The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1914-01-28
Many High Heads May Be
Hit in Que
bee
INSIDE STORY
OF THE GRAFT
Strong Support Behind the
Daily Mail in
Matter

Montreal, Jan. 2S-Montreal financial
circles are no less agitated than political
men by the revelations of The Mail, con-
corning how Mousseau and other mem
bers OF the Quebec legislature were
trapped by Burns detectives, bribed by
marked bills, reported by dictaphone in
the throes OF ELUSIVE gratitude for
money down. 1t is now believed that
the Mail proprietors did not originate
nor pay for the detective game. This is
said to have been invented and engi-
neered by d. T.. McGibbon, who bought
the Herald, long Liberal organ, some
three years ago, and turned it into a
lingo antiLaurier, anti-reciprocity organ
on the eve of the general elections of
September, 1911. Sir Hugh Graham,
owner of the Star, had tried to buy the
Herald in rivalry with McGibbon, but
was overbid and thus disappointed in his
scheme for monopolizing the evening En-
glish press Of that city. The two men
have long been bitterly at feud.
Hoping to inculpate Graham--so the
credible report goes in financial circles
McGibbon employed the Burns detectives
at an outlay of $l50,000, his real aim
having been that they should watch the
Montreal Tramways bill, in which Ora
ham was presumed to be heavily inter-
ested, and catch the Graham "crowd" in
bribing support for it, contra to civic in
terests, as well as to that of McGibbon
and his cronies. 1t was by way of ad-
iunct to the main scheme that the Burns
detectives, acting under aliases, organ
lied a bogus company for holding fairs,
shows, and other entertainments, in
course of which game they bribed Nous
seau and others. Before this bogus con-
Germs bogus bill was enacted, McGibbon
had obtained reasons for selling the Her
aid, by which he had already lost much
money. Moreover, the Montreal Tram
ways bill was withdrawn, possibly be-
cause Graham and his crowd "smelt
rat"
Graham now appears to have secured
large interest with those persons to
whom McGibbon sold the Herald, which
is to be anialgamated with the Tele-
graph, nominally controlled by Fielding,
late minister OF finance in the Laurie1
government at Ottawa. What with ces-
sstion of attempt to pass the tramways
bill, and sale of the Herald, McGibbon,
abandoned hope of catching and exposing
Graham. That the rich sensation he had
prepared by aid of Burns, should not be
lost to the public, he turned the whole of
his information, dietaphone reports, ETC.,
to MacNab and Nichols, proprietor of
the Mails, thus enabling them to
boom their clever paper, of which
they intend, it is credibly reported, to
issue an evening edition, in rivalry to
Graham's sheets, the Star, Herald and
Telegraph.
To what extent McGibbon trapped Sir
Hugh and his gang, has not yet been re-
yealed by the Mail. But financial circles
in Montreal are much disturbed by fear
that far more extensive, ruthless, dam
aging series of exposures will be soon
made by lie Mail than has yet appeared
in its pages. An amusing development
is that Mousseau and the other incul-
pated French Canadians are seemingly
about to launch an impudent pretence
that they knew the Burns men to be try
ing to trap them, wherefore they took
brides in order to trap the wicked detec-
tives in assailing the honor of Quebec
politicians! The story is regarded as
gauzy in the extreme, but sure to be
backed by hard swearing. Altogether |
there is reason to anticipate much "fun"
in the French province, large exposures
of how rival financiers love one another,
and great scattering of hitherto re-
spected wigs on the Green. The legisla- |
lures investigation required by Sir Lor- |
ner Gouin began at Quebec yesterday.