University of South Carolina Libraries
AFTER LEAK GANG President Orders Probe Run Deep Into Cotton Scandal. CALLED BIG SCOUNDRELS Wrong Designated as Far Greater Than Outr-nht Stealina?Attorney General Moody Receives Emphatic Instructions. President Roosevelt has determined that the scandal growing out of the cotton report leaks in the department of agriculture shall be probed to the bottom. He holds that the man or men responsible for the leaks are even in a greater degree culpabxe than they would have been had they stolen money outright from the government. He proposes that Assistant Statistician Holmes, agajnst whom serious allegations are made, shall be punished if it shall be found possible "to secure his arrest and conviction under present laws. The president has followed the work of the investigation conducted by Secretary Wtilson wi.h keen interest The general results have been presented to him, together with su<*b recommendations as Secretary W.i son had to make. The president took prompt and decisive action. He referred the mat er to the department of "justice, with instructions that it should be given immediate and careful attention. In "accordance with ! that order, Solfcrtor General Holt is | making a thorough inquiry into the esse. roinfnrrp his formal order. Pres ideat Roosevelt wro'e the following pointed letter to Attorney General Moody: "My Dear Mr. Moody: I most earnestly hope every effort will he made to bring Holmes to justice in connection with the cotton report scandal. Please go over the papers yourself. The man is, in my judgment, a far greater scoundrel than if he had stolen money from the government, as he used the government to deceive outsiders and to make money for himself and for others. Sincerely yours, "THEODORE ROOSEVELT." In response to the presidents letter, Attorney General Moody replied: "Boston, Mass., July 14, 1905.?Dear Mr. President: I have received your letter July 12, and note with care the anxiety you express that Holmes, the offending official in the cot-on case, he brought to justice, if possible. I have kept, through correspondence , with the solicitor general, in close touch with this investigation. It shall receive my most earnest per?sonal attention. I will not now express an opinion, as I think it better to await the result of some investigations now iD progress in the department of justice. At the first seasonable moment, I will communicate to you the progress we have made and the prospect of indictments. Very ret specially, WILLIAM H. MOODY." Cotton Men in Conference. Harvie Jordan, president of tha Southern Cotton Association arrived in Washington Saturday, and imme. ?< /* /M\nfOT'Ondfl TXTlth QlitlCiy Weill iuiv wuibi vuw iTiv Richard Cheatham, secre ary of the same association, and Henry G. Hester,., secretary of the New Orleans cott6n exchange, who are at the cap. > Italian connection with the probing The cotton men met at the rooms of Colonel Hester, at the Ebbitt House. None of them would state the character of the business under consideration beyond saying that the officials of the two organizations in every way possible will assist the investigation of the charges which are being conducted by the department of justice. New Acreage Report Ordered. Secretary Wilson was in lengthy conference Saturday night with Messrs. Jordan and Hester, as a result of which it has been decided to issue a new cotton acreage report ; to take the place of the report issued j in June, provided there arc sufficient j funds available to do the work. j REPORT ON GEORGIA SCHOOLS. I i Advance Sheets Submitted to Legislature by .Commissioner Merritt. State School Cbmissioner W. B. Meritt^ Georgia has submitted some , advance sheets of his report to the general assembly. The school statistics for 1904 show J that the schooj population was 712,- ' 000. The number of pupils attending ! school 490,103. Of these 298,865 were white children and 200,233 were ne- j groes. The number of teachers was 10,360. Of these 6,951 were white and i 3,400 negroes. The number of school ! houses in the state was 7,786 j ALEXANDER SERIOUSLY ILL. Former President of Equitable in Se. ; elusion on Long Island. James W. Alexander, former president of the Equitable Life Assurance Society, is very ill. He is undergo- j ing treatment in a secluded place on Long Island, and it is said that he is in such a condition that all knowledge of the recent developments in the society have beta kept from him. JEROME SEEKS EVIDENCE; I I i ! New York District Attorney