The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-10-18
Tells of Deep Laid Plot of Sinister System to Con-
 trOl 1912 Election
MUNSEY OPPOSES
 PUBLICITY OF FUNDS
Cortelyou. Recalled and Says Bliss Told Him There Was No Stand ard Oil Contribution to
 the 1904 Fund

system formed a deep laio plot 10 con trol the present presidential election, Thomas W. Lawson of Boston told the Senate campaign contributions committee today.
 MT. Lawson was careful to impress upon the committee that he knew only in general way of the alleged col lossal scheme to nominate and elect a candidate satisfactory to the Wall street interests" All of his testimony was of matters which he knew in the same general way" and he became involved in heated controversy with the com mittee in defining just what he meant by this phrase with which he prefaced prac- tically every statement he made. In the course of the dispute he earnestly in- formed the committee that the examina- ton of J. P. Morgan and other witnesses had been joke"
 It Was All Arranged, Says Lawson
 The conspiracy of the Wall street in- terests of which MT. Lawson knew in a general way included, he declared, the defeat of Colonel Roosevelt at the repub- lican national convention, the nomination Of President Taft, and the injection Of Colonel Roosevelt into the campaign as a third party candidate, to split the re- publican party all this without the knowledge or consent of Colonel Roose- welt. Then, MT. Lawson knew. in . general way, a mysterious fund of sl.0o0,- 900 had been raised in Wall street to dead lock the democratic convention at Bal timore, prevent the nomination of any of the candidates before the convention and to name dark horse satisfactory to the system who was to be elected.
 T communicated this information to MT Bryan, said MT. Lawson, 'and as a result MT. Wilson was nominated and the scheme failed"
 Frank A. Munseys who preceded Mir. Lawson, argued at length with the com- mittee against the publicity of campaign aczsgilJitiolss declaring t was recessary that rich men contribute, and that such publicity as the present investigation had enforced had frozen up the pocketbooks" of the wealthy. He outlined his own ex- penses in the Roosevelt pre-convention campaign fund amounting to more than sl1S,0W and told the committee that com
 
 have contributed the real figures made him Hook like piker.' He estimated the total expenditure of the Roosevelt re-convention campaign at s574,oo0.
 Corruption in Detroit
 Before MT. Lawson and MT. Munsey 10. Murfin of Detroit who declared that the recent primaries in that city were "rotten-the worst we ever had He charged that money was used lavishly, and that delegates were bought like sheep
 George B. Cortelyou, chairman of the republican campaign committee in 1904, was recalled. He gave the committee his recollection of the so-called Standard Oil contribution of s100.O00 which John D. Archbold testified he gave to the Roose- welt fund that year. Mir. Cortelyou said that when President Roosevelt demanded that any Standard oil money be refunded he was told by Cornlus N. Bliss, tras- urer of the committee, that no contribu- tion had been received from the company The witness said he had a vague recol- lection that Mir. Bliss said something to the effect that mo questions should be asked as to individual contributions, and that after the election MT. Bliss had said something to him about contribution from H. H. Rogers of the Standard Oil company, which, he said, may have been the Archbold money.
 The committee went after MT Lawson's s conspiracy story rather sharply and en- deavored in vain to pin him down to statement of his basis for the recital. He said he had private means of informa- ton. many of them confidential. and all, ;,,fo al ba Vt O a bit of information became known to him he took particular pains to arrange matters so he might not know the exast source of the information. This rather took the committee off its feet, and tho senators questioned in vain in an effort to get specific information from the wit ness.
 Spent s100,000 for Roosevelt
 He said that in an effort to defeat the 'system's'' plans he had financed a S00.- 900 independent advertising campaign in behalf of Colonel Poisevelt. in the hope that he could be nominated on the re- publican ticket and elected.
 Senator Pomerene and the witness be- came involved In heated argument when the senator demanded MT. Lawson's au- thority for his statement regarding the sl cocoon raised to control the Baltimore convention. MT. Lawson said that he believed that Inquiry was not within the committees Jurisdiction
 ''Do you understand the scope of this committees power and authority?' de- manded Senator Pomerene.
 The witness half rose and pounded his clenched fists on the arm of his chair He glared at the four men behind the long committee table and. leaning toward them, shouted:
 '' Idcnt think I could misunderstood the scope of this committees work SO far. I've read the record. T understand that l. P:erpont Morgan and the ether men of his class have been con,peile1 to argwcr. fdont believe this committee should seize upon me just because I am on the side Of the people against these men.
 "Oh yes. I understand these things testimony of all those men before the committee has been regarded as a joke"
 Goes Back to 1904
 MT Lawson testified that he knew fin the same general way" Of contributions amounting to from $500 900 to s70o,00D to the fund of Alton B. Pardker in 1904 made by the Standard Oil group. He said aftera long explanation on this point came partly from conversations with the late H. H. Rodgers of the Standard Oil company
 This investigation,' said Lawson "seems to be a matter of passing the
 lCentinued sn Page Nias)