Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1906-01-27
BRIBED BY BEEF
TRUST LAWYER
CHARGE AGAINST REPORTER IN
CHICAGO
President Orders That Correspond
enee Relating to Methods En=
ployed by the Packers
BE Made Public
B. Associated Press.

g. Associated Press.
WASHINGTON. Jan. 26.-By author
ity of President Roosevelt correspon-
dence was made public at the White
House tonight relating to methods al
legged to have been employed by attor-
neys for the beef packers who are
under Indictment at Chicago to in
fluence public opinion in behalf of the
packers.
The documents consist of a commune
cation made to Attorney General Moody
by United States District Attorney
Morrison of Chicago setting out GER
tain alleged facts regarding the pay
ment Of a sum of money to a Chicago
newspaper reporter by one of the at
torneys for the packers a letter from
the attorney general to the president
transmitting Mr.. Morrisons report, ex-
pressing the opinion that no way ex-
listed under the law by which the al
legged offense could be punished, and a
letter from the president to the attor-
ney general directing the publication
of the correspondence in order that the
public might be Informed of one situa-
tion at least which the government has
to meet in prosecuting the case against
the packers.
1t Is alleged that Judge George w.
Brown, an attorney for the packers.
gave to Hnsler, who is reporter ON
the Inter-Ocean and who reported the
proceedings of the beef trust case, a
certain amount of money, ostensibly
as a Christmas present, the exact
amount of which is unknown, and
directed him to give $100 of it to Mr..
ElWell, who is a reporter for the City
Press of Chicago and who is also de-
tailed to report the court proceedings
in this case and whose reports are used
by all of the newspapers of Chicago
and largely by the Associated Press.
Mr.. ElWell declined to take it, and he
pushed 1t into his pocket with Judge
Browns card and told Mr.. Elwell that
Judge Brown had sent it to him.
Elwell went to his employer and told
him about it, and his employer told him
to take the money and give it to Judge
Brown, which he did, and Judge Brown
told him that he did not mean anything
by it; that he just wanted to make him
Christmas present
Judge Browns explanation was that
complimentary articles had been writ
ten about him in the paper and he
thought Mr.. Elwell wrote them, and
gave the money to Elwell out of graft
tude for what he had said. Judge
Brown stated that the money he gave
was his own money and that his clients
knew nothing about it.
In his letter to Attorney General
Moody, President Roosevelt said:
"In view of the fact that there seems
to be no opportunity for action in the
courts against the counsel of the beef
packers who, 1t appears from District
Attorney Morrison's statement, have
been guilty of bribing a reporter, the
reporter having disseminated false and
misleading statements as to the case
fn
that the only course left is to publish
Mr.. Morrison's letter and the other
documents in the case. This / direct to
be done. Extraordinary efforts have
been made in this case, as in one or
two similar cases, to poison the public
mind by the dissemination of false and
misleading statements and it is right
that the public should know why and
how their circulation is secured"