Demands j Papers Bearing on Investigation of Equitable Society Affairs. I , | A New York dispatch says: District ; Attorney Jerome Thursday made an unsuccessful attempt to secure from ! the office of First Deputy Superintendent of Insurance Robert H. Hunter a I copy oi tne ut;iiuitu cviuuucc <->u iuc affairs of the Equitable Assurance Society, taken before Superintendent of Insurance Francis Hendricks. This is the report which already has been [ printed, and of which Mr. Jerome [ Thursday said it was "funny" that I he could not obtain a copy when a | newspaper secured and printed it. After failure to feet the report, the district attorney sent Deputy Superintendent Hunter a letter, in which he said that he had Governor Higgins' order for a copy of the report and requested that it be delivered to one ot his assistants. Mr. Hunter declined to comply with the request unless Mr. Jerome gave him a receipt to show that the copy In Mr. Hun! ter's hands was the property of Su| perfntendent Hendricks, and would I agree to return it within a reasonable time when requested to do so. Mr. Jerome then sent another letter to Mr. Hunter, in which he detailed all the correspondence which has passed between himself and Governor Wiggins on the subject as well as copies of the letters exchanged by the dis-, trict attorney and Mr. Hendficks. Concluding the letter says: I "It is always the habit of this ofj fice to receipt for papers and always the custom of this office to return papers to the custody where they belong, but it is not the custom of this office, nor will the district attorney agree, to return upon demand to a subordinate a copy of evidence directed to be furnished by the governor of the state of New York. "t acrfc tivai tou deliver to me, with out qualification or conditions, a copy of the testimony taken by the superintendent of insurance pursuant to the promise made by the superintendent o! insurance to the governor. I will answer to your superiors for its safe custody and return at the proper time." ADVISED TO HOLD COTTON. President Jordan Confident That Price Will Climb Up. The following has been issued by President Jordan of the Southern Cotton Association: "Heavy and continuous rains throughout the cotton belt during the past week have seriously affected growing cotton. The plants are tak: ing on too much growth and too little fruit where well cultivated, and inability to plow is leaving many of the fields grassy. Present conditions indicate a shorter crop each day they continue. If an eleven million bale crop should be grown, which now appears an impossibility, it should easily bring to the planters 12 cents per pound. If only 10,000,000 hales are harvested, which present conditions indicate, then it is hard to predict just where the price will go. Cotton producers should go slow in selling their present holdings, or in signing contracts for the future delivery of their cotton at present pri??. minimum of 10 cents per pound should only be adhered to in the production of full normal crops to meet the needs of consumption. "HARVTE JORDAN, "Pres. Southern Cotton Association.'' SAVANNAH EXCHANGE ACTS. Calls on Roosevelt to Rigidly Investigate Cotton Leak Scandal. At a meeting of the directors of the Savannah, Ga., cotton exchange on Thursday, action was taken calling on President Roosevelt to rigidly Investigate the department of agriculture to prevent further leaks in the cotton reports of the department. The resolution expresses the belief that the reports should either be abolished entirely, or else given such protection as will make them viable j and not harmful to the interests of the firmer and the country in general. BANDITS RIDDLED BY POSSE. Murderers of Railway Detective in Ransas Coon Come to Grief. G. C. Calhoon, an Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railway detective, was shot and instantly killed at Cedar"oio Von?as earlv Wednesday bytvV j outlaws, tiho were shot down later . by a posse of citizens. One of the outlaws, Ed Madigan ot Ponca, Oklahoma, was killed instantly by the posse. The other, William j Chadburn of Winfield, Kansas, was j fatally wounded. The outlaws exchanged many shots with the posse. FOUR LIVES CRUSHED OUT. j I Wind Wrecks Four Stcry Building j and Falling Walls Dea| Death. A large four-story building in | j course of erection at Winnipeg, Man- j { itoba. was blown down by a gale, and j j in falling its western wall crushed j adjoining houses, killing four per j sons end injuring ten. Considerable damage was also done