The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1906-06-28
$4,000 fine IMPOSED
Appeals are Filed in Each Case and
Stay of Execution is Granted
Until June 29.

Kansas City, Mo-, June 22.-In the
United States court here this morning
Judge Smith Mcpherson, of Red Oak,
Iowa, passed sentence upon the seven
defendants already convicted in this
court of making concessions and of ac-
cepting and conspiring to accept re-
bates on shipments. Judgments in the
nature of fines were assessed as follows:
Swift & Co., $4,000; Cudahy Packing
company, $4,000; the Armour Packing
company, $4,000; Nelson Morris & Co.,
$l5,000: Chicago Burlington & Quincy
railway, $4,000.
George L. Thomas, of New York, was
fined $4,000 and sentenced to four
months in the penitentiary.
L. B. Taggart, OF New York, was fined
$4,000 and sentenced to three months in
the penitentiary.
The fine of $4,000 assessed against
the Burlington covered all four counts,
the aggregate amount of fines in the
seven cases totalling $4,000.
Appeals were filed in each case and
stay of execution was granted until
June 80 until they could be perfected.
The bonds in the case of Thomas and
Taggart were fixed at $4,000 each.
These two men appeared in court per-
sonally and upon being sentenced
The bonds in the case of the packing
companies and the Burlington were fix
ed at $4,000 each.
Before sentence was passed in the
various cases motions for new trials
were made by John G. Cowan, of Omaha,
and Frank Hagerman, of Kansas City,
for the packers, and by Judge O. Nj.
Spencer, of st. Joe, upon behalf of the
Burlington railroad and Thomas and
Taggart. All of these motions were
overruled.
HISTORY OF THE CASES
/ The appearance in the federal court
here this morning for sentence of repre-
sentatives of four meat packing COM
panies, one railway and two individual
defendants, recently convicted of viol-
ating the Elkins law, marked the end of
term of court. One other case, that of
the Chicago & Alton and two of it's Of
ficials, has been reset for trial in Sep
tember.
The indictments upon which the vari-
Gus defendants were tried were return
ed in Kansas City by the grand jury on
Dec. 13, 1905. The cases have been
handled for the government by A. S.
Van Valkenburgh, the district attorney,
and his assistant, Leslie Lyons, while the
defendants have been represented by
some Of the ablest council of the west.
OF the eleven cases brought up at this
term the government has secured seven
convictions, one defendant was acquitt-
ed and three cases were dismissed.
George L. Thomas, of New York City,
a freight broker, and his chief clerk, l..
B. Taggart, were the first to be tried,
and were convicted of securing rebates
from railways on shipments from New
York to st. Louis for Kansas City dry
goods concerns. At their trial several
prominent mercLa is swho admitted hav-
Jag signed contracts with Thomas, testi-
fed to receiving at various times sums
of money from mysterious sources,
many thousands of dollars were thus re-
ceived and some of the witnesses adj
mitted the likelihood of it having come
from Thomas. The penalty provided is
a fine of not less than 81 900 nor more
than $4,000 or Imprisonment in the
penitentiary for not more than two
years. or both fine and imprisonment.
George H. Crosby, former assistant
freight traffic manager of the Chicago,
Burlington & Quincy railroad, who was
charged of conspiring with Thomas and
Taggart to pay concessions, was dis
charged by Mcpherson. The court sus-
tanned demurrer, presented by Judge
o. M. Spencer of st. Joseph, general
solicitor of the railway who contended
that no evidence had been presented to
connect Crosby with the alleged con-
spiracy.
The Armour Packing company, Swift
& Co., Cudahy & Co., and the Nelson
Morris Packing company were tried
jointly and convicted on the charge of
accepting concessions from the Burling-
ton railway in connection with connect
ing lines, on packing house products
for export via New York.
The Burlington railway company was
convicted on four counts of granting
} concessions to the packing companies
of Armour, Swith, Cudahy and Nelson
Morris. The penalty provided in the
!, cases of the packers and the Burlington
involves fine of from $1,000 to $4,000
on each count, but not Imprisonment.
The cases OF the Chicago, Milwaukee
: & st. Paul and the Chicago & Alton
rdllfOdu companies, charged WITH OHer-
ing concessions, and D. H. Kresky, a
freight broker of Kansas City, charged
with conspiring to secure concessions
from these railways, were dismissed up
on the suggestion Of district attorney
Van Valkenburgh, who stated that ne
believed the railroads had in this case
been imposed upon. AS the case against
Kresky was predicted upon that against
j. the railways it was useless to try him
j, In the case of the Chicago g. Alton
railroad company and ]. N. Fulthorn
it's former vice president and F. A.
Warm, it's former assistant traffic
manager, charged with having given
} concessions to the Schwarzchild &
Sulzburger Packing company, the de.
J PENDANTS set up plea of immunity on
the grounds that some of their employees
had testified before federal grand jury
at Chicago concerning the same trans
actions for which they later were in.
, dicted at Kansas City. Judge McPher.
, son sustained the governments de.
|, murrer to this plea, but continued the