The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-05-19
That Investigation.

When it was proposed that the charge
that two senator's, one democrat and the
other populist, both of whom favor the
! tariff bill, had been approached and
/ offered a bride 10 vote against the bill,
the republican senators were quick to
have included in the investigation the
newspaper charges that the sugar trust
had paid to the national democratic cam
paign fund in 1892 $500, 600, with the IN
| Outstanding that the trust should have
such legislation in respect to sugar as
would amply protect its interests, and
that the trust had guaranteed certain
| senators who speculated in sugar stock a
profit of $50 share.
The first charge, the one relative TO the
Offering of brides to senators TO vote
against the tariff bill, strikes at the re-
publicans. That was the reason doubt
less that the republican senators
insisted upon including the other
charges, the ones that reflect upon the
democrats, although it is hardly prob
able that there is a republican senator
who believes the charges have any foun-
dation. Their purpose apparently is TO
lessen the effect of the first charge,
which, there is reason to believe, will be
proven, Notwithstanding the fact that the
alleged briber denies it. The stories
which the two senators tell leave little
if any room for an explanation that
would show they were mistaken.
If the charge should be
proven the protectionists would be
placed in a rather ugly position. Hence
the efforts TO draw attention away from
it if possible by pushing the newspaper
yarns that reflect upon the democrats.
Ex-Secretary of the Navy Whitney
was the chairman of the national demo
cratic committee in 1892, and is, there
fore, in position to know whether or not
the sugar trust contributed $500, 900, or
any other sum, to the democratic cause
in that year. In an interview. published
in the New York Times a day or two
ago, ne said emphatically that
the sugar trust did not contribute
cent to the national democratic
campaign fund. What he says will
be believed. He would not make a false
statement about the matter. The inves-
tigation will doubtless show that the
newspapers that published the charge
had no foundation tor it,
And that other charge. viz, that the
sugar trust guaranteed $50 share to GER
tain senators who wanted to speculate in
sugar, will be shown to have been made
without any evidence as to its truth
Senator Brice, who is one of the sena-
tors who is supposed to have profited by
the rise in sugar, says that he has not
bought or sold any shares of sugar stock
If he has not, the proba bilities are that
no other senators have since the tariff bill
has been before the Senate.
1t can be pretty safely predicted that it
will not be shown that senators have been
guaranteed $50 a share on sugar stock
or that the sugar trust contributed
100000 to the national democratic cam
paign fund. On the other hand, it looks
as if it would be shown that certain pro-
tectionists have been trying to defeat the
tariff bill by bribing senators who favor
it TO vote against it. If this should be
the outcome Of the investigation, the re-
publicans will have cause to regret their
action in insisting upon widening the
scope of the investigation.