The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-03-25
WERE
TO BE BURNED
Senator Burton Desired to Keep
in the Background.
ON GUARD IN WASHINGTON
INSPECTORS WATCHED FOR THE
RIALTo.

OF. LOUIS, No. March 2f-The gov
y eminent rested its case today in
the trial of United States senator
Joseph r. Burton OF Kansas. who is
charged with having illegally accepted
lees from the RialtO Grain K Securities
company OF st. Louis The action ef
the government came as a surprise to
the defense. Shortly after Judge Ches-
ter h krum for the defense had start
ed his opening argument. Senator Bur-
ton and Frederick Lehman. associate
counsel for the defense held a hasty
consultation. and Mr.. Lermaun. inter
ruptlng Judge krum. secured a con-
tinuance until tomorrow
In concluding its evidence the govern
ment showed by the testimony OF Chief
Postofhce Inspector Cochran of WASH
ington that he had been required pr
Senator Burton 10 call at his (tBur-
tons Office on the afternoon that SEN
atOr Burton's Indictment was made i'm
Washington Inspector Cochran testi-
fed that Burton had asked him ON
what charge the Indictment had been
returned
Burton's Excuse
II told him, continued Cochran.
that / had been a witness before the
grand jury and could not discuss the
evidence, but that the Indictment was.
found under section 1872 of the revised
statutes Burton told me that he had
appeared before the POstOffice depart
ment. not as a United States senator.
but simply as an attorney FOR the Rial
TO Grain x Securities company
pointed out TO him that my under
standing of the statutes was that the
fact that he had acted as the attorney
for the RialtO company was response
bic for his indictment"
L -
paper correspondent, then took the
stand. He testified shat he had OBJ
/ tanned a dictated interview with SEN
atOr Burton at about O'Clock on the
! afternoon the indictment was made
public.
Shortly after O'Clock that night. q"
continued the witness, Burton visited
my Office and requested that ne be all
lowed TO read the interview which I
/ had prepared from notes I had made in
the afternoon. I submitted the manu-
/ script to Mr.. Burton. and he scanned
/ il carefully. The only change he made
/ i'm the original was that at his dicta-
/ ton. L inserted the words: I did not
act as an attorney for the Rialto Grain
/ & Securities company before the post
( office department in any matter"
Inspector Recalled.
! Inspector Cochran was then recalled
and in reply to questions stated that
{ the time Of his visit to Senator Burton
/ was shortly after . o'clock on the aft
I ernoon that the senator is alleged 10
1 have given the interview TO Mr.. Au-
! bera.
When he was first questioned. In
spector Cochran testified that Senator
| Burton had visited him at the post
/ Office department. the date he could
not remember. he said, and inquired re-
garding complaints against the Rialto
| company
AT that time there had not been any
| complaints" continued Inspector COch-
| ran, and 7 so informed the senator.
/ On Feb. >, 1902, received a telephone
message from Senator Burton asking
I me TO call on him at his Office. After
discussing several matters in which the
/ Brooks Brokerage company, the prede-
cessor of the RialtO company. was In
/ volYed. Senator Burton told me that
he wished to represent the RialtO com
I pany in matters before the depart
ment for which he was to receive a
large fee He assured me that he did
not wish to antagOnize the department
He also said that ne had consulted
several of his colleagues in the senate
and they assured him that his cOnnec-
ton with the RialtO company was lega-
and that many senators had increased
their incomes in similar ways. Senator
/ burton Sstl4 LIloLL ne udu iOSL elUrJou
/ Gently, for which he was not legally
responsible, but which he wished e
repay. and that his fees would rever
! TO tkat use"
Cochran Corroborated.
W. J. Vickery. chief postofice inspec
tor at Cincinnati, testified that he haC
accompanied Inspector Cochran TO Sen
I atOr BurtOn's office on the evening tina,
the indictment became known in Wash
/ ingtOn. He sUbStantiated Cochran
/ testimony and testified that Burton
said that ne had appeared only as az
attorney for the Rialto company beforl
the department and not as a Unite,
States senator
Hector McRae. who said that he wa
comptroller for the RialIO company, OF
March 20, 1903, testified:
II was called into the office OF Nj
, Mahaney, the vice president, and Their
met Senator Burton. Mr.. Mahaney. fl
the presence Of Senator Burton, toll
me that the senator had severed hi
connection with the RialtO company
giving as his reasons that all matter
before the postoffice department ha'
been cleaned up."