The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 28, 1899, Page 3

\ _Yiad been brought to my a vote THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 1899. FULL STENOGRAPHIC REPORT OF THE INVESTIGATING COMMITTEE LOOKING INTO THE COSPER TRANSACTION | [ Testimony of Green and Lamberson, Regarding the Affair. One Viewed It as a Joke and the Other as a Very Serious Matter, and There Is Quite a Story Between the Lines. SACRAMENTO, Jan. afternoon the special committee ap. pointed to look into Legislature scan- dals growing out of the Senatorial fight | filed its report. Before it did so, how- ever, it held several open and executive | Bessions, Immediately after the vote for United States Senator was taken the commit- | A certificate | tee met to hear evidence. from the attending physician was filed getting forth that Assemblyman Dale was too {ll to appear before the com- | mittee. The circumstances will be re- ported to the Assembly to-morrow morning. \ Thomas Nosler was given an oppor- tunity to testify. He stated that he bhad never told any story connecting Assemblyman Cosper with a bribe of $6000, id to have been offered by Dan M. Burns, nor had he been with Lam- | Milton J. Green | berson of Visalia to to solicit $6000 in Assemblyman Cos per's behalf. Last summer witness had borrowed $200 from Milton J. Green, but had not worked for Grant during the campaign om account of the lcan; | e was not aware that it was | t's money nmitte fter Nosler had tes- tified, took a until 1:30 o'clock | to give & sub-committee consisting of | Burnett, Melick and La Baree an op- | portunity to take further testimony 0{' Milton J. Green, he being too ill to leave | his room. | On reconvening the presented the following report: Report of Sub-Commitee. We, vour committee, composed of J. | K. Bu appointed to take the deposition of Mil- ton J. Green, beg leave to make the following report: We went E: the Golden Eagle Hotel and found Mr. Green in bed, and were permitted to enter the room after little delay by Dr. A. T. Hatch. found Mr. Green in bed, sick we took the following dep: Dr. Hatch and Attorneys Me: and Metson in the room By Mr. Burnett—We were here to. take your deposition in regard | to how this statement of Mr. son's came to you. ‘Then- Mr. Cosper came to you with the proposition that Mr. Burns had offered him $6000 for b vote, and that while he preferred to vo 1 srant that he thought he ought to| e as much as that from the Grant people? We want your statement in re- gard to the facts In connection there- | with: The witness (Mr. Green)—All I can say, gentlemen, is this: I have known Mr. Lamberson for several 7.—Late this| sent down | By Mr. La Baree—I would suggest that vou ask as few questions as possible. v Mr. Melick—Was homas Nosler sent when Lamberson was talking to you | ©'A. Nobody was present at all. | Q. Was anybody else present? | . A. I sald nobody was present except Mr. | Lamberson and myself. | Q. Did you see Mr. Lamberson to-day? A. No, sir. 1 have not seen him since he was in Sacramento two or three weeks a 20O. Q. Did Lamberson tell you from what source he had heard that Cosper had been_offered money? A. No, sir. He did not say. 1 Q. Did you send Lamberson Grant's money before this during the progress of ‘Grnnl's campaign? | A. Well, gentlemen, I am going to stand on that as I am on similar questions. Q. That is, you refuse to answer? A. I decline to answer, as it has nothing whatever to do Mr. Cosper at ali or Mr. Grant. I don’t do it out of disrespect It has no bearing on i to the committee. | the question. The committee reconvened at 1:30 p. m., every member being present except Mr. Wade, tc hear the report of the sub-committee of three appointed to re- ceive the deposition of Milton J. Green. (The reporter read from his notes the statement of Milton J. Green.) At the conciusion of the reading of the report the following resolution was offered by Mr. Lardner: “I move that the report of the sub- | committee be accepted and adopted, and that the sub-committee be dis- charged.” This motion was adopted, Chairman Cosper not voting. When the committee reassembled sub-committee | after recess it went into executive ses- | sion for an hour. An open session was | then held and C. G. Lamberson given | an_opportunity to testify. Following is a verbatim report of the ett, W. S. Melick, Dr. La Baree, | testimony of Lamberson: Lamberson’s Testimony. . Lamberson being sworn, testified as follow The chairman—I hereby La Baree chairman of nominate Dr. this committee Jme | during the examination of Mr. Lamber: e | Then | n, with | Bacon | son. 1 will not take part—for the present at least. Mr. La