The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1899-03-20
STANDARD OIL OPENS FIRE
On the Attorney General of the State
of Ohio.

New York. March 20-Upon the ar
rival of the interested parties in the
Standard Oil company nearing at the
HOFFMAN house, it was decided to take
no testimony today. It was agreed to
have a hearing in the case OF the state
of Ohio against the Buckeye Pipe com,
pany. q branch of the Standard on
company in the office OF Mr.. Mills, act
ing as commissioner for the state
Messrs. Elliott and Kline, counsel for
the Standard Oil company, sent ietter
TO Attorney General MOnnett OF ONO to-
day demanding that he make pubnc the
name of the man who offered MIN a
bribe to discontinue his fight. This Is
the letter:
Hon F. s. Monnett, Attorney Gehsra-
on March 4, George Rice announced
to the public press that bride or $5OO'-
900 less than 500. 900 commission had
been offered you to induce you to stop,
or delay proceedings against the stan
dard OIL company now pending In the
supreme court of Ohio.
You are reported to have denied en-
tirely at Toledo, the Rice story, but by
the time you arrived at Columbus, the
same day you concluded that the story
was true and accordingly In various
newspaper on the morning of the 5th
instant you made a statement that the
Standard Oil company through some
friend of yours" had offered you 100000
to influence your action with respect to
cases pending against 1t and other
companies, in the supreme court or
Ohio. Reputable newspapers of the
state, notably the Cleveland Leader,
the Toledo Blade and the Ohio State
Journal. have called upon you to dis
close the name of the friend" who thus
corruptly approached you.
You are reported in the Cleveland
Plain Dealer of the 9TH instant as saying
that IF you were to give out the name
of your friend half a dozen departments
would be after him at once, and it
might be they could force or persuade
him to keep his mouth shut You do
not seem TO realize that the reason
given by you for refusing to disclose the
name Of your friend is an admission
that the company does not know the
name of the party whom you say was
commissioned to offer you 100000 and
therefore you must have known that
the alleged friend made the offer to you
without the authority or knowledge of
the Standard Oil company.
In the New York World of the 9th
instant. you are reported as saying that
You had written the friend who tried to
bride you that you would not expose
him until public interest demanded it."
In another interview in the Cincin-
natl Commercial Tribune of the 9Th in
slant, you are reported as saying that
your friend" had agreed to protect you.
The arrangement for protection there
fore seems to be mutual.
So far your statements connect
attempt to bride you, they are totally
false. You have the names, or claim
to have, not only of the friend who ap-
preached you, but also of others act
ing with him. because on the 14th in
slant you said in the public press that
these men were telegraphing you from
New York.
While nothing in your story has d.
rectly connected the Standard Oil COM
pany with the attempted bribery you
have desired the public to assume said
connections We now demand that you
give the name, or names. of the persons