St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-12-20
TALKED MORE FREELY.
Sensational Testimony by the
Liquidation of the Panama
Canal Company.
Charles De Lesseps Closely Cues
toned by the Examining
Magistrate.

PARIS, Dec. 10. - NJ. Monchicourt,
liquidator of the Panama Canal com
pany, was before the parliamentary i'll
vestigating committee for the sec
ond time today When examined two
weeks ago NJ. Monchicourt excused his
reticence on the ground of professional
secrecy. To-day he testified more freely,
although occasionally questions were
repeated several times before he gave
the desired answer. He was espe-
cially reluctant when the committee
came to the notorious efforts of Baron
de Reinach III 1888 to 'save" the com
pany, then in extremity. In that year
NJ. Monchicourt said Baron de Rein
ach received from the company's
treasury 100000 credited to him for
advertising" and 100000 credited to
him on account Of the underwriting
syndicate" M. Monchicourt, learning
of these enormous payments. asked
Baron de Reinach how the money was
used. The baron replied: you are
very simple"
By inquiry among the directors of the
Panama Canal company he learned that
the s1,000,000 were given to the baron
as the price of his assistance III
securing the issue of the Panama
canal lottery bonds. Not a small
part of this assistance consisted in push
ing through parliament the bill author
izing the loan. NJ. Monchicourt had often
heard the directors complain OF Baron de
Reinach's rapaciouS demands, and had
witnessed violent scenes at the canal
company's Offices when these demands
were under discussion. The payment
OF II ,000,0 600 francs to the underwriting
syndicate which took the lottery issue,
Nj. Monchicourt said, was undoubtedly
excessive.
In continuing his testimony, NJ.
MonchIcourt said that several sums
amounting to 10000, 900 francs had been
given to persons to induce them to
boom the Panama loans. He had never
heard it expressly stated that deputies
were bought for cash. Many checks,
however, were PAYABLE merely to bearer.
Nj. OberdOerffer received 100000 francs
for merely suggesting the device of a
lottery. NJ. HisrOumas, cashier of the
Panama Canal company, testified that
Baron de Reinach had received 100000
francs altogether for advertising pur-
poses, but he could not remember who
drew them.
NJ. Charles de Lesseps has been
closely questioned by the examining
magistrate in regard to the statements
made by M. de La MarZelle regarding
conversations with NJ. Charles de Les
seps The attention of Nj. de Les
seps was called to his former
statement, when confronted with Nj.
de Launay, to the effect, ''If L had to
pay for what have done by years i'm
prisonmenr, | should congratulate my
self on light being thrown on this affair.
Ii is said that from five TO six hundred
people OF various stations OF life are
known to have been implicated in the
fraud and bribe-taking connected with
the canal enterprise, although the gov
eminent has sufficient evidence to con-
vict any such number.
PARIS, Dec. 20.-An important con
ference lasting from midnight till 2 a.
m. was held at the prefecture of police.
There were present the public prose-
cutor, many police commissioners and
several investigating magistrates. AS
a result, more searches and arrests in
connection with the Panama scandal
are expected.