Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1897-05-20
rfLMINGrOS. THURsDaY, MAI 20


The committee OF the House OF Rep |
resentatives at Dover appointed to in
vestigate charges OF corruption and i'm |
proper methods with respect to legisa- |
tion, Thursday made its report. Tho |
conclusion was that ''the evidence, con-
fiicting as it is, is not sufficient to aus
tain the charges and allegations. +"
While many will feel impelled to
admit the justness Of this report, there
is room for some dissent from the com
mittee's conclusion. Much depends,
however, upon what is inferred by the
term "charges and allegations. No
direct charges were made in either
house Of the General Assembly affecting
the integrity of any member thereof,
but there were certain illusions in the
newspapers that induced the Legisla-
ture to appoint committees OF inyesti- \
cation. And one of these newspaper
allegations was the interview with Mr..
J. II. Hoffecker, Jr., in which he stated
that by reasor OF information he bad
eceived from members Of the General
Assembly to the effect that it would
cost large sum of money to secure the
passage Of divorce application in
which he was counsel for the applicant,
he had withdrawn the case from the
( Legislature, and transferred it to the
superior court for New Castle county.
AS far as this particular allegation is
concerned, il cannot be denied that it
was fully proven. Mr.. Hoffecker in
formed the committee, under oath, that
Senator Pyle and Representative Nc
Cullough had each told him, in his
Office, that il would take from 81, 600 to
$1,000 to got the Cause divorce bill
through the Legislature, although each
dieclaimed that he wanted any of tine
money for himself. After Mr.. Hoffecker
had thus testified, Senator Pyle practi-
cally admitted the truth of the state.
ment, intimating pretty strongly that
he considered Mr.. Hoffecker guilty Of
breach of confidence in making the in
terview public. Afterwards, however,
Senator Pyle and Representative Nc
Cullough both took ths stand and inter.
posed general denial to the statement
Of Mr.. HoffecKer, which, however, was
fully substantiated by the testimony of
his brother. who heard the converse
tions that took place.
Therefore, as far as this particular
charge is concerned, the committee is
hardly justified in returning verdict
OF mo. proven. With respect to other
charges, however, tie COMMITTEES could
not we'll have reported otherwise. Full
opportunity was afforded all who had
positive knowledge OF attempted cor
ruptiou or extortion to testify, but they
persistently held their peace. There was
plenty of hearsay evidence at hand, but
the committee very properly refused to
listen to 1t. The principals, in each
instance, either shut up like clans or
repudiated their original statements.
The Aoklan divorce, which met with a
deserved defeat in the House Thursday,
furnished an incident of this kind.
The people interested in the measure,
Mr.. HAZEL stated when the bill was
under consideration, ''have declared
that they had letters in their possession
which incriminated members OF this
General Assembly and then, when the
investigating committee gave them the
opportunity, not one bit of evidence
was presented. - ....
Under such circumstances, 1t was
impossible for the committee except in
the case of the Cause bill, to roach any
other conclusion, and even that gave
the accused parties an opportunity tc
escape full measure of censure by the
proof OF their declarations that they die
not want any money for themselves
Taken altogether, however, the inyssti
CATION revealed enough to justify the
suspicion of something rotten in Den
mark" as, far as this Legislature il
concerned, though actual guilt was no
proved in any case. Lest US hope tina
there will be no more legislative scan
dals of the kind in Delaware for year
to come, at least.
Some Comments on the "Harmony" Ticket
n