The San Francisco call., 1897-05-14
Sugar Stocks SpeCter
Stalks Forth the
Second Time.
Pointed Talk by TiIlman on
Scandal Arising From
Tariff Bill.
Broker Chapman Resolution Sent
to a Committee Which May
Not Resurrect 1t.

over Aliens resolution providing that
Broker Chapman, the witness who had
refused to answer questions in the sugar
trust investigations OF 1894 and who was
convicted OF misdemeanor before the
Criminal Court of the District of Colum-
bia, be compelled to present himself at
the bar OF the Senate and purge himself of
contempt by answering the questions as
to what Senators dealt in sugar-stock GER
tificates as a condition precedent to his
pardon.
The discussion lasted two hours and a
half and was enlivened by iibes and sar
casm from Chandler and fiery suggestions
from Tillma an that it was not a three-y ear
old matter which the Senate should be
giving attention to, but the charges OF
newspaper correspondents that before the
Finance Committee reported back the
Dingley tariff bill last week Senators who
knew OF ths proposed changes in the
sugar schedule had taken advantage OF
the knowledge in order to speculate in
sugar securities of the trust. The final
result was the reference of Aliens resolu-
tion to the Judiciary Committee.
The resolution came up as unfinished
| business, and Allen read extracts from
the printed official report of the investi-
CATION to show that Chapman we'll under
stood the law on the subject when he re-
fused to answer questions. Allen thought
that the Senate, in vindication of itself
and its authority that had been openly
and fagrantIy dehed, ought to take the
matter in hand.
Faulkner said that if Chapman should
| come to the Senate in a contrite spirit
| and acknowledge his crime, it would be a
greater vindication of the power Of the
| Senate and the dignity of the American
people than his imprisonment.
White argued that Chapman had been
adjudged guilty OF an offense against the
law OF the United States, and the Senate
| had absolutely no jurisdiction on the
question of pardoning him. The pardon
ing power was vested exclusively in the
executive. If the Senate was to adopt the
| resolution offered. it would be a sugges-
ton to the executive that Chapman
should be pardoned if he came before the
Senate and answered the questions, and
that he should not be pardoned unless he
| did so. From his standpoint he regarded
it an Improperly to adopt such resolu-
| from the offending party.
Daniel moved to amend the resolution
SO that it would simply require Chapman
| 10 appear before the Senate and purge
himself of contempt.
Replying to a question of Ti!lman,
Chandler said he did not believe Chap
man had passed beyond the jurisdiction
| of the Senate if the Senate chose to fur
ther pursue him. 'lf,' he continued,
''there were any Senators engaged in spec
| ulating in sugar stocks (Which God forbid
be possible) that has been three or four
years ago, period in which evidence b ad
time to disappear. Collateral evidence,
which would have been useful If this wit
ness had answered, and if facts had been
| discovered at the time, is now gone, and
it is utterly futile to 20 on with the in
| vestigation. / am sure the committee
would fnd out nothing
As Chandler concluded Tiilman impa-
tiently broke in: at seems to me we are
not after Chapman. The original in
vestigatioa was to discover whether any
! Senator had been guilty of using his Of
fcial position to make money by specu.
lating in stocks. To-day there are news
week, when the new tariff bill was re-
| ported, three Senators speculated in stock
of the sugar trust. We have another
stencil on our hands, and instead of its
being differential of one-third of a cent
| in favor OF the trust. as that was. il is now
a differential OF two-thirds of cent.
| Two correspondents have charged, he
| continued, lover their own signatures,
that Senators have been speculating on
this within the last week and have made
| money. If you want TO investigate you
have now new reason. If you want to get
at the true inwardness of the matter and
| punish those who are guilty do so or else
| hush up. That is the whole sum and su b.
stance of it. We do not want Chapman /;
we want Havemeyer. We want the man
who bought your men, if they were
bought. We want the man who bought
! your committee last week, If it was
| bought. And now let the Senator from
Nebraska take his resolution to the COM
mittee and bring back something that will
mean something. We can now make
these correspondents state where they got
their information or, If they refuse, can
punish them for contempt. We can call
trust and lake them answer or put them
in Jail for contempt. Either investigate
so as to find the truth and punish the
criminals or hush"
Chandler asked Allen whether it was
proposed that the Senate should take up
the old inquiry as to the dealings of Sena.
tors in sugar stock.
II had not contemplated anything of
the kind" Allen replied. "My contem-
plafion is that the Senate would be con-
temptible in the eyes of the world if 1t did
not SPEAK out on this subject. Here is a
! proposition to pardon man for a m isde.
meanor committed against the Senate.
and we are caviling and contending it to
be matter of indelicacy for US to express
our opinion. / have been here long
enough to know that whenever the Senate
does not want to do anything about a
resolution the Senate has it referred to a
committee. And so the country NAV un-
derstand now at when this resolution
goes to a committee it goes there for ali
time"
ton was referred to the Committee on
| Judiciary.
| Afser the Chapman debate and a short
executive session, the Senate spent the
remainder of the day in tariff discussion.
| Aldrich, in charge of the bill, stated that
owing 10 the unavoidable delay in the
preparation of the comparative statement
which was to accompany the measure