j by the wind on the edae of the city, j 1 i I riot in new"yobk~ Fierce Battle Raged Between Whites and Blacks. USED GUNS AND BRICKS Force cf Two Hundred and Fifty Policemen Required to Quell Conflict?Scores cf the Combatants More or Less Injured. "San Juan Hill," the district bounded by Amsterdam and West End avenues and Sixty-first and Sixty-third streets, in New York city, so called because of its notoriety as a battleground, was the scene Friday night af a furious race riot which required 250 policemen to quell after many shots had been fired and several persons had been seriously injured.. The trouble began shortly after 9 o'clock when a policeman arrested Edwtard Connelly, white, for attacking Henry Williams, a negro, and was pursued to the station house with his prisoner by a mob of Connolly's friends, hurling showers of stones and other missiles. When the station house reserves turned out the whole neighborhood was in an uproar, and blacks and whites engaged in desperate struggles in the streets. Torrents of missiles were hurled from roofs and windows. Within ten minutes not less than a thousand men, boys and women, black and white, were engaged in a furious combat The small party of police were powerless and reinforcements were summoned. On their arival a cordon was drawn around the whole district, and strong patrols made repeated charges down the streets in a vain effort to restore order. They suoceeded in making a few prisoners, and were forced to retreat, fighting every inch of the way and pursued to the station house by a howling mob. The worst fighting was in Sixtysecond street, where from every window and roof rained missiles, while hundreds of shots were fired. Inspector McLaughlin arrived shortly before 9 o'clock and, realizing how wide-spread was the danger, sent hurry calls for reserves from as far north as One Hundred and Twenty-firm street from the east side, and from the west ride. In all there were more than 250 men under command of the inspector within twenty minutes. Squads of men were sent along roofs of the houses in Sixty-second street, where the fighting seemed heaviest. They walked from "West End avenue to Amsterdam, clearing the roofs, and found that many chimneys had been torn to pieces to furnish ammunition to the rioters, and in the comers of roofs were mounds of bricks, pottery and bottles, ^re arrests were made, and several whites and negroes were rescued from gangs of assailants, but a desultory combat continued. The rioting spread down town to Fifty-seventh street and up to Sixtyeighth street, although the hardest battles were fought between Sixtyfirst and Sixty-third streets. For more than half an hour cars on the Amsterdam line were blocked. Colored men pursued by whites took refuge on cars as they passed, and were followed by showers of bricks and stones as they fled. Every window in many cars were broken, and passengers took shelter in neighboring houses. Conductors and rhotormen hid under seats, leaving their ears to the mercy of the mob. Several i Dassengers were slightly hurt- by j stones and broken glasses. j Commissioner McAdoo arrived at 11 o'clock, and made a tour of the battle field, the fighting by that time having ceased. He said the riot could not have taken place had not the rougher element been permitted to j carry arms. They appeared to have ; a regular arsenal of weapons, as the ? police found when they searched the j prisoners. WANTED TO SEE A WRECK. j Two Boys Under Arrest for Attempt to Derail Fast Train. Albert Herfer, 14, and Charles Fee, 11, sons cf prominent farmers, two j miles, east of Lima, Ohio, were arrest1 ed Friday by Pennsylvania railroad detectives charged with an attempt to wreck passenger train No. 35. Angle irons were placed on the track, and when the obstruction was hit a j brake rod on the engine and two , I under the coaches were broken, but j the train kept on the rails. , "We wanted to see a wreck," was the only explanation given. CZAR WILL TRAVtL IV mudvun. Goes to Summon Representatives of People to Meet in Islinsky Palace. The Slovo (St. Petersburg) positively announces that the emperor witf travel to Moscow, where he will fssue a proclamation summoning the representatives of the people to the Islinsky palace, Kremlin. Some of the officials of the court already have gone to Moscow to make preparations for the event. HUBBARD AROUSED! President of New York Cotton Exchange After Wilson. i i \A/DlTro ta rnnort/n t wnilLO IU nuuoL V L L I I Members of Exchange Greatly Shocked by