Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-05-07
AN ANSWER BY ATaERTON.
To Els Reported Interview About the
Whisky Bond Period Bill.

To Ills Reported Interview About the
Whisky Bond Period Bill.
LOUISVILLE, KY, May a. M. Atherton,
the prominent distiller of this city, who made
the original statements some days ago relative
to the compatibility of the lobbyists and
newspaper correspondents at Washington,
growing out of the refusal OF friends of the
whisky bond extension bill to employ lobby
lists to assist in securing the passage of the
bill, will publish the following in the Courier
Journal tomorrow:
LOUISVILLE, May 4, 1SS2.-To the editor of
the Louisville Journal; The Commercial, of
this city, on the 2Sth of April published an
interview between myself and one of its re-
porters, concerning the bill extending
the bonded period OF distilled spirits,
pending in the senate. The conversation
which appears in the shape of an interview
was causual mot taken down in writing at the
time nor to submitted to me before publication
In fact supposed at the time was giving in
formation to reporter for an article he ex-
pected to prepare on the subject, as had done
several times previously to reporters, and did
not know until 1 saw the Commercial next
morning that the communication had been re-
ported as an interview.
I glanced hastily at the article aud laid the
paper aside. Having been very busy much of
the time since in the country. did not read
the whole interview till this morning, hence
the delay of this statement.
In reply to the question of the reporter:
"What is the source of the opposition to
the bill?'' I made bnt one statement of facts,
to-wit: Offers of aid in presenting and
passing the bill were made me while in Wash
ington last winter, by persons known in
common parlance as lobbyists, but these Of
fers we're not accepted / stated to the re-
porter that had heard since left Washing
ton in February that threats to defeat the bill
were made in the lobby, but in no instance
when lobby aid was offered was there to my
knowledge any suggestion of improper or IL
legitimate means to be employed, nor was the
name of any senator or member OF congress
mentioned by me to any lobbyist or any claim
made that the lobby or any member of 1t
could control or influence any lember of the
house or senate or any other official. l was
not approached then and have not been ap-
preached since then by any correspondent of
the press for any improper purpose. In view
of the foregoing statement OF what said on
the above occasion it is manifestly unjust to
the gentlemen who desired Employment to
aid in passing the bill to give their names,
thereby subjecting them to suspicious of mis-
conduct which seems to be floating around
Washington.
This is all that concerns the public. What
ever else said or may have said to the re-
porters was nothing more nor less than in
dividual opinions, which l honestly enter
tanned and had perfect right to express.
The remainder of Mr.. Atherton's article is
devoted to a statement of his connection with
the pending bill aud of the reasons why he re-
ferred to the Washington lobby. He was
much surprised at the violent and unjust arti-
Gle which appeared in the New York Herald
of April &c, headed "Only Fifty Millions"
He feared that article was the result of repre-
sensations made by parties who had threatened
to defeat him.
Mr.. Atherton pronounces the charges in the
Herald article as untrue in every particular,
and says no ring exists now in Kentucky, nor
has one ever existed. What could have in
duced the attack and who gave the alleged
information IS unknown to him, but the COIN
cidence of threats and charges in the article
at once suggests the sinister influence of en-
FILTERED enemies.