The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-12-23
WERE FISHERMEN BRIBED.
Sensational London Papers Declare
 Russia Bought Testimony.


 Russia Bought Testimony. London, Dec. 22.-The publication in St. Petersburg of the statement that | Hull fishermen have voluntarily de- posed that foreign torpedo boats were among the trawlers off Dogger Bank when the latter were fired upon by
 ships of the Baltic Squadron, is proba- | bly nothing more than a repetition of l similar statements emanating from Hull and appearing in London papers | the last few days.
 These are circumstantial and 1t would certainly appear to be true that some men of the Game Cock fleet have made statements before the Russian Consul | The name of only one of these has been
 revealed. He Is the boatswain of the trawler Ava and he said today that he was induced to make the statement while he was intoxicated. He admits that he received certain amount of money, but now says the statement he made is untrue.
 The exact tenor of his statements or any others has not been revealed. All published reports from Hull say positively that these statements were secured by two agents of the Russian Goyernment: but the Russian Embas- sy in London tonight repeated the de- nial communicated to the Associated Press on December 21, which was to the effect that there is absolutely no truth in the statement that the Russian Gov ernment, or any one in any official ca-
 pacity or any one delegated by Russia has been endeavoring to secure state- ments from the Game Cock fishermen in aupport of Russias position before the Paris Commission.
 If was pointed out, however, that al- though Russia had offered reward for Information, the Russian Government
 was not responsible for the course
 taken by any person desiring to secure the reward. which would only be paid
 in the event that the information and the method in which 1t was secured was approved by the Russian Govern ment. and shown to have been secured
 from irreproachable sources. Tt was nositively stated that the embassy has no knowledge and no information tend ing to support the report of the St. Pe- tersburg paper alluded to.
 The sensational press of England di-
 rectly charges the Russian Govern ment with using underhand means, by
 bribery and intoxicants. to, secure false statements from men of the Game Cock fishing fleet The Russian Con-
 sul at Hull tonight said the boatswain of the Ava was brought to his office, but that he sent him to the Commits
 sioner of Oaths. where the Consul says
 the boatswain swore he saw a Japanese
 torpedo boat with the trawlers. The
 Consul says he knows other. trawlers
 who are ready to make similar state
 ments, but that they are afraid of the
 consequences. The Consul indignantly
 denies that he has made any attempt
 to induce fishermen to make state
 ments. He says that when informed of
 the nature of the statement which the boatswain of the Ava attempted to make,
 1t was his duty to his Government to
 render every assistance.
 Altogether an air of mystery sur
 rounds the matter. but no credence in
 responsible quarters is given to the al-
 legations that unfair methods have
 been used by the Russian Government.
 One explanation of the whole matter
 emanates from Paris, where it Is stated
 that two reporters of the Petit Paris
 ienne recently visited Hull in order to
 interview men of the Game Cock fleet
 and secure independent information
 concerning the DoEger Bank affair, as