Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-12-21
LOR|MER'S TITLE
HELD TO Be GOOD
Continued From First Page.)

whether, If these charges were establish
ed, "a sufficient number were bribed to
vote for Senator Lorimer to render his
election to that Office invalid. The COM
mittee says that it took into account the
demeanor of witnesses while testifying.
their apparent candor or want OF candOr.
and other indicia of the truth or falsitF
of the stories they were telling. me
report says:
-Four members Of the general assembly
| which elected Mr.. Lorimer testified to re-
ceiving money as p consideration for
their votes. The members who thus con-
fessed their own infamy were Charles "A.
White. Michael Link, H. J. c. Beckemeyer
and Daniel W. Holstlaw''
The report goes on to name Charles "A.
White. a member of the lower house OF
the Illinois legislature. as the chief OF
those self-acCusers and the one on whose
testimoney the whole fabric OF the , &C
cusation largely depends and accuses
him directly of corruption throughout his
legislative career. 1t is stated that
White appears to have conceived the
plan Of claiming to have been prloea I'D
connection with the senatorial election
as basis for extorting money from SEN
ator Lorimer" The report quotes from
the record of the investigation the CORE
spondence relied upon to support th's
charge.
White Not Believed.
The conclusion of the committee in re-
gard to the testimony of White is as fol-
lows:
1T may be said that after seeing, OBJ
serving and hearing this witness it was
the opinion of a majority of the sub
committee that no credence ought to be
given to any part of his ts stimony tend
ing to establish the fact of bribery. And
after carefully reading the testimony
given by White in the investigation,
majority of the committee concur i'll the
opinion Of the subcommittee in that re-
gard
The report comments in detail upon the
cases of Link, Beckemeyer and HOkStlaW.
In the case of Link, it is said he testified
that no money was paid or promised him
before he voted for Mr.. Lorimer, and
that later 'he was compelled. by means
fully set forth in his testimony, to re-
tract his former statement and testify
to having received money for his vote"
The report quotes the T. StimOny of Link
In like manner it quotes that in regard
to Beckemeyer and Holstlaw, and COM
mentS thereon in part as follows:
No Evidence of Other Bribery.
after a careful examination and con-
sideration of all the evidence submitted
the committee are of the opinion that
even if it should be conceded that the
four members Of the Illinois general as
sembly before referred to received money
HI CphSlOCl dtiOu lOI tIclT SOteS LOT MI
Lorimer. there are no facts or circunl-
stances from which it could be found or
legally inferred that any other member
or members of the said general assembly
were bribed to vote for Mr.. Lorimer.
The majority for Senator Lorimer in
the Joint assembly of the two houses of
the general assembly of the state of
Illinois was fourteen. Unless, therefore
sufficient number of these votes We're
obtained by corrupt means to deprive him
nf this majority has
title to the seat he occupies in the Sen
ate. If it We're admitted that four of
the members of the general assembly who
voted tor MIR: Lorimer were bribed to
votes cast in the general assembly and
his election was valid
Minority Support of Lorimer.
The report says that it is claimed that
if the four witnesses named were bribed
those who bribed them were equally
guilty, and that the votes of Lee O'Neil
Browne, the minority leader of the as
sembly, Senator Broderick and Repre-
sentative Wilson should also be exclud-
ed. The report says, however, that the
committee can find no warrant in the
testimony for believing that either one of
the said legislators was moved by any
corrupt influence
The testimony of the men named was
cited as evidence of their motives in
voting for Mr.. Lorimer- The report says
further that the fact that many MEM
bers of the minority party voted for Mr..
Lorimer creates no we'll founded suspicion
that they were bribed to do so. AS to
Senator Broderick, it is declared that there
is no testimony that he was brlbed, ana
in the case of Wilson, it is declared that
If he was guilty of any act of bribery
it was not in connection with the sena-
torial election The committee says
there is no good ground for deductinS
the votes of Brown, Broderick and Will
son from those received by Mr.. Lorimer.
Much Of the testimony, the report says
related to alleged payment of money 10
members of the general assembly by ROD
ert L. Wilson, and this comment Is made;
Not the Senate's Concern.
Whether the sums of money claimed to
have been paid were or were not paid,
saJ the mat