Los Angeles herald., 1910-10-07
Accused Leader Admits Trip to
st. Louis but Says Handled
No $1,000 Packages
DEFENDS MIKE LINK
Senatorial Investigating Commit
tee Hears Sweeping Denial
of All Wrong Doing
Associated Pressl

CHICAGO, Oct. 6.-For the first time,
under oath, Lee O'Neil Browne, Demo-
cratic minority leader of the lower
house at Springfield, told his story to-
day of the election of William Lorimer
% the United States senate.
Browne was tried twice on. a charge
of bribing Representative Charles
White to vote for Lorimer, but did not
testify in his own behalf.
The first trial resulted in a disagree
ment, and the second in acquittal. He
has still to stand trial on an Indictment
making the same charges, returned at
Springfield.
The witness talked composedly to
the senatorial committee, entering a
sweeping denial to any wrongdoing.
Browne said he was but slightly ao-
quainted with White before the open
ing of the legislative session, during
which Lorimer was elected to the
senate by a combination of Democratic
and Republican votes. During the
session, however, he met White fire.
quently and helped him with bills in
which he seemed deeply interested.
Il felt sorry for him. said Browne
TO END DEADLOCK
The matter of securing Democratic
votes for Lorimer, Browne stated, was
first mentioned to him in a casual way
by Representative David Shanahan.
Later, about three weeks before the
election, Speaker Shurtleff came to
his room and asked him, in effect, how
many of his followers among the DEM
ocrats would be willing to vote for
Lorimer.
Il told him things were in such
condition-the session had dragged on
so long-a good many of them wanted
to end the deadlock" said Browne.
Browne testified he saw Senator
Lorimer and Speaker Shurtleff fire.
quently after having decided to sup
port the former, and that he talked to
many Democratic representatives, In
Guiding Beckemeyer, White. Shep-
pard, Link and Clark, all of whom have
testified before the senatorial com
mittee.
81 told Lorimer that according to
my best information there would be
thirty Browne Democrats who would
vote for him." said the witness.
Browne denied he sent Representa-
tive Robert Z. Wilson, alleged distrib-
utor of the legislative Jackpot, to
st. Louis in July. He admitted he had
written to several persons expressing
regret that he could not have been
with Wilson.
Browne said he was in st. Louis
June 81 1909, which has been fixed by
other witnesses as the time and place
when $1,000 packages of money We're
handed to them by Browne.
His purpose in going to St. Louis,
he said, was to confer with the several
representatives on the subject of state
patronage for Democrats, which Gov
ernor Deneen was then taking up.
Browne fatty denied he had given
Link any money June p, 1909, in st.
Louis" asked Attorney Austrian.
NO"
If he says you did, he lied, does
he?'
Il wouldn't say So" said Browne.
'If 1 had been through what Mike
Link went through and had been
threatened in the states attorneys Of
flee as he was threatened, I might
have fallen for it. I wouldn't say he
lied"
Thomas Curran, a Republican repre-
sentative, testified in rebuttal of the
testimony of White.
white asked me if there was any
thing doing on the Lorimer election" ="
said Curran. "I told him I did not
know. but observed that he, as a DEM
ocrat, ought to know if there was any
thing doing"
on cross examination Curran said
he thought that if any money was
used, White, as a Democrat, would
know it.