Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1911-02-23
THE DEFENSE
Of LOR|MER
His Denial Of All Charges
By His Enemies
He KNEW OF NO BRIBERY
In a Strong Speech the Sen
ator Said Democrats Vot-
ed for Him Because They
Liked Him-The Proba-
bility of His Victory.

4
mer of Illinois in person made his de-
Tense today against the charge that his
election to the senate of the United
States was accomplished by the bribery
of the legislature of Illinois. His de-
Tense was a general and emphatic de-
NAL.
There was no vote today. lmmedi-
ately upon the conclusion of Mr.. Lor-
rimer's speech the senate went into ex-
elusive session on the japanese treaty,
and the answer to Mr. L0rimer's
speech, which Senator Beverage was
prepared to make, went over until to-
morrow.
Nobody knows when Il vote will be
reached
With almost every senator in his
seat and in the presence of great
crowd of members of the house on the
senate floor and of spectators in the
densely packed galleries, Mr.. Lorimer
made a speech of four hours, and even
his bitterest opponents admitted that 1t
was able, well sustained and dramatic.
Mr. Lorimer's speech was distinctly
human interest story" For example,
in explaining the votes of democrats for
him in the legislature, which elected
him to the senate, he told of the be-
ginning of his acquaintance with
"Hinkey Dink' Kenna in Chicago for
tv wears ago II was a homely story
of one newsboy helping another, but it
was most effectively told ana there
were many other touches Of human ma
ture IN the speech which held the inter-
est of the great audience from begin
ming to end.
What effect. If any. the speech will
have upon the vote in the senate it is
impossible to say. The general impress
sion about the capital tonight is that
Mr. Lorimer and his friends have safe
| ly pledged the votes with which to de-
clare his seat vacant and thar if the
matter comes to a vote. the result will
be a Lorimer victory.
Senator Beveridge is expected to
make a long speech in answer to Mr..
Lorimer. How much time the senate
will be willing to give to this subject
remains to be seen. IL is not impossi-
BILE that Lorimer's opponents may be
able to prevent the matter coming To
vote before adjournment 1t vas said
today this was the plan which the anti
Lorimer people would try to carry out.
Mr.. Lorimer denied today practically
all the charges which have been made
against him. His statement was in the
nature both of testimony and of plead
ing. He devoted his attention entire
~ to the arguments of the opposing
senator's. He explained his demo-
cratic support on the ground CT long
standing personal friendships for him
self and of antipathy for Senator Hop
ldns. who was his principal antagonist
in the senatorial contest.
In the former connection. he related
more than one story showing attach
ments running over many years. This
portion OF the address appealed strong
lily to the feelings of senators. hut when
Senator Crawford intimated that the
Illinois senator was making a bid for
sympathy, he resented the imputatiOn
and turned the question to his own
advantage by saying his only purpose
was to set before the senate the truth.
| 1t was not matter Of sympathy. he
said, but Of right and wrong
Mr.. Lorimer undertook also to show
that his advocacy of the lakes the
gulf waterway had caused MANY mem
bers of the legislature to be partial TO
him. He said he made IN effor. to in
duce Governor Deneen to become a can
didate to break the senatorial deadlock
and. he declared. if Deneen had been
so inclined he could have elected Hop
kins by throwing his vote to him.
| One or two illusions were made to
the prosecution of the case and his
enemies were referred to as "assass
of character" There were occasional
pointed references to the speeches of
Senators Root and Crawford. coming
in for special attention.
Mr. Lorimer asserted emphaticaIly
that not only had he not used money to
influence his election, but that on his
honor he knew of none having been
so employed.
Besides Senator Beveridge. there is
Ia general expectation that other sena-
tors will ask to be heard. and it is pre-
ldicted that the aftermath" of the Lori
mer speech will be quite as interesting
as the speech itself
! Among the spectators. society" as it
is known in washington. was out in
force. Mrs Taft and party orcupied
seats in the executive gallery. and the
diplomatic gallery was filled wiFh rep
resentatives of various nations.