Disclosures of Venality in ; I Agricultural Department?New Phase is Added to Scandal. ? i I i | A Washington special says: A new j | and interesting phase of the cotton j j leak investigation was developed on j Wednesday through the publication of j the letter of Walter C. Hubbard, the j president of the New York cotton ex- I change, addressed to President Roose- j velt, in which the writer declared that the members of the exchange had been "greatly shocked by the recent disclosures of venality in the department of agriculture," and requesting a full investigation of the methods which led to the corruption with a view of preventing the possbility of recurrence. That letter, it is believed is the outcome of some recent correspondence between Secretary Wilson and Mr. Hubbard, in which the latter called upon the secretary to make him a public apology because ; be had some years ago called the secretary's attention to alleged leaks, and that no notice had been given the suggestion. The secretary wrote a tart reply, in which he informed Mr. Hubbard iv.i t-. ^ ? 1 - - * uiai ne uwea no one an apoiogy in : the light of having done ais duty to ! the best of his ability and that, when 1 he got anything that looked like facts, | promptly sent them to the secret ser- i vice officers to hunt down. The case to which Mr. Hubbard re- | ferred in his recent letter to the secretary occurred in 1900. On December 20 of that year Mr. Hubbard sent the secretary certain papers showing that a Mr. Steinberger wsx.ted to sell Information to a New York cotton brokerage firm, claiming that he got It in aidvance of the department. Secretary Wilson immediately turned the matter over to the secret service officers, but in about a week Chief Wilkie reported that "it looks like an attempt of Steinberger to bunco the New York firm." After allowing twb months to elapse and not hearing furthem, the secretary, on March 26,1901, called upon the secret service for information as to whether they had made any discoveries. On the following day Secretary of the Treasury Gage replied, as follows: "The action of this man, who wanted to sell information, was done with the hope of being able to sell information, but, as a matter of fact, his efforts to obtain the advance information failed, as he received no assistance from the person in Washington upon whom he depended for information." Hubbard Complained Long Ago. The report of Mr. Gage was transmitted to Mr. Hubbard by Secretary Wilson the next day, and the matter was allpwed to drop. But in January, 1902, Mr. Hubbard complained of having been advised that southern ginners were sending to the department returns of their ginning operations bearing date of December 22 or 23, "and," said Mr. Hubbard, "I am unable to understand why additional returns from ginnery should be obtained, since the result is to he published." It seems, however, that the department of agriculture had not called for any ginners' statistics at that time, but that the circulars had been issued from the census bureau. In the same month Mr. Hubbard wrote the department of agriculture, ! asking for certain Information on cotton, but the secretary, in the course of a sharp letter, denying the request, written under date of January 11, 1902, said: "We take the ground here that nothing goes out unless it goes to the whole people. We have no favorites." Secretary Wilson, Wednesday,; permitted the examination of the correspondence, in order to show that as far back as five years ago he had taken prompt actioh .to discover any leaks in his office. MORTON SLASHES SALARIES. ' Various Employees of Equitable WiJ! Now Draw Less Boodle. I Sweeping reductions in the salaries j of various employees of the Equitable j Society have been announced by ! Ch2irman Mortoa. The decreases will ! ammint to 20 ner cent on all salaries ; over $15,000 per annum: 13 per cent j from all salaries be:ween $9,000 and j $15,000 both inclusive, and 10 per j i cent decrease from all salaries above . $2,500 and i-e'ow $0,000 per year. These changes become operative on ! j August 1 and effect a saving of $150,- ! j COO to $200,000 a year. ! ' | INDIAN GIRLS AS SERVANTS. ! A Problem Being Solved by People I of Appleton, Wisconsin. I The servant girl problem in the ! Appleton, Wisconsin, district has been | partially solved by the employment of Indian girls who have graduated j from tbe government school. Several [ | are now in the kitchens of various j j families, receiving the same wages I j as white girls. ' * ' I it \ I \ i i 1* * VJI '. 