The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-05-30
ALDERMAN
KING MAY
TELL ALL
Said That He May Con-
fess and Be PardOned.
MR.. RICHARDSON
WAS misunderstood
Did Not Mean That a Gang O
Boodlers Exists.
EX-ALDERMAN KING
MAKES NO STATEMENT,
Silent So Far In Regard to His CASE
President Turpln Likely to Appoint
the Committee Of Five To-Day
Which VIII Investigate the
Alleged Corruption.
The Evidence.
Did Not Mean That a Gang q
Boodlers Exists.
EX-ALDERMAN KING
MAKES NO STATEMENT,

eliminating yesterday afternoon With
what seemed we'll founded rumor that
John NJ. King, ex-Aldernan from Jefrer.
son Ward, twice convicted and sentenced
for having accepted a bribe while a
member Of the Council Committee on
Streets. will at the proper time make
startling disclosures concerning munioi1
pal corruption. the very atmosphere about
the City Hall and other points, whert
politicians congregato was Laden With
sensational reports touching upon thu
political drama which closed at midnight
Thursday with the conviction OF King by
twelve men.
The statement that King may make
clean breast" OF the whole miserable,
affair will be received with surprise by
the general public, and with doubt by
many others more closely identified with
the famous case. But, nevertheless, the,
report has behind 1t an, assertion which,
& no doubt lends strength to It, and which.
is certainly plausible. It Is stated that
King may be pardoned by the Governor
provided he makes q full disclosure Of
the facts In connection with ~Tnuniclp
4corrnption. which he 81 Is n thought to
possess, and which he has steadfastly re-
fused to dsvulge. \.
PROTECTED BY LIMITATION.
An effort, 1t is stated, Is being made to
persuade King to take this view OF the
case, and In the event 1t Is accomplished.
1t is predicted that the Aldermanic Com
mittee of Five" will have plenty OF food
for thought, and may have some fnd-
ings to report. It will be shown to King
that by making a full and complete
statement now he can possibly injure no
one. provided. Of course. he knows OF any
Of the alleged crookedness. Any other
person or persons who may have been In
terested in SHADY deals'' with him will
escape prosecution, the statute OF limta-
tions protecting them from the strong
arm OF the law. y
It will be pointed out to the ex-AlIer-
man from Jefferson Ward that he hq.
held out quite long enough to slteld
others. 1t being taken for granted thas
there were others. And pressure will be
brought to convince him that It would
be folly on his part to serve a JAIL sem
tence when he can save himself this pun.
ishment by confessing. ai%
The desire OF the element which con-
demns corruption and which wishes to
save the city of Richmond from tho
raids of ''booding legislators in future
is not to be regarded as vindictive, and
they care little whether the alleged Of
to show up the crooks, df there are any,
to the public, and remove them from
office, II any are In the Council.
King is Silent.
King WAS seen yesterday by rspye-
sentative OF The Times Dispatch and
asked for statement. He declined to
talk for publication. or say anything Of
the case. He said he had from the first
refrained from talking to the newspapers.
and he could sec no reason now for
changing his course He proved an at
tentive listener to all that was said.
hut no amount Of argument or persuasion
could prevail upon him to even give
definite answer one way or the other to
points bearing on the case.
The convicted ex-Aldernan expressed
some surprise at the statement OF Com
monwealths Attorney Richardson about
the existence Of combine In tho city
at this time, and inquired who We're the
interested persons referred to,
II he had any idea as to how the ap-
peal to the Supreme Court will terminate
he kept 1t to himself,
To I1mes-Dlspatch reporter Mr.. Rich
ardson yesterday afternoon said he had
been misquoted and made to appear as
having said things that never SO much
as occurred to him. An interviewer
quoted the Commonwealth's Attorney az
saying that there now existed In Rich
to the Gasser, GUIDE and Weinbrunn pool,
that a former member OF the Street Com
mttee was at the head of the pool. and.
lastly, that the combination was formed
for tho purpose OF robhing the city.
In his opening remarks to the jury In
the King case, Mr.. Richardson stated
incidentally that there was now COM
bine In Richmond headed by former
Street Committeeman, and he UNDER
stood had had some dealing with tho
city He did not say anything about
robbery or that the combination was
formed for this purpose.
What Mr.. Richardson Meant,
Yesterday afternoon Mr., Richardson
made this statement clearer by explain
Ing that he meant combination was now
in force. the head of which is a former
member of the Street Committee. and the
members of this concern bid separately
for contracts. although each is aware OF
what figure Is named by the other. The
profits accruing from contract thus
gained by any one tlrm are put in q pool.
and these profits are equally divided
among the members OF the combine.
After a careful investigation of the
matter yesterday afternoon, tt appears
that the combine spoken of Is very dif-
ferent from ,l.e "Gasser. Guide and Wein-
hrunn scheme" and II ~ declared not 10
have used any undarhand methods 70 se-
.cpr,a coptractx from the city OF Rlch-