The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1893-01-19

! Dccu spent Ou buElOu, 0IlCn lcdS6o
450, 0G0, 900 wasted or cOTfuptly used,
and all stolen from the woolen stock
ingS. Besides this, 400. 600, 900 $780,
900, ,000), are unaccOunted for This
amOut was necessary, it was claimed,
for
TIE PROMOTING FUND.
Part of it was used legitimately for
advertising, but an immense portion
of it was used as a corruption fund
and it was the accounting for this that
has so shaken the foundations of the
| Republic.
The Canal Company used it to bribe
| Deputies and Senators not to investi-
gate its frauds, to bribe newspapers
not to publish them, to bribe possess
Ors of its secrets not to expose it. If
silence could be bought for So, all
right, but if necessary 100000 was
paid for it.
Old Count de Lesseps, now 81, is
| sympathized with in many quarters
on the ground that public and domes-
tic troubles have weakened his mind,
but he has known of the corruption
for long years. He did not, however.
handle the corruption fund himself
but left it to his son by his first wife,
| NJ. Charles de Lesseps, who in turn
entrusted it to be judiciOusly used to
| Baron Jules de Reinach.a wealthy and
! able Hebrew banker. The latter was
/ social leader and thus could easily
| arrange with inquisitiVe public men
| to be mum.
! De Reinach had two able assistants.
| One was u mysterious man, a low de-
| graded creature, NJ. Arton. His hu7i
| ness was to bribe the cur IbStOne jour-
| nalists and those of the vulgar herd
who were into the company's secrets.
| He suddenly disappeared upon the eX-
| pGSure of some of his yillainy.
| The other assistant was a sharp
man and professional swindler, DIR.
| Cornelius Herr. In an exhaustive
! history of the Panama scandal in the
| New York Sun, from which this arti-
| Gle is condensed, that paper says that
| Herr ''made the acquaintance and
| friendship of newspaper men, princi-
paIly of those just beneath de Rein
ach's notice. yet too high for the gut
ter gaze Of Arton."
De Reinach and his assistants had
plenty to do and for six years succeed
ed in blocking investigation by pay
ing Cabinet ministers to pigeon-hole
complaints, silencing Deputies, and
buying complimentary and favora-
bic notices. of the splendid progress
at Panama, of the Venal Paris news
papers, which induced the wcolen
stockings to shell out. from time to
time.
Strange as it may seem to us in
America, while all the outside world
knew that the Panama Canal was
failure, if not a swindle, France gen
orally was ignorant of it. De Rein
ach used his corruption fund effec-
lively. The final exposure came from
the Boulangists, the Bonapartists and
Orleanists, ,senemies of the Republic.
IN THE STORM.
On Nov. 18th De Reinach was given
to understand by the Minister of JUS
tice that the long suppressed report,
which condemned the Canal Company
and showed that $4,000 francs
were only accounted for as ''advertis-
ing" would be published. The Ba-
ron that day held two consultations
with DR.. Herr and n. Rouvier, minis
ter of Finance, who was implicated in
the corruption. They knew that that
silence meant ruin now, since the Re
public's enemies knew its secrets.
That night the Baron tore up some
of the most discriminating papers and
went to bed. The next morning he
was found dead and hastily buried.
The government helped to keep the
cause of his death secret. On the
morning of Nov. 2Ist, the papers an
nounced De Reinachs death from
heart disease. In the afternoon the
exposure came.
NJ. Delahaye, Boulangist deputy.
took the tribune in the Chamber of
Deputies and charged in scathing
language that not only Cabinet minis
tiers and newspapers had taken bribes,
but over 200 Senators and Deputies.
The speech stirred Paris to its foun-
dation. In other days it would have
meant revolution. The Chamber went
| wild.
Herr that night fed to London.
40
resign, Nov. 27, and with the utmost
| difficulty, NJ. Ribot finally succeeded
| in forming a preSentable ministry,
which, on promising to punish the
| last offender in the Panama scandal,
was accepted.
| Behind M. Dclehaye it was found
/ that there was another man, M. Louis
| AndrieuX, eX-Prefect of Police, who.
being intensely ambitious and possess
| ing the necessary incriminating eVi-
| dence, hoped to advance his own po-
| litical fortunes by the overthrow OF
| the Republic. It is thought that il
| there had been deposed heir of any
magnetism and capacity for leader
| ship France would not be Republic
| today, but it was saved by the prompt
| prosecutions of the Ribot ministry.
Charles De Lesscps has been arrest
ed and imprisoned and his trial has
/ JuSD DCS IIC IstS lilddC u piCtSs
confession, aud says that the Panama
promoters did not start out with cor
rupt intentions but fell into the
hands of rapacious officials and grad
ually got deeper in the mire. Up t0
1884 the company was run with COM
parative honesty
OF the bribed newspapers are the
following: The Petit Journal, the
| organ of the sWoolen Stockings .
which received 100, 900 francs: LIE Tel
egraph, 270, 900; LIE Figaro, $4,000; Le
Matin, so, 600; LIE Radical, 100, 900; LIE
Gaulois, 10O, 900; etc, etc.
Among the accused are NJ. Sadi
!, Carnot, President of the Republic; ds
Freycinet, Rouvier, Floquet, Sena
i tor Greyy, brother of the late Presi
dent; M. Clemenceau, nj. Jules Roche
NJ Goblet, and many others.
) The ministry has just resigned
again owing to differences between
( the members IN regard to the arres
: of ex-Minisuer of Public Works, NJ
: Baihaut for his connection with tn
E scandal. Another ministry, however
e was at once formed by the same Pre-
4 mier NJ. Ribot, and the. prosecution
: are rapidly progressing.
III NJ Charles de LessepS. director o
: the Panama Canal Company; Mauric
e i Fontaine, secretary general OF tn
q 1 company; Cotteau, of the firm of Rel
S mack Kohn 81 Co.: and GuStave Eiffel
t the distinguished engineer, who bull
: the Eiffel tower are now being tried.