Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-06-06
HOW NEWS HAS BEEN CAPTURED,
Vice President Wilson Once GsxAI
Away Treaty Apparently withousr
Iureut

wee PRESIDENT Wilson Once GavHi
Away a Treaty Apparently Mithoue
Intent.
T. G. Dunnell In the New York Times
Reference has been made I'm the Senate,
during the debate on the proposit,on -
compel the testimony OF newspaper witt
nesses. to the Imprisonment of Y. I, wh,,s,
ana H. J. Ramsdell for refusing TO tell how
.iey ootained a copy Of the Washington
S on the fisheries award ACCORDING
an account or that matter given 10 thS
writer by correspondent attached AZ The
titne 10 the New York Tribune. there MA.
no reason why either of those gon,,s,o.,
10th now dead. should have refused 10 N
me senate how they secured that ,rs.,,- :
unless' as Was natural, they were des,rnrs
Oh provoking the Senate to do somethi,.
tnat was unnecessary and undignifed IN.
s sooIy OF the Capture Of that treaty. as told
TO me, was this: - eo'~
Senator-afterward Vice President-Urf,so,r
-. a - sachusetts was In the habit OF dronS
p.hs IN upon the correspondents of the nix
, nne; then occupying the office now occns
,aT,,, uy me New York Times. II was his
teeuar habit, too. TO carry paners IN "a.
hands, and to put these papers 1s,h -
nat on desk while he sat and tanZ
80, he events of the day. on LEAVING ~
whsfevsr up ms hat, his papers, ana
Srought with him, and 10 on his uav % -
motel One day, while the treaty. ~ N.Y.
nnSr ron was before the Senate. ana ali The
:. eSSsporaents We're pulling wires 10 I'll
H. Mr.. Wilson dropped IN on - " ~
PAPER friends OF the Tribune He mn, a.
ms papers and his hat ana falkss e,S
nDSar esv,erything except the treaty that Wss
-, discussion, and 10 secure which fber@
Mas SO much lively competition t. -na
conversation with the occupant % 81. .. e.s
- 81 o.lce ne never SO much rs ailnds6
being mad VII, OF a., 70 the progress that vac
when II came TO be time for ssno,. r,-,,
- - ieaNe ior his dinner, he gathered r,.
nus papers and his hat and went ont IT,
taiI.,,pr ' .. with whom he had been
saihlEg was about TO resume wrlttns xbes
ne saw a document upon his 49, go
s rued him. 1t was marked .-Confdaa.
uaL purported TO be a cory for the 1,sa a
in.,as ot the coveted treaty of Wash-
eson, ano IL mad number In the corne,
70 Indicate to whom it had been iss,,sd
Ntnout moment OF hesiJatio the CORR
r rias jumped from his seat and bur
fieo with the treaty 20 The, teleprat,h or.
here he directed that. wtth1pt 80 , o,ce.
the leaves or in any way damae3nr re-
10y, De sent to the newspspers hs
iiaIned' there being several supplied by n
conbination Of three or four men The -
eeraphic work went on az once ana IN ~.
course or Few hours the text Of The
treaty was in the hands OF the ,.,,rnrosi,o,s
" several newspapers. The telegraph on
orators having coinpletsi their work tss
document was returned to the c,,Tasro,,s
ent. who had submitted IL. II vs. cias,
ana whole. and there was nothing abopt If
70 sugses. The Iact that fl hai been used
tended. M
During the evening the Correspondent WIN
RAD round II on his desk. ana who sur
missed how II had come TO be Thee found
occasion to call upon Scret-- lViison IN
his rooms. He took the copy OF tie treaty
with him. AMI. while ne was with The SEM
ate' he secured an opportunity unobserved
lar he
with the papers he had dropped when he
came from the Capitol In the morning.
when he went back to the Senate Chamber
aha whea AZ was learned that the treaty
had been procured for publication he was
able 10 produce his copy as proof that ~
rad not been published through his as
sistanee. All the other Senators produced
their copies. NO one was suspected hut
when the time came 10 compel newsuaper
men TO say how they had obtained IL the
Senators thought that they would be AHA
by harsh means, TO compel the correspond
ents TO state that they had bought IN OF
some Senator perhaps. or that some Sena-
torial empioye had given It for a consid-
GRAFTON.
Scoops arc apt to be obtained by news-
paper men in some such way as that de-
scribed by the correspc ndent who told me
the story of the capture OF the Washington
treaty In lsSS, when the civil service Law
became effective Commissioner Dorman h
Eaton prepared rules for the approval OF
tie President The day before the rules
were to be promulgated the writer found
In his ONCE a note. dropped in at the door
from man who offered for SIS TO supply Q
copy OF the rules. The note was badly
written. and there was nothing In IL to
cradle tie Times to get at the writer OF
IT. glad as he would have been TO do so-
Later in the day a package was dropped in
az the door, purporting TO be n typewrftten
copy OF the rules IL was unsafe to ask a
member of the commission the cabinet
10 Identify the rules as genuine. and IL was
rot safe TO use them without proper fdenti-
fication.
Just before night Il occurred to the COR
respondent OF the Times to ask Mr. f. %.
Graves. who WAS well acquainted with the
civil sci vice movement. T. identify the pa
per. He was rot asked TO do 50 directly
but after he had said thai he was familiar
with the rules, but could not talk about
them: he was shown the paper. He would
rot then directly identity the capy as gem
uine. but he would Tot say that ID was
not genuine. That was sufficient The r1.les
we're put on the wire.
Next day, when the cabinet mes Mr.. la
ton. President Arthur chidei t,.2t lust man
for allowing the rules to be published be-
fore pronunciation. and Mr.. Eaten guarded-
ly retorted that some member Of the cab
inet had given his copy TO the Tiraes Each
member OF the cabinet produced his COPY
Judge Folger going to- the treasury to take
his from the safe. of which ne alone ha,d
the key. The civil service cc.nmissIoners
produced their copies. There was one spare
copy. That could not be fOun l. Ii was
in the desk OF the Times correSpondent
Where IL came from, and how IL came ;he
ec correspondent knew nothing. and knows
rCthing, except what he has told He Ia.
his suspicious. but they do net attach to
any person he can name. II may be said
10 be more explicit, that there Is no ground
for suspecting a Senator.