The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1891-02-21
He CLAIMS THAT THEY ARE UNTRUE,
A Lengthy and Tireseme E~xplanati.n
of His Actions.
He Tries To Post as a Victim of Circum.
stances and Fails.

blv. since Alexander Hamilton was HINT
ed 70 his Heath. has one IN nubIic life
been pursued SO perslsteptly ard malig-
n.ntIv. The field of malign effort has
b.en the entire ITnion. The assaults
were of such a character so mopstrous as
IN LARGELY carry with them their own
refutat,on." After further Introductory
remarks he said: 1.-THE first assert on
concerning nv official acts is that AT some
time ar continuously between the wear of
1870 and 1882. |. alone. or acting with an
1. npr ar others. used moneys of the state
% Pen sylvunia for speculative or private
puruo.es. denourc,. this s,ui. ,,rt AS
absolutely false. I'm 1877 th, dem
ucratlc party of PENNSYLVANIA elect
ed n state treasurer and auditor
general, the financial officers of the com
monwealth. and a wear or two later. pend-
ing their terms of office. | became en-
gagged in stock operations. In some
transactions | was associated and Jointly
interested with a gentleman who was at
that time cashier of the state treasury.
These transactions proved seriously DIS.
astrous and was compelled to pay "A
portion of his lusse, AS well as nv own.
In doing this it became necessary to sup
rll the alleged deficiency he had caused
ia the treasury. As "A portion of the fund
for this purpose | borrowed 100000
from IA gentleman who Is at present my
colleague IN the senate. gave him my
Judgment note therefor, the amount
0t which note | paid him dollar for dol
lar wears a"o. Not until the beginning
of the srttle4nen, o. our losses WAS | aware
that tie deficiency existed, and | had every
assurance thar my associate was able TO
carry his share of the loss es. NV CON
nections thereafter was simply with the
aid of friends to raise the necessary funds
to supply the deficit. 1t is charged that
again / used moneys belonging to the
commonwealth of PENNSYLVANIA to pur-
chase bonds, or stock, or both, of the
Chicago street railway. was invited by
friends IN Philadelphia to join il the
purchase of the street railway property
IN Chicago and did so, borrowing money
upo my own colleteral from the Peoples
bank in Philadelphia. | stood upon the
same footing with other gentlemen con
c-rhed, ard it was a perfectly straight
forward business transaction, and had no
connection in any way with any public
fund or public interest. The charge that
securities belonging to the state of Penn
sylvania We're used in this transaction
is false and impossible of truth. Only
negotiable securities held by the state of
Pennsylvania are bonds of the United
states transferable on the book,
"t the national treasury by the
auditor general, secretary of he common
wealth and state treasurer, acting CO.
Jointly after having filed II certificate
with the governor in their official carac-
ter. Collateral To this last accusation is
the charge that defrauded, or attempted
to defraud the widow of Il deceased friend.
This is also absolutely false. There
breathes not upon the earth a man or
who can truthtully say that | ever
defraded, or attempted to defiaud him.
or her, of a dollar. Upon this point.
charity to the dead and to the living for
bids my making any personal eXplana-
Samuel Cuisine Thompson, of
Philadelphia,and President Young of the
Young Mems Democratic club of that city
Is one of several thoroughly conversant
facts who can give them to the pub
lie il they see proper. | come now IT,
what might be called the fourth ground
criticism OF my public conduct. This
my action as a member of the board
Of pard"ns OF Pennsylvania in voting for
the pardon OF certain members of the
Pennsylvania legislature and others upon
whom sentence had been passed for brib-
cry. My conduct in that matter has been
assailed, and 1t is proper to say
facts were patent and were thoroughly
discussed before my election to the office
Of state treasurer and subsequently to Il
seat in this chamber. | had no personal
interest in the Legislation involved. NV
as a member of the board of pardons
was in accordance with law and with the
action of my colleagues, and was com
PEELED by the fact that the sentence I'M
posed by the court upon the persons par
ioned was illegal. On this point attorney
general of state filed his written opin-
with our decision. ! I'm frank to say
hat | have no regrets for that vote and
would repeat it under the same circum-
Even had not sentence been I'M
lawful, it is my opinion that the ends of
Justice had been fully served by convic-
ion of defendants. One of the gentlemen
involved has within the last few weeksIe-
,eived the unanimous thanks of the Penn