Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1894-09-19
NUMBER Is.
BRIBED CONGRESS
EXTRACT FROM THE REPORT
OF SENATOR ALLEN.
The Sugar Trust Did Contribute Money
TO the Campaign Funds and It Did
Get What Legislation It Wanted.

The Sugar Trust Did Contribute Money
TO the Campaign Funds and It Did
Get What Legislation 1t Wanted.
1t was expected that the committee
appointed to Investigate the sugar
trust would, in it's report, give the
trust a certificate of good character.
AS rule nowadays investig ations
are q fraud. The intention is not 10
unearth corruption, but to cover it up.
In this case, however, it seems that
one of the Investigators. Senator Al
len, had a slight conception of what
he was there for and IN spite Of tho
obstacles thrown in his way by tho
other Investigators CD he succeeded Ia
lifting the chip off of a bug or two"
He concluded that in order to
do justice 10 the case It
would be Necessary to bring In
a separate report from that OF Sena-
tors Gray and Lindsay, the other
members of the committee. In that
report he says:
I'm view of the fact that the re-
port of Senators Gray and Lindsay, in
which / concur, does not set forth the
facts in this case as fully as think
they should be stated, have deemed
it perfectly proper to file separate
and additional report The testimony
shows to my mind quite conclusively
that contributions were made by the
sugar trust to both the republican and
democratic parties for campaign pur-
poses. 1t is true that these witnesses
testified that IT, cir contributions were
made for local and state purposes, but
there is no doubt in my mind that the
money went into the general cam
paign fund of those states and was
used as much for national as for
state and local purposes. The
evidence further discloses that the
books of the Refining company con-
tain an accurate account of the num-
Der of these contributions, or at least
they contain sufficient data from
! which the amount can be accurately
ascertained. But the witnesses in
| each instance refused to produce the
books or disclose the amounts of such
contributions respectively. 1 think
the American Sugar Refining COM
pany, popularity and more properly
known rs the American Sugar Trust.
has been in the habit of contributing
money to the national campaign funds
| of both the democratic and republican
parties, through its PRESIDENT, with
the expectation, if not the implied
promises, that whichever party sue
ceeded to power the interests of the
company should be cared for" by Ii.
This deduction is fully warranted
by the testimony taken by us. That q
political party must have money for
the purpose of conducting a legiti-
mate campaign, aud to be legitimate
ly expended, no one will deny; but
that great corporation that over
shadows and threatens the Nation
should contribute literally to pro-
mote the success of one
political party in one state and the
success of another political party in
another slate at the same general
election. think can not be justified
by any standard of any morality or
process of honest reasoning Such
contributions can only be prompted by
! the expectation of the contributor,
that whichever party shall succeed To
the control of the government it will
look to some degree of leniency upon
his interests A wisely drawn and
| judicious law looking to a prompt
and efficient remedy for this growing
evil should be passed by congress and
approved by the President"
When the PEOPLE begin to pay 81 for
fourteen or fifteen pounds of sugar
where they now get twenty-five
pounds. they can sit down calmly and
figure out the glorious benefits and
advantages of a free country, where
every man can sit under his own vine
and fig tree" and go the polls on
election day and vote-as the political
bosses tell him to. He may be able
| to get some consolation out of the
fact that the trust pays the bosses
and the people pay the trusts. But
let US yell for the grand old party.
4