The herald., 1894-10-22
AS A MANIPULATOR.
HOW BOSS BURNS HANDLES
LEGISLATURES.
Facts Developed Out of the Taylor Suit.
Interesting Statements Made by
FayloT-Collsotions From
Corporations.

The searchlight: The Taylor suit
against the senatorial com bins and the
investigations OF the Wallace grand jury
that grew out OF it played havoc with
the regulations Of politicians. The
revelations of corruption have not en-
tirely lost their interest, says the Ex-
aminer, for most of the men who figured
in the scandals of 1891 are prominent
in politics in 1894.
The Taylor suit was brought against
the combine" OF "a senators who
pooled their votes for sale in the legisla-
ture of 1891. Taylor acted as messsn-
ger or go-between and was to receive
the same share OF the proceeds as the
voting men OF the combination. About
two-thirds OF the members refused to
settle, and Taylor sued them for his
share of the plunder.
Faylor's testimony is full of interest.
On the 23d of July, 1891, he took the
stand and in the course OF his testimony
said:
about the LIST OF January 1 met
Burns with Senator w. II. Williams ct
the Cafe Royal, at the corner of Seventh
and J streets. Williams had asked me
for an introduction to Burns"
The Burns that Mr.. Taylor met was
the present distinguished leader of the
Republican party in California. The
Senator Williams was not the Senator
Williams who is now the Independent
Republican candidate for senator in the
Twenty fourth district, but he will rep
resent him very we'll. as both were sued
by Taylor as members of the came com.
bination, and what is said of one will
fit the other like a glove. Taylor con-
tinued his testimony as follows:
Burns, Williams and myself had q
drink at the bar. Then we went into a
private room. Here Williams told Burne
that the San Francisco delegation, with
the exception of Britt and Mahony, had
entered into combination with Grim
Minis to do business. He said that Grim
minis was then in San Francisco, where
he had gone to see the people at Fourth
and Townsend streets and try to do bust.
ness with them. If, when he returned,
he had not made satisfactory arrange>
ments, then the combination he (Will-
iams) represented wanted Burns to take
the place of Crimmins and do business
for them"
CrlmminH failed to make satisfactory
terms and Burns arranged to "do busi-
ness'' for the combine, but later turned
the details over to 'Dick" Chute under
the following distressing circumstance
as narrated by Taylor:
''Burns told them that they had
agreed to vote against the electric bill
for $3.50 apiece. but that they had
thrown him down and cold themselves
to Crimmins for $500, and that they
had not acted like honest men,"
This shocking dishonor among thieves
was too much for Mr.. Burns, although
the members of the com bine humbly
confessed their error and explained that
they had been properly punished for
their perfidy.
"Crimmins had held out 5000 OF the
$500 intended for each, and that they
didn't want anything more to do with
Crimmings."
Mr.. Burns kept kind OF supervision
of the business but allowed Chute to
attend to the personal communication
with the Legislators who had violated
the ethics OF the profession by refusing
to stay bought. The "business" of the
combination was profitable. according
to Taylor:
"Williams told mo he received $1,000
from the railroad company, $1,000 from
the insurance companies, $3.50 from
Glenn county, $500 from the Pool bill.
$500 from the Riverside county bill, $3.50
or 1850, don't recollect which, from the
pilotu. He told me he received this
money from Burns"
These are the men who are trying to
run the government of the city and state.
This is the kind of government repre-
sented by Mr.. Burns and his Markham
Estee figureheads. What do the voters
think of ito