7*. < *0 TOBACCO LEAK ALLEGED i Attention of Agricultural Department Called to Charges of Manipulating Figures on "Weed" Crop. A Washing: on special says: through the receipt of numerous communications from the south and statements appearing in the press at various times, that the statistics of the department of agriculture on tobacco were being manipulated in the interests of the so-called tobacco trust, Secretary Wilson has begun an innin'rv ? -n f n * o onKiaot J iutv tuv guujwv* x V^UUlUg IUC investigation the publication of the tobacco statistics of the several 'districts will be held up, although the regular monthly figures by states will be given out as usual. It was stated at the department Friday that special agents have been sent to the dark tobacco districts 01 Tennessee and Kenucky to verify or correct the department's figures. This action, Mr. Hyde, the chief statistician, said, was in deference to the sentiment which had been engendered that the department's figures were wholly incorrect. - Mr. Hyde has been given direct charge of the investigation, which, Jit is believe^ will be concluded within two or three weeks. Statement by Hubbard. President Walter C. Hubbard of the New York cotton exchange made the following statement Friday: "Permit me to ask you very kindly to correct a misapprehension of the press in regard to my letter to President Roosevelt concerning the disclosures in the dep- ment of agriculture. I have never i/ritten to Secretary Wilson, and my letter was not the sequel of* any correspondence with him conducted by my brother, Sam uel T. Hubbard, when president of the New York cotton exchange. My note was prompted simply by the recent revelations, and had for its purpose solely to make a clear statement of the attitude of our exchange." Memphis Acts on Scandal. i The Memphis, Tenn., cotton exchange has forwarded a letter to , President Roosevelt, a copy of which follows: "Hon. Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States, Washington, D. C.: Sir?The Memphis cotton exchange desires to enter its earnest protest against the system of leakage in the government cotton report by employees of the bureau of statistics of the agricultural department as recently exposed at Washington, and to express the hope that you will order a thorough investigation of the matter and criminal prosecution of the party or parties who have been guilty of this offense. "No man should be permitted lo occupy an office of the government who makes public the secrets of the office for his private gain or for the benefit of others in collusion with him. "We hope that you will order the matter sifted to the bottom and that steps will be taken for the adequate punishment, not alone of employees of the government who are found guilty, but of all parties whose play has made them the beneficiaries of this corrupt and disgraceful system. NEGROES TALK CONSUMPTION. Great White Plague Among the Subjects at Hampton Conference. The closing session of the Hampton negro conference was held Friday at the Hampton institute. In a discussion of the ravages of codsumption among negroes, Dr. Francis of Portsmouth, Va., showed that the death rate of the colored population from that disease was twice as great as the death rate of the whites from the same diseases. BILL MAKES VISIT TO OSCAR. German Emperor and King of Sweden Talk Over the Situation. A special from Berlin says: No indication of the result of the meeting between Emperor Wlilliam and King Oscar at Gene, Sweden, Thursday, has reached Berlin, nor is any report: of their conversation likely to be made public, as it is explained that this was a strictly private visit of one sovereign to another. HOMES FOR SETTLERS. President Orders Indian Reservation Lands in Utah Opened. The p:es!deut has signed a proclamation providing lop the opening on August 28. HQa, of the unallotted lands in the Unirah Indian reservation in Utah. Such lands as are or filay | be reserved prior to August 28 for ! military, forestry and other purposes j will net be subject lor entry. There are 1,069,000 acres available for entry. IN BIRMINGHAM JAIL. Negroes Charged With Murder of Woman Sent Away from Gadsden. Sheriff William Chandler of Etowah county, accompanied by deputies, ar-1 rived in Birmingham,Ala., on Monday night, with Vance Garner. Bunk Rich, ardson and Vv'ill Johnson, three of the negroes charged with the murder and criminal assault of Mrs. Smith, neaGadsden. The prisoners were placed in the Jefferson county jail for