The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1892-02-17

that we had no power to administer an
oath and that he absolutely refused to an
swer. What could we do2 Only to re-
port the information we were able to ac-
quire, which was very meager, and present
it to the board for action"
Il understand that Lockhart signed this
alleged contract" Mr. Hamilton remarked,
land also the briber, and l won't go home
| until copy of that contract is produced"
Mr.. Mitchell called for the previous
question on Mr. Davidson's motion and it
was carried. Mr.. Lockhart was by request
given until Thursday at noon to consult an
attorney and was directed to furnish an
exact copy of the bribery contract, with
names of the signers attached thereto.
He did not say that he would obey the
order, but if he fails TO do so it Is init
mated that some sensational action by the
board will follow
The statement of r. M. Lockhart, of the
state board OF agriculture, concerning the
bribery scandal, withheld from the public
since the January meeting of the board,
was late in coming but il was heard Thurs
day. The scoring Mr.. Lockhart received
the night before had the desired effect.
To say that his statement was exhaustive
is but putting it mild. 1t began with
history of the boards efforts to purchase
fair ground and then passing to the one
| point of absorbing interest said that after
he had retired to his room at the Denison
one evening during the January meeting OF
| the board, a gentleman came IN whom he
recognized as one with whom he had had
q conversation relating TO the purchase OF
fair ground during the day.
The visitor said he would like to see the
| Miller farm selected as the site for the new
state fair grounds. That If the Miller
farm could be selected there would be
money in it for both. To which l re-
piled, said Mr.. Lockhart "How much
money would there be in it?" He replied,
"Sl 900 to you and $500 to me-" To this l
replied: "Where is the money? Money
talks. But. generally, promises do not
amount to much" Whereupon he took
from bis pocket what he said was $1,000,
and laid it on the table. did not touch
! it in any manner, but said to him never
took dollar OF any mans money unless
| / could deliver to him the goods. said TO
him: "If you mean business, and want
| this put in writing, so there will be no
mistake about the matter, have the money
| placed in the hands of some one to keep
safely until called for" After some dis
cussion of the matter, wrote with a
pencil on a slip of paper what
| l thought would cover the
case and handed it to him
and told him that, If that kind of an agree
ment suited him, to make three copies
one to be put in the envelope with the
money, and one each for him and me to
| hold until the expiration of the agree
ment Not having a copy CT the agree
ment at hand, will give, as near as
memory will serve me, the substance OF
the same as follows: "By this agreement
| ~, sc - --,1r a,
! the hands of the hotel clerk for safe keep
ing, and providing the state board Of
agriculture shall, on or before the 9TH day
of January, purchase the Hiram Miller
farm for state fair grounds. and if X. NJ.
Lockhart shall cast his vote and
use his influence for the purchase of
said Miller farm, then the above named
$1,000 is to be paid to the said Lockhart !;
otherwise it is to be paid back to the de-
positor." Signed by r. NJ Lockhart and
either A. G. or l. G. Ray-I have forgotten
what the initials of Ray are. Immediately
| after the deposit was made l left the hotel
ami went over 10 the state board rooms
and called each of the three members,
| Messrs. Banks, Peed and Sankey, and gave
them to understand that the party had
put up 1000. After informing them
| Immediately went to the Office of Butler &
Snow and informed Mr.. Butler of my
action, and on the following day Mr..
| Butler kindly prepared for me copy of
my statement to him and had the same
written out on the calIgraph for preserva-
ton, which copy l now have in my pos
session.
"On leaving the Office of Butler &
| Snow" Mr.. Lockhart continued, 81 went
| direct to the gentleman who had so kindly
| consented to act as stakeholder and told
| him that l wished to make some explana-
| tions of my actions in coming with the
| other party to ask him to hold the money.
| / then told him that while there was an
agreement that the money was to be paid
| to me on certain conditions, / wanted him
TO distinctly understand that had never
had the money in nay hands, and that l
would never touch dollar of it. That, in
making this agreement with the party, it
was never my intention to carry out the
agreement in such way as to entitle me
to the possession of the money. told him,
further, that l was acting under advice
and for the purpose OF finding out certain
things that had mysterious look to me.
On hearing what l had to say the gentle
| man asked me for Gods sake to have the
money taken out of his hands at once.
When he accepted it he was innocent OF
any knowledge of our transactions and
simply acted in friendly manner toward
us as gentlemen. l said to him that by
the terms of the agreement the money
could only lay in his care for two days,
and would assure him that it would not
give him any trouble or that he would not
be involved in any way. With this assur-
ance on my part he continued to hold 1t.
During Monday afternoon | informed
other members of the board OF my actions
in the matter. On Monday afternoon the
board met according to agreement in order
to close the purchase Of the Voss farm"
At the conclusion of the statement ex-
President Banks and L. II. Peed stated
that Mr.. Lockhart had told their part OF
the transaction and that what he had said
there was substantially correct. but j. M.
Sankey asserted that he merely sat by and
listened, offering no advice at all in the
premises.
j. Q. A. Seig, the member from Harri-
son county, then told the board while he
was willing to vote to exonerate Mr..
Lockhart from any intention to accept a
bride, still the statement did not exoner-
ate the board. 1t did not relieve 1t from
the cloud which hangs over il. "Mr. Lock-
hart says" MIR. Seig continued, che under
stood there was money being corruptly
used to secure the franchise Of site for q