Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1902-03-27
Grave Charges
Of Comuph00
Mr. Richardson Springs Sensation In The HoUSe ofRep-
reSentatjveS in Connection with the Purchase
OF the Danish Nest indies.

Bress, he said, did not necessarily in
clude members OF the house. II mem-
lers Of the senate that body must be
the custodian Of Its own morals" He
thonkht II the resolution was to be
privileged Il should specifically include
members Of the house.
am prepared TO say" replied NJ.
Richardson, that these charges do In
clude members OF the house and VIII
amend the resolution to that extent"
speaker Henderson thereupon ruled
that the matter held was privileged.
MATTER OF HIGH PRIVILEGE.
This Is mater of high privilege"
selq the speaker. delivering his ruling
EXACTLY what status report to a
Foreign goyernemtn would have here
mlght be questioned but the gentle
man from Tennessee having stated up
onlhls honor as a member Of the house
thai the charges are true"
ION, no, Mi Speaker" interrupted
MI Richardson. II did not say the
report was true vouched for the
tact that Mr. Christmas had made
them"
zine gentleman having vOuched for
the authenticity of the charges, con-
tlhueh the speaker the chair holds
The matter Is one Of privilege and rec
ognizes the gentleman from Tennes-
SEES"
INTEREST INTENSE.
ily this time the interest I'm the house
way Intense, Almost every seat was
% ipied and the members listened
eaeerly as Mr.. Richardson proceeded
10 present his case, First he read ex-
tracts from the press OF Copenhagen
THESE were followed by an AFFIDAVIT
fwm Neils Gron concerning his deal
lnss with certain people here. but they
were not particularly Sensational.
THE REAL SENSATION.
The real sensation came when he
started to read from what purported
10 be the report Of Walter Christmas
concerning the negotiations He pre-
faced the reading by the statement
thar II would show Corrupt bar
gain worthy Of the consideration OF
the house, The report was too long
~ read In fun he said, - win only
read the luscious extracts which II true
should bring the blush OF shame to the
check Of every American" said he.
"Fnf TIE statement will disgrace this
lAuptiN IN the eyes of every foreign
ceAntry In the world This Is what
this corrupt bargainer saws"
He then proceeded to read Mr.. Christ
mas account of his interview with the
prime minister Of Denmark in which he
was said to have told the minister of
the necessity for the use OF money to
bring the negotiations for the sale Of the
Islands TO successful termination He
told OF his acquaintance with Abner
Mckinley, President McKinley's broth
en- and law partner Col Brown, two
gentlemen whom Mr. Christmas de-
scfibed as having the entry to the
White House and being familiar with
the ways Of American politics and what
members Of Congress would have to be
paid to accomplish the results desired"
The report then described how Mr.
Christmas had enlisted not only Presi-
dent Mckptey's brother and his part
ner, but two press associations, one In
New York and one In Washington and
a prominent banking house In New
York In the sale of the islands.
SPECIAL ASSISTANTS.
In the report Mr. Christmas said.
among other things. that he had as his
special assistants C., w. Knox. an in
mate friend of Senator Hanna, and
Washington lawyer named Richard +.
Evans, who represented NJ Gardner and
his friends In the house.
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 sim
ply presented the allegations OF this
agent that money had to be used for
bribirg congressman. The charges had
been published In this country and
abroad, he said, with the allegation
that conditions in the United states
were simply horrible He therefore
proposed this Inquiry 80 that each
member could discIaim the charges SO
far as they affected him Mr. Rich
ardson said there was one unpardon-
able 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.
Mr.. Cannon moved that the consider
alton Of the resolution be postponed
until tomorrow The motion was voted
down without q division,
UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTED,
The house Unanimously adopted the
resolutions FOR an inyesu-
cation OF charges In connection with
The purchase OF the Danish West In
lies and Speaker Henderson appointed
representatives Dalzell HIT Cousins,
Mccall, Richardson, Dinsmore and
'owherd AS the investigating commit
tee.