safe keeping. , . -? SIX MEN ON TRIAL 5 3 ! % Alleged Slayers of Carter Children Arraigned. ' i ' 1 : CASES CALLED IN COURT % i I { J. G. Rawilngs, His Three sons and Two Negroes Are the Prisoners Before Bar ? Widespread irv terest in Proceedings. One of the most sensational trials ' Jj ever held in the southern section of " Georgia came up at a special term ;'1 of the superior court at Valdosta on Monday, Judge Mitchell of Thomas- -M ville presiding. -vjj The case is that against Milton, _ SB Jesse and Leonard Rawlings, as alleged principals; Alf Moore, colored, as an alleged accessory, and J. Q. Rawlings, the father of the boys, and Frank Turner, a negro preacher, as alleged instigators of the crime. AbqVe A all these, however, stands J. G. ^ lings, who is charged with being the arch instigator in the murder of WS1lie and Carrie Carter, 15 and 13-yearold children of Mr. and Mrs. W. L. , . J Garter of the Hahira district. In charging the grand jury Judge Mitchell called attention to the tact that it was the first special term { Vcgj of court ever held in the district He ^ also spoke in commendation of die Jls law-abiding spirit of the section of the state. > . The story of the killing and the facts surrounding it almost stagger - isi human belief. There were many circumstances in the case, it is claimed, that pointed to the Rawlings as the instigators of the crime, even bef<jr$ the statement of the Carters or. the confession of Alf Moore had been made. V10H h?an a fftnH (Wi'mHtut ho. tween Rawlings and Garter for a nam- & ber of years. The bitterness had been $3 inherited by Rawlings' children, and "S it is charged they did what they could M on every occasion to make it unpleas- * ant for the children of Carter. Both men had been ministers of the -;2 gospel, and Carter had been a member 5 of the Methodist conference. Both had very good farms, and 'Rawlings was ccnslderably above the average ^ farmer in his property holdings. A brief summary of the tragedy Is as follows: , On the night of the 13th of June ' last, Just three days after J. "G. Rawlings was put under a peace bond, of $1,200, on a warrant sworn out by Carter, the dog in Carter's yard began to bark, and his three oldest children, a boy and two girls, started J into the yard to look after a sick calf, which they thought was being. \vi molested. The father called them ; f|| back, and the eldest girt returned to | tie house. Willie and Carrie ran through the garden gate and around the smoke- . | house, back toward a crack in the . M fence, where they expected to go, ? through. As they approached the creek the assassin, standing in the shade of a peach tree, flred upon the v J boy and then upon the girl. The girl | dropped dead, while the toy, after k seeing that she was dead, crawled to $? the house and reported what had hap- '.j pened. The assassins then remained about ^ the house all night long until nearly d&y, trying to burn the place and thus ~J| destroy the evidences of their crime. Carter, however, had a small rifle and ; ^ a gun on the inside of die house, and ^ by constantly firing the rifle through | the cracks on different sides of the house, kept them from carrying out % their purposet About day his oldest daughter informed neighbors of what had happened and the news of the ' $& tragedy spread like wildfire. , The disclosures since then have :.f beeii startling in the extreme. A' '^3 dozen people were found, it is claim* i ed, who could testify that Rawllhgs I had tried to employ them to set fire M to Carter's house and then kill the ^ family as each member tried to esc?j)e. >? JORDAN VISITS ROOSEVELT. Makes Trip to Oyster Bay Relative to ^ Leakane Scandal. A New York dispatch says: Harvte <'f Jordan, president of the Southern Cotton Planters' Association, and Secretary Cheatham, went to Oyster Bay r?? Thursday night to see President Roosevelt. On behalf of the cotton operators, he will ask the president | to make certain changes in the manner of publishing cotton reports, particularly in regard to the acreage figures. I FIRST BALE OF NEW COTTON. I Grown in Texas and Sold in New Orleans for 20 Cents a Pound. The first bale of new cotton for the season was received at the New Orleans cotton exchange Friday. It ? - T.I was grown by r . j. junnauu u& Tvloore, Frye county, Texas. It was sold at the door of the exchange at auction and brought 20 cents a pound. The bale weighed 537 pounds. The custom of selling the first new bale received on the exchange for tHe benefit of charity is an old one. Im