The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1908-02-06

charged bv my enemies in this state ~
be a desire to stand In with the lana
srafters. Why this should be SO e
mystery TO me.
Tho Panama Canal.
II am also charged by the OPPOSE.
ton with opposing the building OF ~
lock canal and with supporting the a..
level proposition because I was infin.
enced by my alleged railroad connec.
| IONS he continued. The facts re-
, ating to the increased expense agreed
| 1pon by the engineers has shown tt.af
was governed entirely by a different
motive. Shonts, the first engineer, was.
he engineer for one of the big trans
| Continental lines, while Stevens has for
years been the chief engineer of a half
dozen big railroad systems of the coun-
:ry. and their honesty ha never as vet
been impugned.
MY opponents likewise charge ma.
with not having read the railroad rate
bin until four DAYS before it passed
In February, 1906, l wrote a letter that
it was true / had not read the rate.
! bill, which was then in the Senate COM
| mittee, and dozens OF these bills We're
| up for consideration. Sixty days before
the vote was taken on the first amend
ment and two and one-half months be-
fore the final vote was taken, I de-
| clared for a rate bill with such amend
I ments as would strengthen 1t, and that
bill as reported by the Senate com
mittee was amended in so particulars.
Among them were the amendments,
that I suggested, which included the
sleeping cars, ETC., and which were not
| in the bill when reported from the Sem
ate committee. During all that time
the bill was before the Senate 1 was:
| acting in complete harmony with Sem
ator Nelson. as appears by the Con-
gressional Record, on page TOTO.
Not Tied to Railroads.
"In the past years 1t has been dis
| cussed throughout the state by my or
ponents, and it Is being talked OF to-.
day, that my alleged position as attor-
ney for the Milwaukee road governed
my actions as always being In favor Of
railroad legislation, and that I was
subservient to their interests. can
say without the least fear of successful
contradiction hat in all of the % years
hat l ave practiced law in this state
that no railroad or any other rpora
ton ever had the slightest hold on my
services as an attorney. I have tried
cases many times for the Milwaukee
company, but there never was an in
stance of a case tried but that | rem.
dered the company a bill for that par
ticular case, INC they he'd no more
call on me for further ca,Ss than any
individual for whom I had tried one
case n had completed my service for
him. ! have never accepted a retainer
from this railroad corporation, and my
every transaction with the company
was a completed one when the case
was finished. The company has paid
me for my work in Just the same man
ner hat any individual would cancel
an Indebtedness to an attorney.
AT the time that l assumed my du-
| ties as a United States senator I in
formed the company that I would not
accept any new cases from it, and all
that l have ever lone for a railroad
since that time was simply to finish
the cases with which l was connected
before entering the Senate 1 stated
to the railroad company that my posi-
ton as a senator would not permit Of
me accepting any more cases from it's
hands, and to this day that statement
has not been violated by me in the
least"