New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-02-24
DEFENCE OF ALLDS
continued from first naKe.

all the graces of an orator all the nice
ties Oh voice infection of gesture anu
facial expression of an accompilsheo
actor. and all the appreciation of elocu-
tlonary effect of the most seasoned po-
'ltlcai campaigner To the picture
drawn by James w Osborne of the leg
isiative highwayman on his black horse
with pointed pistol holding up the bridge
people, L1ttleton contrasted one or the
bridge companies bribing town boards
meetlng in secret to def.aud munlcl-
paiities through illegal combinations
ana dividing their loot through mysteri-
Gus papers in which never name APP
peared
senator Conger he painted as the
SNUG raced representative of these di"
Legged boodlers Senator Aids as their
uncompromising foe, man of unstaineo
personal and legislative reputation 10
De sure, he was subject to the dlctatioi
of the party boss. which sometimes
might create peculiar situation. 30
also Mr.. Littleton represented the IN
PRODUCERS of the highway legislation
Mr.. Stevens Senator Malby, Mr.. Cadln
Mr.. Bridgeman. Mr.. Yale and Chairman
Doughty of the Internal Affairs com
mlttee as men Of the highest character,
deeply wronged by the Conger lawyers
and Mr. Conger in the characterization
of their bills as strike legislation"
Motive is the touchstone.' he declared.
The exploiters of villages and towns In
the state, until hardly place was with
out their trail Of corruption" had dis
tinct motive in assailing the vigilant-
uncorruptible legislator Aids. he main
tanned. If they couldn't bride him, they
must attack him and get rid of him. So
they bided their time. meanwhile sending
Benn Conger to the Legislature again in
1909. And when the struggle over the
majority leadership came this year, the
best organized gang of hooters the state
ever knew" saw its chance Through
Benn Conger it struck at Senator Aids
and bIackened his name with the horri-
Bile accuse ton of bribery.
AUDIENCE TAKEN BY STORM.
It was a mastery presentation of his
subject, made with all the subtle skill
which put Mr.. Littleton into the front
rank of campaign stump speakers, and
his hyperfervid conclusion fairly took
his audience by storm. The question, he
said. was whether or not Aids helped
kill the highway legislation in 1901 De
cause of a paltry 81 900 bride or because
of orders from Plat.
And in determining this, said Mr..
7 Iii I ca a
unblemished career; a career that is not
shot through and through with a rotten
ness that defies description; not a career
which comes with its lips blistering with
bribe- giving; not A career coming as
man living in the very shadow of the
accuser, but in the palm Of whose hand
he has rested for over ten years; IN
career following him from New Hamp-
shire to this state. where through all his
life he has lived in his own loca lily, be-
You'd reproach. beyond impeachment
and above attack, until the bridge COM
panies. enraged, outranged driven.
hounded, discovered and excluded from
the state, at last, in secret and conf
dental communication, endeavored to
strike him in the back a blow, and. by
the aid of popular clamor, hoped that
they could strike him down from his
place in the Senate.
Gentlemen of the committee he has
stripped himself from his leadership to-
day; he wants no advantage in this con-
test. and demands advantage. He
does not want the Republican party
which has honored him to have any bur
from, a r11omantarV
distrust of him, if there be such a dis
trust.
He demands that shoulder to Shout
der, face to face, in this very body, be
fore the whole world and his tryers, he
shall meet the man face to face. and that
ii shall be war to the knife and knife TO
the hit. and let the fittest survive. l
shall appeal to you in the end. upon all
these facts, to restore him to public con-
fidence TO restore him to the esteem of
his fellows, and. if there has been a
nomentary shattering of that confidence
which he has heretofore enjoyed, let it
he understood that a corrupt gang of
bridge thieves led by man who con-
fesses that he is a bride giver and his
puppet. cannot strike down an unbem-
ished Senator in a great capital among
his own fellows
Earlier in his address. while speaking
of the "Cleveland agreement" Mr.. Lit
Teton alleged that the sixteen bridge
concerns conspired in 1901 to rob the
towns of New York, Pennsylvania, Mary
land West Virginia. Kentucky, Ohio
Indiana and Michigan by means of COL
lusive bidding. He read from his pri-
vate memorandum statistics regarding
bridge contracts in a number of New
York State towns which he declared
were secured by the combination under
this agreement. The dates. places and
amounts of these contract awards were
as follows
January % 1865, Chenango, Broome
County $3.50
No date, Ashland, Greene County,
S7OO
February ), 1908. Bingha mton, $50.
(Repairs to the Tompkins Street BridgeD
April 3. 1905. Malone, 81 $40
Littleton also mentioned bridge jobs at
Claire. ST. Lawrence County; Sanford,
Delaware County, and Harrisburg Penn.
On the Harrisburg job which was for a
bridge built over PENIS Creek in Feb
uary, 1905, Littleton declared that the
contract pri,3 was S64 ,9I5 and the esti-
Tod 4 4 l.