The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-03-02


iy all day yesterday before the inves-
tigadng committee. The evidence in
the case was ali in at 1O:3O in the morn
ing, and then the speech-making be
gan. Judge Dey opened for the prose-
cution, and occupied all the remaining
time of the morning hour. Judge Dick
son and S. A Thurman divided the af-
ternoon between them, occupying alto
gether three hours and a hall AlT.
Evans viii close for the prosecution
this morning.
Mr.. Dey, in opening, took up the legal
side of the case, citing several decisions
in bribery prosecutions, in which he
found instances which ne thought re-
sembled the one before the committee.
lie compared the social positions of Mr..
McCune and Mr.. Law, stating that all
Mr.. Law possessed was his character,
and that in hazarding it he hazarded
his all, While Air. McCune but ran the
danger of losing his money in Offering
bribe. He recited the Sloan-Nebeker
incident, making a point out OF the
fact that at the start Mr.. Sloan asked
Mr.. Nebeker not TO get angry al what
ne was about to say. Mr.. Dey thought
that this was III itself an indication
that Mr.. Sloan was about to propose
something improper, for ne would not
have feared anger on Mr.. Nebekers
part If he was only going to give him
some friendly advice He thought that
the Chambers contract smacked of
bribery, as did also, in his opinion, the
arrangement with Senator Whitney.
The Callister incident, too, seemed to
him pregnant with significance, and in
concluding, he said that the commit
tee could not in justice to the facts be
fore il. find Mr.. McCune innocent.
CALLED THEM CONSPIR ATORS.
Judge Dickson, in opening, read from
numerous authorities, which held that
the evidence OF men who conspired
with others to commit a crime in order
10 convict them, was not held good as
against them. for it tended to show
the unreliabtlity, the lack of principle,
of these conspirators. He said that
whatever The result OF The case Mr.
Law had irreVocably blasted his own
character as a man of honor by his
attempt to inVeigle Mr.. McCUne into
bribing him. He stated that Law and
his friends we'll knew tnat the only
thing in all the world which would
have defeated Mr.. McCune was to en-
trap Kim into an attempt to blibe; in
other words. TO secure evidence against
HIM by which they might accuse him
OF bribery. He deliberately sought to
make Mr.. AfcCune commit a crime. He
knew that lie had no evidence which
would justify charges, anu he went to
AO4A Il 10 CitSlLdiE MI. l1CNuuc al UEUET
to get this evidence. But in this he
failed. His own unsupported word was
al upon which those charges We're
based. And he had been impeached by
the evidence OF well-nigh every witness
that had come upon the stand. Even
his own witnesses impeached MIN. 4
Chief Pratt. Sheets, Carl Hard and
others contradicted him exactly on (
nearly every material point which he |
sought 10 prove by them. Mr.. Dickson 4
went on 10 say that IN his opinion Law /
was only a tool in the hands of other I
men; that it was all q. diaboical con- /
spiracy, concOcted 10 compass the |
downfall of Mr.. McCune.
Mr.. Thurman took up principally !
tie other cases in which MIR. McCune |
was charged with having attempted |
To bribe members Of the legislature. !
lie showed the utter triviality of al |
OF them, how they arose Cut of putting
a jackson construction upon chance
words and phrases. lie STATED that |
the Ivins-Jackson incident was proven |
10 hans upon nothing tangible, thai |
Eir. IViDS did not think anything i'm
proper until Jackson suggested that ,
Mr.. Lapisn confessed that ne had not I
considered that he had charges TO |
bring against Mr.. McCune: that Mr.. |
Nebeker had thought so little Of The
Sloan incident ruaI lie had never in the
slightest degree discontinued his ia
timacy with MIR. Sloan. He classed the
statements made by Mr. Callister as
hearsay and those Of MIR. Belts as
worse than hearsay, mere rumor, rumor
such as the president Of the senate,
Aquila Nebeker had himself helped TO
circulate. The charges involving Mr..
r. c. Chambers ana Bishop Whitney.
he treated lightly, saying that the
very character. the sterling honesty.
the splendid standing of the gentlemen
themselves sufficiently refuted these
charges. and branded them as false.
He thought that the committee could
do but one thing-eXonerate Mr.. Nc
Cune completely from al the charges
against him.
EVANS WILL TALK TODAY.
Mr.. Evans remains to speak. The
case VIII reach the committee this
noon in all likelihood, but how soon
the report Will be completed is not
known, probably not before Saturday
at the earliest and perhaps not before
Monday. c. NJ Dull, the official stem
osrapher is at work preparing the
transcript OF the evidence and il is
understood that it viii take him at
least a DAY or SO to complete it. If the
committee attempt 20 wade entirely
through its six or eight hundred pages
ii win take them well nigh all the re-
naming days of the session TO prepare
their report
SENATOR NEBEhEH EAfLAINSs 4
President Nebeker was the first wit
ness called in the morning and he
stated that he had a conversation with
Representative /. II. Redd early in
the senatorial contest in which he told
Redd that he understood that there
was $1,000 in it for any one who would
vote for McCune. lie said ne had (
heard this from Senator Peery when
they had been talking the matter over
aud he repeated ii to MIR Redd for the
purpose of prejudicing him against
Mr. McCune. He wanted Redd te
understand fully. ne said. President
Nebeler was excused with but little
cross-examination by the committee.
Senator Peery followed He said that
he believed he had had the conversation
referred TO by President NebekeT. In
speaking of it they had simply talked
of the rumors on the streets and Mr..
Feerys said he bac told Mr.. Nebeker
that he had been told that McCune was
paying s5,900 a head for votes. That
was about all that had been said.
W D. Thompson. who Representative
Cailister said had told him that he
could get from $4,000 TO 5000 for his
vote, Was called.