county.
In November of said year was in attend
ance upon the session of said board in Madi
SON. On the first day Of such session. and
before its meeting, VIM r TAYLOR. who was
also member Of the county board and chair
man of his town of Cottage Grove, approached
me on the subject OF tavorng an appropriation
by the county board Of 81 900, to build
bridge in his town Of Cottage Grove, in this
manner We met in the streets of Madison.
when he handed me an envelope, sealed, and
said to me not to open it until got to my
room, and not to have any one present when
did open It, and to be sure to say nothing
about it to any one. | took the envelope and
put II in my pocket never once suspecting its
contents; afterwards, when in NV room. I
opened the envelope and found therein ten
dollars in currency. The purport of the com
munication ncosing the money was that the
said TAYLOR wanted me TO vote for the appTO-
priation aforesaid for his town, for a money
consideration. The plain intent aud meaning
of the transaction was that he wanted to buv
me to DO so. | was overwhelmed with
astonishNent that VIM. r. TAYLOR should rate
me, III the discharge of my official duties, as
man who could be bought in the ma rket to
viola tie his duty and honor. At this time the
Hon. w. ii. Chandler, of Sun Prairie, was
chairman of the county board of Dane county.
and the same evening after receiving the at
tempted bribe from VIM. r. TAYLOR in the
ma of all I'll IL. NJ
Chandler, about the natter, and showed him
the contents of the envelope received from
Taylor. | made up my mind at once to return
the ten dollars so receiv "a from VIM r.
Taylor, and did SO by writing him letter, of
which the following is copy, and enclosing
therein the ten dollars received from him, and
handing the same to him in person:
MADISON, November Is, 1877.
To VIM. r. Taylor:
Please find herein $40, which. 10 my surprise and
great grief found in the abridged letter YOU handed
to me the other day. 1 cannot think that you have
ever seen anything in my conduct that wonld lead
you to think that any dshonorable proposition could
deter me from acting upon all matters coming before
me in just and honest manner,
1t is the rule Of my life to act i all things from
conscientious motives, in private well AS public
affairs and if it is not the rule which you have adopted
during the past number OF years that you have held
official positions. you not the man that T. in
common with the public generally. have supposed
you to be Yours. &c,
II II. BREREToN.
handed to him this letter and contents
during session of the board
In few minutes after he called me out Of
the meeting and begged aud plead with me
not to expose him, and repeatedly thereafter
he importuned me in the same manner.
lnasmuch as there arc SO many persons
familiar with this transaction in Dane county
and elsewhere since its first happening, and
my name has been brought out in connection
with it so many times, and as | vas innocenily
one of the principal actors, now feel it my
duty, in Justice to myself and the public, to
state the facts. II. ii. BREREroN
Subscribed and sworn to before me, this
9th day of October, A. D., 1870
NJ. T. BAILEY, Justice Peace,
Dane County, Wis.