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Show I. EiEI HEAR&IN GRAFT INVESTIGftTION Important Testimony Given on Alleged Crookedness in Building the New York State Highway. LEADING POLITICIANS FURTHER IMPLICATED District Attorney Will Soon Place Matter Before Grand Jury, Seeking Indictment Indict-ment for Conspiracy. NEW YORK, Dec. K.-Tamea 35. Gaff-ny. Gaff-ny. brotlicr-ln-Jnw of Charles F. Murphy, Mur-phy, and Joieph D. Carroll, former treasurer treas-urer of Tammany hall, split 511,000 In commissions with the agent of a paving omnany under an oral agreement by which thoy wore lo uso their political influence in-fluence to obtain contracts for the company com-pany with the state highway department, nrrordlnff to testimony adduced today at District Attorney Whitman's John Doc Irviulry Into state highway Kraft. Two thousand dollura nioro of the com-missions com-missions went in cash, according to the testimony, lo George M. Palmer, clinlr-man clinlr-man of tho Democratic state committee, in response to a request for a campaign contribution mado by C. Gordon Itoel, deputy highway commissioner, through whom tho contracts were obtained. Tho contribution. the district attorney learned, wan never reported. I Important Testimony. The agent was John M. Murphy, rcpro-fntlng rcpro-fntlng the firm of Warren Brothers of Boston, manufacturers pf bltullthlo and other pftvlng mntcrlnls, and It was ho vho gave the testimony. It Is known District Attorney Whitman considers this tlt most Important testimony ho has thus far hroUBht to light. At an early date ie Vlll place it baforc the grand Jury m mid seek an indictment for conspiracy. M Ueforo taking up the case, however, Mr. Whitman will place before the Jury i-vldence that State Chairman Palmer .evolved n political contribution from a 1 corpora lion, an offense for which Arthur m A. McLean, treasurer of the Democratic stale committee, now stands Indicted. Im Evidence was given today by Dudley 13. H Van Wld. vice president or the Flood & Vnn- Win Engineering & Construction ompany of Hudson Falls, X. V. Mr. Van Wirt 1b exported to go beforo the grand trry tomorrow. Van Wirt's testimony was that ho sent a contribution of Jf.OO In behalf of his Wm -orporation to George M. Palmer In 1912 IB at the solicitation of Everett P- Fowler, to be used In paying party expenses at the Baltimore convention. Tho check, Indorsed by Palmer and also by Arthur A. McLean, was producod In evidence Van Wirt said he had made threo other contributions to tho Democratic state commlttoo. one in 1911. for $500, to Is'or-man Is'or-man E. Mack, and two others to Palmer In 1912. ono of $2000 and ono of $1500. These three v,-orc, however, his individual checks, ho said, although he was later reimbursed by his company. .None of them was ever reported. Thomas J. Martin of Beacon, another contractor, testified that he had sent a $500 contribution to Phillip Donahue, treasurer of Tammany hall, in 1912, but that ho had given it "voluntarily." He did not know whether it had been reported. Ten Witnesses Present. Ten witnesses, most of thorn upstate contractors, were on hand when District Attorney Whitman resumed his John Doe Inquiry Into stato highway graft this afternoon. aft-ernoon. Although not revealed in advance, ad-vance, testimony which would require grand Jury action against persons heretofore here-tofore not mentioned in the Investigation was promised. John M. Murphy of Now York was the first to tako the' stand. He said ho was employed by Warren Brothers of Boston, manufacturers of bltullthtc pavement, and had several conferences with C. Gordon Gor-don Keel, then commissioner of highways. high-ways. Heel asked him, said the witness. If he "could do anything for tho . Democratic party." "Did ho sny anything about $4000 or $5000?" "That amount came up, but I don't know which ono suggested It. I said 1 would do something." The witness said ho gavo tho Democratic Demo-cratic state committee 52000 out of his own commissions. The total commission on hl3 contract was $13,000. which he had agreed to share equally, he said, with Jamc3 E. Caffnoy and Joseph Carroll Car-roll of New York City. How Money Was Divided. "I gave $2000 to Chairman Palmer of the state committee and tho rest, 511.000. I divided with Gaffney and Carroll," ho said. In regard to sharing the commission with Carroll and Gaffney. both reputed to be influential In Tammany Hall, the witness said he had sought Carroll because be-cause he thought Carroll could help him. "He knew everybody in New York." said Murphy, "and was u. man of standing stand-ing in the community." The witness gave the same reason for cooking Gaffney. "You gave them that money because they had political Influence?" asked District Dis-trict Attorney Whitman. "Yes." conceded tho witness. Murphy testified that ho did not know what Gaffney nnd Carroll had done to help him obtain the contracts, but that he had taken thorn Into what he termed "an oral partnership" because "thoy could have helped me with Mr. Reel." To Receive Commission. Through his contract with Warren Brothers he was to rucejvo a commission of 12i conta a square yard on all pavement pave-ment matorial that he could induce the state highway department to purchase. In March of 1912 he saw Reel, ho tes-lllled, tes-lllled, and obtained through him contracts con-tracts which netted him a commission of $13,000. This he had agreed to divide equally with Gaffney and Carroll, but Reel asked him If ho was not "going to do anything for tho Democratic party." In response to this request. Murphy said he gave $2000 in cash to George M. Palmer, as a contribution, receiving from him an undated receipt, which he produced. Murphy was loath to concede that he had taken Gaffney and Carroll into partnership part-nership with him becauso of their political politi-cal Influence, but when pressed to tell how much ho had given them to help him get the contracts, roplled: "Not a single thing." "Didn't you agree to dlvldo thin money with them because they had political Influence?" In-fluence?" he waa asked. "Yes," Murph7 replied, after some Tiesl-tation. Tiesl-tation. Hint of Conspiracy. ALBANY. N. Y.. Dec. 3. Charges against Stato Highway Commissioner John N. Carlisle were signed by Patrick F. Qulnlan. of tho Wamcr-Qulnlan company, com-pany, solely on the word of his attorney, Henry A- Rubino. Qulnlan testified today. The witness admitted that he did not know positively that the allegations wore true. John A. Hennessy, Governor Sul-zer's Sul-zer's chief graft Investigator, called the attention of the Investigation commissioner commis-sioner to the fact ,that If Qulnlan had been erroneouely convinced of tho tub- tcct matter of the charges "the&t might e grounds for belief that certain persons conspired agnUiat Carllslo." t "I agree with you." Commisloner Osborne Os-borne replied, "that this Js a very serious situation. If these people did not have i proof they should not have brought tho harsres." "W will furnish prof " Itj'i'no intr- 'r'teil. |