Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1904-07-20

Later, after the chamber Of deputies
had twice rejected the proposition, the
establishment Of a lottery to raise
more money was authorized, condi-
ton imposed by the Minister Of FL
nance being that the tide-water canal
be abandoned and locks substituted.
NJ. Eiffel, of Etffel tower fame, was
paid 100000 francs merely for the
machinery necessitated by this change.
After the lottery scheme was sanction
ed loan was authorized by the cham
! Der and to float it Baron Joseph Rel
mach was handed 100000 francs. The
best he could do was to increase the
funds by 6OO,OOO,OOO francs. and
Charles de Lesseps, the son, agreed for
the total said to be on hand to COM
plete the canal within three years.
The crash came III 1892 and moth
! ing worthy of being compared with
it had been heard since the notorious
Mississippi bubble blown by John
Law. No way or chance Of diverting
money appears to have been overlook
ed. Journalists were paid princely
sums to draw the most alluring pic
lures and induce subscriptions to
stock. Legislators were bought with
little regard to the price paid. OFF,
Gals drew the most eXorbitant sala-
ries and had favored subordinates to
help garner the golden harvest How
widely the itching to plumber the fund
extended is shown by the fact that in
1888 the Prime Minister and his i'm
mediate predecessor arbitrarily forced
the company to contribute $4,000
francs, not for canal building, but "for
the good of France" formula that
had been made to cover multitude Of
sins. After the alleged turning Of the
limelight on the situation there were
still 66O,OOO,OOO francs unaccounted
for.
A Juror Of excitement followed the
expose. Baron Reinach killed himself,
some say because of reInOrse, others
say because he was bounded to death
by menaces and attempts at black
mail. His partner, DR.. Herr, a Bava-
rian Jew, who had been wise enough
to become naturalized in this country,
fed to England, and Arton, the go
between, also decamped. The papers
of the Baron showed the names of
many deputies who had been bribed
and papers that had been subsidized.
but they received little by way of
advertising and their schemes Of pro
noting were so winked at that thew
had no hesitancy in denouncing in bit
40 no looiS To- OrS ha
out to the manipulators Of the Panama
fraud. Eleven persons were criminal
ly prosecuted for completely, six Of
them being ex-cabinet ministers The
one doubly punished was NJ Baihaut.
ex-Minister Of Public Works, who had
the courage to plead guilty and was
denounced not alone, by his colleagues,
but by the public, making the singu-
lar claim that his confession showed a
lack Of patriotism. The matter was
taken up again In 1897, but even the
prosecuting officer helped to shut up
the scandal and to this day it Is not
known where by far the larger share
Of the missing funds went to. The
masses in France are exceptionally
honest, and it Is a strange contradic-
ton that those of the accused who
again ran for office had no trouble in
being reelected
To form a Judgment Of Ferdinand
de Lesseps it Is essential to know
something of his history prior to the
Panama affair. He was born at Yer
sailles In 1905. His grandfather had