The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1875-10-01

Gus to its passage this winter.
O. What did he say 10 you az that time.
A. He came to my room and asked me if /
had not changed my mind on the bill; said
he would like very much 10 have me vote
ior the bill told him that ! had not
changed my mind, and iHa' wouiG not
vote for the bill
Q: Was your conversation confidential in
.ts nature: a. Yes, sir.
Q. The second interview, | believe, was
in your room. Did he seek the interview:
A. Yes, sir; he came there 10 my room.
Q. You had not invited him 10 come 10
the room: a No, sir.
Q. Did yOu not understand when ne said
this to you that il WAS offered 10 you as a
bribe2
Objected to by Nr Pond
Q. Mr. Richards, you understood Nr.
Cooley TO be in all seriousness in This mat
ter, did you note :. Yes, sir.
Q. You did not consider il joke: \.
No, did not.
O II was an offer cf a hundred dollars
for YOU TO do all YOU could for the passage
of the Wood County Bill2 /. He said that
| could get it, that is the manner don
know whether you would consider that an
oicr or not.
O. Well, now, / viii ask you the qucs-
not at the-time understand this 10 De bribe
offered for your vote:
Objected to by Mr.. Pond, and Objection
sustained by the committee.
At this point / will explain to you that
objections were frequently offered at al
most every stage OF the investigation.
Ex-Attorney General Pond and Ex-At-
torney-G General Murray were both en-
F. IL I'D on
Committee there we're three attorneys.
You will readily see that the investiga-
ton was not an eCI. .0Tte one.
The next witness, gentlemen OF the
Jury, will be Hon. Henry Weible, and |
want to say that on the jury we have
here to night, no Republican shall have
a vote; want the jury TO be exclusively
Democratic. Mr.. Weible was the men-
Der from Van Vert, and unlike Mr.. Me-
Kinley, has not been renominated. He
voted against the Wood county bill, and
assisted in exposing the rascality of the
bribers. / don't know that because of
doing so he is left at home; at any rate
he is left.
o. believe you haze already testified
upon this matter? 4. Yes, sir
O. Mr. Wcible, you had a conversation,
understand, with Mr. White? 4. Yes, sir.
O. There is one point the Chairman de-
sires you to be questioned upon further, Mr..
WeibIe What was Mr.. Whites manner
and his language at the time that he con-
versed with YOU about this offer of money?
The Chairman Mr.. Wcible, Just state
the whole circumstances concerning it. A.
Mr.. White and | stopped at the same hotel
this winter year ago. Some time before
this bill was TO be voted upon here IN the
House, | went into his room, and we were
talking back and forth, and he hunched M
his chair close to mine, and, says he, ''Wei-
BILE, ] want 10 tell you something, but be-
fore | tell it to you ! want you to give me
your word that you won't say anything
about it." | told him that could be kept
still as easy as not, of course l woald not
say anything aboutsit. Says he, "1ou will
give me your word that you viii say moth
ing about it," ] told him ! would. Says
he, ''Mr. Cooley told me he would give me
a hundred dollars if / would vote for the
bill, for the Wood county bill" told Mr..
White that that can't be possible, Mr. Cooley
is on the other side. Says lac, ''He has been
bought over"
Mr.. Campbell. Mr. White said he had
been bought over? 4. Yes, sir; Mr.. White
saws, ''He mas been bought over, ard he is
II took me very much by surprise, because
| knew that Mr. Cooley had been opposed
to the bill previous to that Mr.. White and
talked it over for some time there; and l,
of course, told him that ] would say moth
ing about it. And at the same time he said
that he told Mr. Cooley to 90 for Weible
and see whether he will take the hundred
dollars. And Mr. Cooley remarked to him
that he was not well enough acquainted
with me to make that offer And | made
the remark that wished he had made the
proposition TO me; | guessed ] would have
took the money and ''cOme York" over him.
! think that is the remark l made TO Mr..
White at the time.
@. Have you converSed with any other
member about this matter besides Mr..
White? A. Oh, have conversed with
quite number of perSons.
@. mean have you conversed with any
body in relation to compensation for their
votes? A No, sir. Mr.. White and | con
versed about it frequently this winter.
told Mr.. Whiie-he and | talked about 1t
several times-I knew they were using, !
was satisfied in my own mind they were
using money, and / was fearful they might
carry the bill. I was opposed to the bill
right along, and MIr. White and / talked it
over frequently.
@. You are from Van Vert county? \.
Yes, sir. When this investigating commit
Tee was appointed went right 10 Mr. White
and told him tiiat that was no more Sc
cret; that there was now an investigation
10 be had, and that everything that knew
] was going TO tell.
@. What did Mr.. White say 10 your \.
lie made no direct remark one way or tie
other. Soon after This | noticed that be had
L.. -. ~ hp
''YOu have been telling all about this, have
youg" Yes, told him, had
l will now call the
Hen. T. J. WHITE,
the man who represented his cousins TO
be the handsomest women In Columbus.
This gentleman has been examined be
fore was appointed Attorney Of the
Committee, and his testimony occupied
a page and a half of the report and it
was to the effect that he had never said
anything, nor had any one said anything
to him about the Wood county matter,
except that was said and done as a mere
joke. l had him recalled. His second
examination covers nine pages of the re-
port. OF course / must not weary you with
reading the whole of il, but il any one has
any curiosity to read it in full they can
do SO at Mr.. DeWolfe's Office; will
leave this copy of the report there. Or,
if preferred, you can go to Mr.. Mckinley,
who, have no doubt, will be pleased to
let you examine his copy, so that you
may see for yourselves that this investi
cation. got up by a drunken scoundrel,
amounted to nothing. Copies of this
report are very scarce, and l very much
doubt whether you could get a copy at
Columbus for love or money. And if yOu
did get one, it only contains, remember,
part of the investigation. The Clerk
of the House, under the direction of the
Speaker of the House-he says-Struck
out large portions of the report.
wrote to Mr.. l.. q. Curtis, of Column
bus, asking him TO copy for me, from the
notes in the hands Of the printer, the
portions of the report be had eliminated.
1 received from Mr.. Curtis the following
reply:
COLUMBUS, OHIO, June e, IS75
T. L. Campbell, CifIcia"uit u
DEAR SIK-I doubt l'''' ''U iAiitk have
teen decidedly slow iIi GIItiBs yt.u ar.'Ut The
Wood county Iestimony, Eut ILeqUeI.t a,hSenoe
from the city of m4He.f and Ionl truE .iEl
t:lerk of the House, must be my eNcuss-.
saw the Stale z inIs-, anu found over one
hundred pages ofrejected manuscript en- bTsc-
ing all arguments as Iothe relevancy OF GER
tain testimony. was told must get an order
from G,Ous hlIn for this ma Ter before any bart
oft could be copied. l Coughlin Tor Iie
first Iine in Soms weeks yesterday, and wa>
.ol thai il.- had no authority 10 allow any one
to make "A copy Of any pOrilJn OF the tesIilno-
ny. 1 think il would be quite as We'll for YOU
to write him on the subject. He may, upon
second thought, How yOu TO copy the rejected
manuscript. Yours truly,
L. COURTS"
again wrote to Curtis to urge the
matter on Mr.. Coughlin. His answer
came under date Of June 80. 1873: