The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1911-07-08
Alleges Senator Martin Was
the Disbursing Agent
for Railroad
REITERATES CHARGE
OF BEING LOBBYIST
Question of Veracity is Put
Squarely and Denial is
lnvlted-Contest With
Lee Brought Up
Especial to The Richmond virginian.1

Especial to The Richmond virginian.l
LYNCHBURG. VA. July Rep
resentative William A. Jones, OF the
First districts VINO is opposing Sena-
tor Thomas :. Martin for the nomi-
nation for United States Senator,
spoke here Tonight to a small audi
ence. owing TO tho severe rainfall.
The rain fell i'll torrents, and the
zoo or more men and two ladies'
who managed to get to the hall were
more or less drenched.
Mr.. Jones speech was entitled
Lumber, Lorimer and Martini" and
was devoted mainly to Senator Mar
TINS tariff record on lumber. The
adbption of the substitute Martin res
olutton as to the manner Of conduct
ing the second Lorimer investigation,
charged Representative Jones. had
been especially pleasing to the lum-
Der trust.
Representative Jones made a fur
Their charge that Senator Martin, when
elected to the Senate. was not only
a railroad lobbyist. but that he was
one of the disbursing agents Of the
yellow dog fund of the railroads."
FarcfcaI Investigation.
Senator Martin, Mr.. Jones declAr.
ed, had had some personal experiences
with Legislative Investigations The
people of Virginia would never fnr-
get the famous Lee Martin contest OF
1898. when Senator Martin, a COM
paratively unknown man. was nom-
mated in a Democratic Legislative
caucus. and subsequently elected over
General Fitzhugh Lee. the idol Of the
people Of Virginia it was then
charged and widely believed that SEM
ator Martins nomination was brought
about through corrupt and dishonest
methods; that In fact. the railroad
corporations. which were then. ~
now. all powerful In Virginia. had
purchased his election by the lavish
and INSCRIPTIONS expenditure o.
money.
Il need not dwell upon the char
acter of the so-called Investigation.
Since that farcicai performance the
country has Witnessed many so-caliod
legislative Investigations OF alleged
fraud and corruption. but I venture
the assertion that there has never i
been one where less earnest effort
was made to unearth bribery and
corruption than was nut forth IN
this instance. A number OF questions,
propounded by one member Of the
committee. the late Senator Mush-
back. OF Alexandria. II honestly an
swered. would doubtless have devol-
oped serious and important testimony,
but objections were invariably made
and sustained to that character OF In
terrogation, and so this absurd In
yestigatien ended as did the Lorirner
and "a exervodyaan&trt-
patea that IL woyit. When obtectiou
had been sustained to one of SEM
ator Mush baclas questions probing
for the truth, he Indignantly exclaim.
ed that II seemed to him that the
purpose OF the investigation was %
cancel rather than to reveal the truth.
and that therefore 1t was useless for
him to ask any further questions.
Quotes Joseph Bryan.
OF the election which took pIac9
before the investigation was coEn-
pleted. the late Joseph Bryan, editor
and OWNER of the Richmond Times.
declared in a leading editorial, which
appeared in that journal on the morn-
ing following the election, that Sem
ator Martins election in advance o4
the report OF the investigating conn
rittee made its finding a foreg0no
conclusion. 7 read the exact words
OF this editorial:
The election yesterday Of Thomas
S. Martin to the United States Sen.
ate for the term beginning March &.
1895, before the final report Of the
investigating committee. make their
finding foregone conclusion.
ITO criti@ize the conduct OF the
committee in the examination, N ~
think the case deserves. would b
now pua down to the spleen Of dix
appointment rather ehan to calm and
sound Judgment; We shall, therefore
with confidence. rest the casA up03
the testimony alone. which we VIII
give In full.
IF any intelligent man-not bent
on 'concealing'-wail say that the
committees rulings were uniforn0
and in favor of getting at facts which
would likely lead to important ana
relevant developments. we will mako
public acknowledgment Of error.
But we do not believe any such nan
can he found.
THAT Mr.. Martin goes to the UnitAa
States Senate with a cloud Of suo.
picion upon the fairness Of his tftl0s
to the office is due to the committee
which would not let the light In upon
the dark places"
G. & .. Connection.
There was one bit Of testtmonNl
adduced In this investigation to whici
desire to direct particular attention.
1t was testified that two years prlopF
representative OF the g. Il O. n. H.
co-operated with other persons In op@
posing what was known AZ the Kent
bill. affecting the railroads and. the
pending before tho Legislatures: that
he stated to Mr.. Joseph Bryan, wka
favored certain features Of the moao~
ure. that "the railroads controlled
the Legislature and could defeat thos
bin entirely and that he could not
agree to anything else" Nr. BryAnso
reply was. according 10 . stenOaIap63aA
report OF the proceedings: .sYou -
control this Legislature. but the noos
pie will send back another ana -
other until they force you to ytelA ~
their reasonable. demands" u
And here permit me to say ~ 1&lgs
Joseph Bryan that Virginia n46
produced : more hi9h-miAAe6 - u