The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-07-17

continued run IiSL dBe,J
passed, Mr.. Chipley merely asking where
they were going to stop The next evening
he found note for him at his hotel the
Marlborough. It was from Mr.. Chipley,
and invited him and his friends to a
dinner at that evening. They accepted,
except Mr.. Ferguson, and had fine
dinner. They were taken to the Waldorf
Astoria. Nothing was said about the tell.
tephone company then, but Colonel Chip
ley gave them letter and told them
that he would like for them to see the
Bell plant. He could not go with them as
he had to return to Richmond the next
morning.
Saw Bell Plant.
They took the letter and were shown
over the Bell Company's exchange. Some
time after that he was approached by
Mr.. Chipley and asked to help him get
through the Legislature a certain bill
granting a franchise to the Virginia Tel
ephonc Company. Witness told him he
would get the bill and read 1t. This he
did, and ascertained that II had been
"sneaked" through the Senate He called
the attention OF Colonel George Wayne
Anderson to 1t, and Colonel Anderson said
yes 1t was terribly bad bill and ought
to be defeated: Witness had meeting
of the Council called through an appeal
he made to President Turpin. and
delegation from the Council went to the
House and exposed the iniquity Of the
bill, and 1t was killed.
When the Bell Company was seeking
a franchise Mr.. chipley sent for him,
~ oh him a y,1r har ~ 1att
from men like John Shelton Williams,
E. G. Leigh he thought, and others Of
prominence, endorsing the desired fran
chise asked him to help get 1t passed
by the Council. Witness. seeing the
names OF such honorable citizens as these
associated with the enterprise, consented
to do all in his power He was given
$500 on the spot.
What did YOU do with the money!"
asked Mr.. Pollard.
81 put it In bank the first thing next
morning" was the reply.
Mr.. Pollard wanted to know whether
witness had spent any of 1t to get Coun-
clmen to his way OF thinking. He re-
piled that he certainly had not
Knew About King.
Not only had he not tried to corrupt
Councilmen, but he had gone into his
own pocket III Llle eIiOTI 10 Qeledt LIlOSe
whom he did not think ought to be In
the Council When questioned by Gem
eral Anderson as to what he meant he
replied that he had learned from posi-
tive evidence that King was corrupt,
and had carried the evidence to the news
papers, but that they would not touch it
until after the grand jury had acted.
He had tried to defeat other candidates
because they did not have sense enough
to drive coal cart. much less be credit
able members of the Council"
Again General Anderson wanted to
know how he spent this money from his
own pocket.
"By paying the initiation fee Of one
man, the printing bill for another, and"
with sly twinkle( II have gotten the
boys to work at the polls on election
day."
Mr.. Pollard asked witness how much
he had gotten in all from the Bell Com
pany, and said that as near as he could
get at IT., about s1100, in three install
ments. $500 twice and 500 at another
time. Witness declared that he had
worked as hard as It was possible for
one to do. He took the money and he
tried his best to earn it.
He was told by prominent man that
there was no harm in what he was doing,
and thought 1t was the best thing for the
leading men whom he had mentioned
had said so. He did not hold public
Office then.
Worked Actively
When asked by Mr.. Pollard what he
did to earn the money, replied that he
did everything he could: got letters from
prominent persons who were friends of
his: saw those who We're opposed openly
to the granting of the franchise. and
tried to argue them into thinking his
way; urged the members of the Council
with whom he had any weight to vote
for it, and for about ten months worked
as hard as lie ever worked in his life.
Chairman Minor asked witness If he
knew of any one who had done wrong
in connection with securing the Bell
franchise Mr.. Manning replied that he
did not know any one of his own knowl-
edge. Chairman Minor asked witness to
tell the committee the names Of some
who could probably throw some light on
the matter He said he would give the
names privately. He said that he had un-
derstood that corporators Of the COM
pany whose bill had been "sneaked"
through tho Senate had been we'll paid,