Morris tribune., 1902-03-29

said the speaker, delivering his ruling.
Exactly what status a report to for
eign government would have here might
be questioned, but the gentleman from
Tennessee, having stated upon his hon
or as member OF the house Inat Ihe
charges are true
ooh. no: Mr.. Speaker interrupted
Mr.. Richardson. q did not say the re-.
port was true. q youched for the facg
that Mr.. Christmas had made them.
The gentleman having vouched Tor
the authenticity of the charges, con-
tinued the speaker, the chair holds
that the matter is one of privilege and
recognizes the gentleman from Ten.
nessee."
BY this time the interest in the
house was intense. Almost every seat
was occupied and the members listened
eagerly as Mr.. Richardson proceeded
to present his case. First, he read
extracts from the press at Copen-
hagen. These were followed by an aft
.davit from Neils Gron concerning his
dealings with certain people here, but
they were not particularly sensational.
The real sensation came when he
started to read from what purported
to be the report of Walter Christmas
concerning the negotiations. He
prefaced the reading by the statement
that it would showa corrupt bargain"
worthy of the consideration of the
house. The report was too long to
read in full, he said. 81 will only
read the luscious extracts which, If
true, should
Bring the Blush of Shame,
10 the cheek of every American" said
he, "for the statement will disgrace this
country in the eyes of every foreign
court in the world. This is what this
corrupt bargainer says" n
He then proceeded to read Mr..
Christmas account of his interview
with the prime minister of Denmark, In
which he was said to have told the
minister of the necessity of the use
of money to bring the negotiations for
the sale of the islands to a successful
termination. He told of his acquaint-
ance with Abner Mckinley, President
McKinley's brother, and his law part
ner, Colonel Brown, two gentlemen
whom Mr.. Christmas described as
Having the entry to the White House
and being familiar with the ways of
American politics, and with the mem
bers of congress who would have to
be paid to accomplish the results de.
sired.'': 3.1 # @ #a @
The report then described how Mr..
Christmas had enlisted not only Presi-
dent McKinley's brother and his law
partner, but two press associations,
one in New York and one in Washing
ton, and a prominent banking house
in New York in the sale of the islands.
In the report Mr.. Christmas also
said that he had as his special assist
ants &c. w. Knox, an intimate friend
of Senator Hanna, and Washington
lawyer, named Richard P. Evans, who
represented Mr.. Gardner and his
friends in the house" =: @"a@ II
The Danish foreign minister was re-
ported as disguised with the methods
which had to be pursued but as finally
giving his acquiescence. ,,..--
Mr.. Richardson said he did not
charge that any senator or member OF
congress had been bribed He had
simply presented the allegations Of
this agent that money had to be used
for bribing congressman. The charges
had been published in this country
and abroad, he said, with the a1lega-
ton that conditions in the United
States were simply horrible" He
therefore proposed this inquiry so that
each member could disclaim the
charges so far as they affect him. Mr..
Richardson said there was one unpar-
donable feature to the affair, in that
the state department must have known
of these charges and had not brought
them to the attention of the senate
prior to the ratification of the Danish
treaty.
After some further discussion the
resolution was adopted without division
Speaker Henderson appointed Repre-
sentative Da1zell, Hit, Cousins, Nc
Call, Richardson, Dinsmore and Cow
herd as the investigating committee.