The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-12
For Three Hours He Speaks With Greatest Vigor Against His Politi-
 cal Enemies
IN SHARP CONTRAST TO HIS DEFENSE
 OF FEBRUARY, 1911
Causes Sensation by Introducing Affidavits Charging Attempted Bribery by Roosevelt Forces.
 Speech More of an Att
 tack Than Defense

Washington. July 11.--For the sec ond time in IS months William LOT inner took the floor in the Senate today to defend his title to seat in that body as the junior senator from Illinois. For three hours he inveighed against his newspaper and political enemies; dissected influences that had been ex- erted against him and dealt with the attitude of President Taft and Colonel Roosevelt toward him and his assistants in Illinois politics.
 The Senate did not force him to conclusion of his speech. His emphatic delivery of the denunciation of his op- ponents weakened him physically and at 33 0o'clock in the afternoon the Senate recessed until 10 o'clock tomors row morning when MT. Lorimer will resume. It Is expected he will con clude his defensive speech in few hours tomorrow and before the end of the session the Senate will take it's
 final vote upon Senator Luke Leas resolution of expulsion.
 Chamber Is Crowded Before Mir Lorimer had spoken an hour the galleries. which were half
 empty when he began, had filled to overflowing, the Senate floor was well | filled with members, giving close at tention to htrn. and around the walls of the Senate stood scores of mem bers of the House. From a position
 at the rear of the chamber In the mid dle aisle he delivered his speech with dramatic gesture and in a voice that frequently rose to flights of passion that carried far through the capitol corridors.
 Coptrasted to the picturesque appeal of Februarv, 1911, when senator Lof 1 imer gave n detail tho cii urlste aces which he claimed had influenced the
 votes of 53a democrats for him In tho Illinois legislature. his speech today was an attack rather than a defense. He scarcely touched upon the charges of bribery in the Illinois legislature while he held the floor.
 Chicago newspaper owners and pub fishers, Governor Deneen, States At torney Wayman and others who have been active in the prosecution of the Lorimer case in Illinois. were the chief object of his shafts; and he sought to show that back of the prosecution was a conspiracy of newspaper and corr porate forces to punish him because he could not be controlled"
 Sensational Affidavits
 At the close of the afternoon SC fur- nfshed a sensation by introducing af- fidavits made by delegates to the recent republican convention at Chicago to the effect that they had been offered money 1 to vote in support of the Roosevelt forces in the convention The names attached to the affidavits included J. NJ. Shumpirt. A. Buckley. D. W. Sher- 1 rod R. B. Butts and w M. Jones of
 Georgia and other southern delegates. 1 The affidayits came after Mir. Lori- mer had dealt in detail with the let | ter of President Taft to Colonel Roose7 | velt made public with the lnternation-
 al Harvester company during the pre- convention campaign In this letter
 President Taft had stated his desire to
 see MT. Lorimer busted from the Sen
 ate.
 Senator Lorimer declared he did not
 seek to prove anything in his own case by the affidavits, but that he wanted
 to ssliow the hypocricy running ram-
 pant through the country" Colonel | Roosevelt's friends, he declared, would
 have secured his nomination If possible "by the corrupt use of money;' while
 Colopel Roosevelt himself was declar-
 ing The would destroy every political
 corruption"
 As to his support of President Taft.
 MT. Lorimer said he had supported the | principles of constitutional government
 for which the President stood. He de-
 clared the President would not have
 received as many votes in Illinois as
 he did in North Dakota In the primary
 campaign if the men with whom I am
 associated in politics mad not voted | for him.
 Illinois Senator Speaks "It is true that the Senate has the right to deny me seat in this body
 Lorlmer began. Ion the fiinsiest pretext or on no pretext at all I intend to show that no vote cast for me was influenced by fraud
 MT. President" he said in measured tones. this is no joke. This Is a solemn
 and serious question. If the Senate de-
 cides to follow the views of minority of this investigatinr committee 1t will be travesty on civilized jurisprudence. q mockery on justice. It will be a dec laration that the Sen-te has decided to
 follow the red fag; that 1t has become the | advocate of anarchy has adopted the doc Urine of the recall as advocated by lts arch champion
 Senator Lorimer. in an attack on the Chicago newspaper, charged that while the Tribune property was worth from s7, oOoo0o to si0.0oo coo, 1t paid taxes only on si20eGo. He called the newspapers against which he launched his invective | robbers of the public treasury of ths city of Chicago" He attacked Victor
 Lawson of the Chicago Daily News ani
 charged that the Ne.s occupied school l land ut rental of s1 per square foot and | paid no taxes while less valuable land across the street rented for s3.50 per | foot.
 l Mir. Lorimer charged that Mir. Lawson i had secured unlawful reductions in the
 taxes upon his home and business prop
 srty and added that MT. Lawson was try | ing to drive him out of public life. "lf States Attorney Wavnaan wouIl treat Victor Lawson as he would treat | William Lorimer if he were the trans
 r-esscr.' he declared. Victor Lawson
 and the chief clerk In the assessors of ] flee would be in the penitentiary today 1 for conspiracy to commit fraud" 1 Senator Lorimer launcned into spirited J = = -