Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1881-12-18
NASHVILLE.
Hugh McGavock Before the In
vestigating Committee.
He Tells How He Sold State Bonds
"Short "
And the Profits were to be Given
to Speaker Morgan,
But says that Gentleman was
Ignorant of the Transaction.



NASHVILLE, Dec. 16.
The redistricting committee has not In
ished its work. 1t is probable that there
will be much wrangling over it, when it
reaches the Senate or House, inasmuch as
it will be hard to bring all the elements in
the Legislature together on that subject.
Hugh McGavock was the principal wit
ness examined before the inves-
tigating committee to-day. In the
course of his testimony he said that he
talked with Senator L. L. Smith about the
State debt. He went with Senator Smith
to ball once before the Senate voted on
the 1908 bill. They returned late-past
u o'clock. He talked with Senator Smith
then about his vote OF the bill it would
have been pecuniarily beneficial to him, at
the time to have the bill defeated. The
senator stated that he could not vote for the
bill, that he was opposed to it; thought
he said, III a moment of inspiration,
that he could make S25, 900 if he would vote
for the bill, but he would not do it. He
had two or three conversations with him
(Senator SMITH after the senate's first vote
on the bill, and he (Smith) seemed to regret
gave me to understand that he would still mot
vote for it. He said nothing about what he
could get at any other time"
The wituess' conversations with Senator
Morgan were only of social nature he had
various conversations with Bell and
Bransford with reference to a temporary
defeat of the bill. He sold five Tennessee
bonds short a very short time before the
temporary defeat of the bill, he thought,
with VIM. Duncan. He gave witness GER
tiicate of sale. The certificate was not in
his possession now, it was returned to Mr..
Duncan, who is now in New York He did
not remember the exact phraseology of this
certificate.
The witness was shown paper by the
prosecution, and asked if it was worded
like it.
The witness said it was not SO explicit as
that one. He deposited thousand dollar
bond of the city of Nashville when he sold
the bonds to Duncan.
The witness was asked for what purpose
he made the transaction.
s@a.llaess said he did it for the purpsre' of
handing it to Mr.. Bransford, who thought
it would be acceptable to Senator Morgan: !:
that a number of gentlemen insisted that
| Senator Morgan would vote for the
bill, and he did it because he wanted, in self
protection, to make Senator Morgan pecun-
iarily interested in voting against the bill
1t was a venture simply; he did not know it
would be acceptable. He made this trans
| action at his own expense. He handed the
certificate of sale to Bransford, for the pur-
| pose of having it handed to Senator Nor
gan. He was confident that Senator Nor
gan never received the certificate because it
was returned to Duncan. He did not
know who returned it. Senator Morgan
could not have received any benefit from
the certificate, because he (witness) had re-
ceiyed pecuniary benefit from it himself.
He did not remember when he had the set
! tlement with Duncan, in which he made
about $500. Russell Duncan was the man
he had the settlement with. He did not re-
member when the certificate was returned !;
it was in a very short time after it had been
| given to Mr. Bransford
The committee adjourned until Wednes-
day, in order to procure the attendance of
Walter S. Bransford, who is out on COM
| mercial tour
SECOND DISPATCH.
| Hon. R. r. Butler was called to the chair,
in the Republican caucus tonight. The
caucus decided that it would do nothing to
forward any movement looking to gerry
Wandering Of the State. 1t was determined to
hold a caucus before the adjournment
of the Legislature, to discuss the political
! outlook for next year.
| The low-tax Democratic executive COM
mittee is still in close consultation, in the
| star chamber at the st. Cloud Hotel. 1t is
understood that it proposes to organize a
readiusting party in the State.