OCR Text |
Show A UNITED 3TATIS SFNATOK INDICTED FOR BRIBEBY. The indictment recently found by the Charleston (S. C.) grand jury ogaiuat United States Senator Patterson Patter-son of that state is for bribing mem bersot the legislature of that state in order to secure the passage of a financial finan-cial bill appropriating the Bum of $214,250. The leading evidence which sustains this charge is a photographic photo-graphic copy of a letter written by Patterson in March, 1872, to Kimp-ton, Kimp-ton, then financial aijent of the stale. Before the letter waa delivered these copies were taken. The letter is Bigned by Kimpton, and directs . him to pay certain sums for the ex pensee of passing through the legisla- ture the financial legislation required. The authenticity of this carefully drawn contract is beyond cavil, aa it is attested by the two photographic copies, by the evidence of Judge Mackey and GoTernor Scott, who saw , the original, and by the testimony of Elliott, the colored ex-congressman wbOBe signature aa witness is attached. at-tached. The charge is that this waa a deliberate arrangement for bribing the legislature. The next link in the chain of evidence is supplied by a maaa of testimony before the grand jury from ex-members of the legislature aa to the manner in which the money thus obtained was applied. Six legislat rs are named who received $5,000 each and various cheaper men got smaller Bums, according to the theory of the prosecution. The sitting grand jury waa organized during January last by tho republican officials, belore Gov. Chamberlain retired. They serve the whole year. The investigation under which these facts came out was also a republican movement and the chairman chair-man of the investigating committee is a republican. This seems to controvert con-trovert the charge that tho indictments indict-ments are political persecution and shows honest republican .cooperation in the exposure of wrongs. |