The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1897-09-12
WHY HE GOT THE 500
COY. RUSSELL IMPLICATED AND
THE GOV ERNOR TALKS.
AnAsH FROM LOGE HARRIS'S WIT-PAN
Governor Russell Tells How Moody Yanked
the Bill and Put in the Name OF
smathers as Proxy to His
Great Surprise.

~, Knife can cut our love in two
Ioce Harris last night lisped these
words with his subjective lips while with
mis- objective lips ne exclaimed, Go to
thunder nh,
II was all about a casual talk which
Ex.Judse Spier Whitaker happend yes
+ar5ax to have with a reported Tor the
News and Observer.
1T appeared in your paper of few
aaxs aso. said Judge Whitaker,
chat ehe parties attacking the lease
of the n. C. X. Il. had introduced pe1ore
Special Master Craige minute showing
that Judge Whitaker had been pald Tor
legal services in 1895 500.
1T Is true that after the adjournment
of the legislature of 1893. the treasurer
of the N. C. Il. r. sent me one hundred
dollars. The reason for that was TINS:
During the session of 1895 | walked into
the Senate lobby. where l was ut once
met By Mr.. A w. Haywood. who COM
plained bitterly of what IS now known as
the Moody bill. explaining TO me the pur-
port Of the bill. whereupon | remarked
That bin is an Ubiquitous thing, equal to
Swepson and Littlefield's performances.
and l VIII in ten or fifteen minutes cause
II TO be defeated Whereupon l imme-
diately left him. went over to the othef
side of the Senate chamber and talked to
Senators Bellamy, Hoover and other Pop
ulists, explaining to them the great in
EQUITY of the bill. They said to me that
il had passed its first reading, but had
never been read, and it passed after Mr..
Moody's explanation that it was little
bill to give a Republican an office. They
promised me that they would see to 1t
that the bill was read and explained, and
that If it, was what had explained it to
be it should be defeated. When the bill
came up again it was made a special or
der and defeated.
Il never thought anything more about
it. After the adjournment of the Legisla-
ture, in talking to Mr. J. c. l.. Harris
about the matter he told me that the
Moody bin was prepared by Judge Rus
sell with the name of the proxy blank
and given to Mr. Moody with the request
that he have it passed. that Mr.. Moody,
seeing it was a good thing. instead CT do
ing as Judge Russell requested inserted
the name OF George II. Smathers in the
bill: and that thereafter Judge Russell
had no TURNER interest IN InIL Dill.
Whereupon I remarked to Mr.. Harris
that / was surprised that Russell would
have had anything to do with such bill.
because the knowledge of that fact was
calculated to destroy the confidence of the
people and defeat him for any office for
which he might run.
Harris then said that the bill was
worth at least one hundred thousand dol
lars to the proxy and that any man could
afford to retire upon that sum.
"After that went to the records of the
Legislature to examine the bill, where
found that Harris was corroborated in
two respects: By the insertion with pen
and ink Of the name Of the proxy, and by
the further fact that the bill itself
showed that it was introduced by Moody
by request
81 was at no time employed by the
North Carolina railroad. did not know
that Mr.. Alfred Haywood had any inter-
est in the road, or that he had any au-