The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-01-14

embarrassment
And the gentleman who had presen ted
the larger check said: Yes, am going
to use it in bank
Said l: Then have it certified and
you can deposit it, which will save YOU
ana US the trouble of counting this large
amount
He assented So l directed the check
to be certified. Then turning to the
other gentleman 1 said. How do you
want yours?'
He said: Il want mine tomorrow
morning in money
Il said: Come in tomorrow morning
and you shall have it,
'As to the first check, felt this assur-
ance IN certifying it, that it We're de
posted in another bank and it proved to
be wrong in any way, could discover
the forgery. The next morning the gen
tlemen came in, and without any hestita-
tion at all l said:
Pay this check to this gentleman
ut was the check for S115. 900. At the
same time, for protecting myself as
much as possible, l directed the police
officer whose business it is to go around
among the banks to see this and to bring
word where he went. l had had an OPP
portunity of rejecting over the matter
over night, and the bare possibility of our
paying forged check of this magnitude
was of course, startling to me- So | said
to this officer, whom l knew to be a very
discreet man:
When we pay a check this morning,
as will tell you, you ascertain whether
the party who receives it is a respecta BILE
man, so that we may know that IL is not a
forgery. Bring me that assurance. That
is all want
He said: I can do that
The check was paid, and the gentle
man went out. In fifteen or twenty min
utes the officer came back and informed
me that the gentleman to whom the S1l5,-
900 check had been paid went from our
bank into the Park Bank, and there went
to the officers room and had some con-
yersation, and went thence to the note
teller and paid note, and then went
down street and into the Equitab BILE build
ing, and up in the elevator. The officer,
not desiring to go up in the elevator with
him, went up the stairs, but failed to see
him, and therefore supposed he had gone
into some office. In some way the name
OF the Northern Pacific was mentioned
to me just at the time. and the office of
the company was suggested. l said to the
office
Go up to the Northern Pacific rail
road Office and see if the gentleman to
who n this check was paid is there
The gentleman is sitting there read
ing
81 then directed our assistant cashier
to 60 to the Park Bank with note re-
ques ing the president of the bank to an
swer a confidential question which our
assistant cashier would ask, in order to
assure me that 4 certain check which we
had paid was paid to a respectable man.
The assistant cashier came back and re-
sd fhof f1,a Inv.
named King and that he had been post
master to the house of representatives.
| remarked to our assistant cashier:
This, | think, relieves us of any So
licitude in respect to the check; and that
is all our interest in it.
"With that | dismissed the whole thing,
and my connection with the matter ended
so far as the Sl15,0 check was con
cerned. Having certified the $275, 900
check, the next thing was to. ascer,
tain how it was paid. / inquired
the next day what bank had sent the
1915, 900 check in. The answer of the
clerk was, the Marine Bank requested
our assistant cashier to go down to the
Marine Bank and ask the officers
whether the person to whom the 1915, 900
was paid was a respectable party,
whether the officers Of the bank knew
him, so that I might feel assured it was
all right The word came back that the
party was a very respectful BILE party; that
the cashier knew all about it, and if it
was necessary he would tell me, but that
/ could be assured the check was all
right. then dismissed the whole sub
iect from my mind, as it was none of my
business to pursue it further"
The story of President Coe is given in
all its detail because it affords an insight
to the bold magnitude of jobbing opera
tions as well as to the strange methods of
the lobby.
Irwin, who made the deposit, was an
agent of the Pacific Mail Steamship Com
pany. He was summoned from San Fran
cisco in January and sent down to Wash
ington in February to try to get through
a bill giving his company 100000 year
for ten years for certain additional mail
service between San Francisco, Japan and
China. Between the arrival here in Feb
ruary and the final passage of the bill, on
May 81, Mr.. Irwin used $4,000. When
his work was accomplished he went back
to New York, made the deposit of over
500. 900, which was in addition to the
$40, 900 spent. and disbursed it for SER
vices rendered in connection with the bill.
The total amount distributed, of which
the two checks for 1915, 900 and Sl15,0
formed parts, was SS90000. 1t was paid
out between the middle of February and
the end of May 1t was the price of the
passage of a single act by congress. Yet
not dollar of it was traced into the
pocket of member who voted for the
measure. The people who furnished the
money were probably under the impress
sion that they were buying votes. Per
haps some of the Sl,000-bills which, &C
cording to the bank tellers, were thick in
Washington about the time of this grand
distribution of intended corruption, pur-
chased few members of congress, but If
they did it was never proven. An inves-
tigation, however, showed that more than
half of the money went into the pockets
of the lobby and remained there. What
became of the rest was only matter of
suspicion.
Irwin was before the investigating COM
mittee He was 10th to give the names Of
those to whom he had paid this money,
but after much pressing he furnished the
list. From this it appeared that the larg-
est sum had gone TO John G. Schumacher.
That gentleman had received $500, 900,
which included the check He said he
had kept $4,000 as his fee for working
in behalf of the subsidy. The 100000 he
had broken into checks of various
amounts, and at the direction of the Off
GERS of the Pacific Mail, had delivered
them to persons indicated, but he had not
paid anything to any members Of con-
gress. Mr. Schumacher was an ex-mem-
Der of congress. He was not member of
the congress which passed the subsidy
bill. but was a member of the next con-
,,rass altar that The second largest sum