Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1893-03-30
DOODLE INVESTIGATION.

Jim LeS8te Tells the senate COMMITTEES
What He Knows About Boodle-Cy.
Leland Tells Something About McAle-
ney's Story-Other Testimony.
TOPEKA, Kan, March Palm Legate was
| the principal witness examined by the sena-
/ torial investigating committee
Senator Thatcher asked him If he received
| g, 500 from Pete Kline. to which he replied:
Eyes, SIR"
| spend it?'' asked the senator, to which Legate
| replied, in substance, as follows:
after the election there some talk
| about the organization of the legislature by
| Judge Webb and three four others, by bring
| ing some cases before the court. They were
| political problems. I said the practical way
| was to find out who the members of the legisla-
ture were, There were six or seven members
who were never elected, but were counted in
concluded to run q canvass OF my own, and
went around through the state and saw many
OF the members; q, 500 was not all spent I
got $500 Of Ed Snow to help pay my expenses"
"Then," continued Legate, At went to Kansas
| City and tried to make deal with Ford for an
| interest in the Kansas City Mail While was
| there I learned a good many things never
/ knew before. learned that Billy Buchan had
got sl5, 900 to q coo year from the whisky
| dealers of Kansas City Tor a number of years
| struck Pete Kline. whose business is policy.
| From him learned that the gamblers had to
contribute $4,000 year to the republican party
/ of Kansas. told him that If he would raise
| me So 900 to invest in the Mail would guaran-
| tee him immunity against blackmaf Pending
| this negotiation, two men who had been out
| through the state came to my house, and from
| them learned that there were eight men who
| would vote with the republicans. heard that
! 1t cost the Santa Fe Sc, 600 to get these eight
| men, and 49, 900 OF my money went in this way
Legate said neither Gov. Lewelling, Attor-
| ney-General Little nor Fred Close knew any
| thing about the money.
| On cross examination he said the first 81 600
| he received from Kline was paid to republic
an for travelling over the state seeing the legis-
lators in an effort to get enough republicans to
vote with the populists to enable them to or
ganize the house. but he refused to say who 1t
| was, insisting that he did not remember names.
The second 81, 900 was paid to another man at
| Topeka, but he refused to say who it was
| He said he understood the gamblers of Kan
sas City raised IS. 600 to be used in seeing that
| the Taylor bill was not substituted for some
| other bill in the house. He had heard that
| Pete Kline paid Bill Higgins, while he was sec
rotary of state, 500 a month for the charter
under which he conducted his policy shop, and
| that 81, 900 was paid for silencing J. K Hudson
and that Ben Simpson got &, coo for his in
| 1uence with the administration.
| All efforts to make Legate give up the names
| of the eight republicans who were to vote with
the populists unavailing. He insisted
! that he had poor memory for names.
The last witness put on the stand was Cy Lee
| land He told his story in a straightforward
manner and paid particular attention to Nc
Aleney and Burgard- He said he first met Nc
Aleney at the Copeland where he was intro
| duced to him by Councilman Lillis, who wanted
to be postmaster at Kansas City, Kan, and
wanted Straightout democrat elected Unite&
| States senator, Martins election would be
against him Lillis was using his influence to
| get McAleney to vote for some other democrat
| than Martin. They finally went to room IS in
the Keith block to talk the matter over, but
they had only talked few minutes when Nc
Aleney declared fat footed that he wanted S.
BOO for his vote. He said it was the last time
| he expected to be in the legislature and he
wan ted to be paid for his vote.
He said Burgard had been offered $4,000 for
his vote, and he (McAleney) must have $1,000
| Leland told him that he did not have any
money and did not know OF any being used in
the interest of either United States senator
or state printer. Lillis told McAleney that
| If he would vote against Martin and help
him get the post office he would take care
of him with fat job, but McAleney insisted
on having cash for his vote. Leland said
the story that he met Burgard in
Representative hall lie; that he was not
in the state house that day; and furthermore,
| that he knew Burgard to be a regular boodler.
| populist camp during the fight for United
| States senator He would visit republican
was done, and he was paid for his work. Lee
land denied having offered to pay Burgard any,
| thing for his vote during the last legislature
Inquiry Resumed.
TOPEKA, Kan, March 23.-The senate in
vestigating committee adjourned at noon yes
| terday, subject to the call of the chairman It
! is inferred from conversation with Senator
| King, that it will be several days before an
4 OCner meeting WILL De nelu, prODdDly nOl unIll
Senator billiard is sufficiently recovered to be
| present
It was expected that S B. Bradford would
| tell the story confirming Months statement to
Maj Hudson, but his testimony was simply
| that, having formerly been an attorney of Pete
| Kline he was employed by him to draw bill
| which would drive the small policy men out of
| business Kline told him that men formerly in
| his employ had gone into business for them
| selves and they were depriving him Of
| profits he wanted law enacted which would
| crush them out Bradford agreed to draw such
a bill and did draw 1t and sent it to Kline, but
Kline telegraphed him that the bill was all
| wrong That was the last he heard from Kline
| Kline agreed to pay S1O0 Tor the work, but had
| not done It This interview was late in Decem-
| Der. AS Bradford came out OF klines office he
met Legate in the hall. who said to him that he
might as well have made it $500 as 800
Joe Hudson denied Legate's story that he
had been silenced by the gamblers and said
| that the Capital had never been Influenced by
| gamblers or anybody else, nor had he been ap
! preached with enoney by anybody for any pur-
pose since he had been in possession of the Cap
| ital. He said he had taken John V. Months
word for the story he published March and
Moffitt promised on his honor that he would ap-
pear before the investigating committee and
| back up the story with undoubted proof
Fred Close asked if Moff1tt was authorized to
make proposition to the populists that. in con-
sideration of five populists' votes for Hudson
for state printer he would give populists enough
| stock in the Capital to control it Hudson re-
| piled: mo, sir: positively no.
| Then" asked Mr.. Close, 'if Mofitt made
| such proposition, he lied, did hep
Yes. sir.
Close afterwards stated privately that Moi
| fit had made such proposition to the popu-
| lists, stating that he had just come from Maj
Hudson with the authority to make It.
Legate was recalled to explain what he meant
| by the railroad fund spoken of yesterday.
! He said he did not know that there was such a
| fund, but he judged from circumstances that
| there was one and plenty of it He judged that
| George Peck controlled 1t and that, in Peck's
| absence, Charles Foulks acted for him. He
/ said the railroads seemed to have plenty of
money to maintain the house divided against
itself and that the railroad men said they could
better afford to stand that expense than to have
| the house get down to business
State Senator W. E Sterne, of Topeka, ties IT.
fed to another scheme sprung by Mofit, which
| was that he was prepared, the authority of
Fred Close, to guarantee to Sterne the control
| OF the appointments of Topeka police commits
| sioners and the commissioner of elections il
Sterne would get the republicans to join in
making Close United States senator Sterne
said the proposition too silly to entitIe sit
| to consideration and ne thought Close was too
| sensible to make it
Undertaken Killed and Corpse Spilled.
PHILADELPHIA, March 23.-At Bridge
| vile, Del, an unusual disaster occurred.