Baree—Mr. Lamberson, you are acquainted with Mr. Cosper, the chairman of this committee, I suppo: AT am. Q. You Green? I am. Q. How long have you been acquainted | with Mr. Green? | "A. Two or three years. Green with a prop- Lamberson selling are acquainted with Milton | Q. Did you go to Mr osition in regard to Mr. his vote? A. Mr. Cosper you mean. Q. Or Mr. Cosper selling his vote to Mr. | Grant? A. 1 did not. % Q. You never had any conversation with | him at all on the matter? A. Yes, | Q. wili y ir. ou state that to the committee, years and knew he was chairman of | please? the County Central Committee down | there, and he was in Sacramento, and I asked him to see Mr. Cosper and urge him to vote for Mr. Grant; that Mr. Grant was the only candidate for Senator from the Seventh Congres- A. Yes, if T can. Q. State it, ple % A. I think perhaps I would have to preface that a little with my relations with Mr. Cosper before I could state it | so that you could have it in an intelligent | manner. Q. Well, just state the whole thing. A. About what Y said to Mr sional District, and that Mr. COSper Green? I was in Sacramento shortly was the only Assemblyman that Was gfter the Legislature convened and in not favorable to Mr. Grant from that | ;onversation with Mr. Cosper, whom district, the Seventh Congressional |1 had known for a long time, of District, and he saw Mr. Cosper, S0 |course—had been practitioner at the he said, and I afterward saw him, I bar of Tulare County with him for think, in this room (where witness | many years—I told him that I was lying in bed). He told me that| thought it would be only proper for ke had used every argument that he him to vote for Mr. Grant for Sena- could with Mr. Cosper to vote for Mr. | ¢or, Mr. Cosper said he thought very Grant, and Mr. Cosper said that he | fayorably of Mr. Grant and of his could not, and he would not vote for chances, but there had been some talk Colonel Burns, but that he would not |at that time about the Governor promise to vote for M;. Grant. Then | throwing the patronage away from Mr. anbersonlwent on to say that| any memter who might vote for Mr. be had heard it reported that M. | Grant; that he would consider it a Cosper had been offered 36000 to vote | personal afront. And at that time for Burns, and that perhaps he was | when I was in Sacramento there was waiting for a similar offer from us. | a report to the effect that the Govern- Q. Were those his exact words as you | or said that any one who voted for remember? A I ana | Grant would get no favors from the can't give the exact words, t !]vr](‘lv‘nrl‘ o 1 ml;] hlm(. ;‘nl Governor. Mr. Cosper would not per- . 1 did not believe anything of the ®ort: 1 didn't believe Colonel Burne had | Wit himself to vote for Mr. Grant, nfl:;rrv‘l him $6000; that it was rid(culn}ls,‘flnd among others he spoke to me ar that it must be a joke, and so far 2 we were concerned we wefe not buy- | About Mr. Bulla. I told him that I ing any votes for %r-rlm_z]nr;‘i TN | had met Mr. Bulla when he was in y Dr. La Baree—Did Mr. Lamberson | ay Cosper had sald that Burns had of- | the Assembly. I thought he was a fered him_$60007 A. No; I don’t remember. He didn't tell me ‘who told him this story that an offer_had been made. Q. You inferred from what he said that | Cosper had told him so? A. Well, T did not infer much about it, because the thing appeared so ridiculous 10 me, and I did not belfeve it, a toid him; told him I did not believe the it was absurd on the face of it story. to think that any one should be offered 36000 for his vote. He did not say Mr. thorized him to come and_teli . he was authorized to Mr. Cosper. it vour inférence that he had d him to speak to you? A. Well, from other circumstances that ntion, I didn’t belleve that he had. 1 told him to pre- sent my compliments to Mr. Cosper and say that we were not buying any votes, and I did not believe the story. g By Mr. Burnett—Well, then, the state- ment that Mr. Lamberson made to you seemed to come from Mr. Co o at Jeast. you understood it come from Cos. per? A. He did not say so. Q. You answered that you told him to present your compliments to Mr. Cospers :A. T sald. If you want to you can pre- gent my compliments to Mr. Cosper, and say 1 don't belleve it. I saw Mr. Cosper afterward. I never mentioned this Stor to him; that is, until after this investi- ‘gation commenced. and then he told me at the State Capitol that he heard the story from some other source. and that Mr. “Lamberson was in no wa thor- ized to represent him, the story was un- true, and that Mr. Lamberson w. never authorized to represent him in any way. Q. Did Mr. Cosper prior to that at any ‘ime say thing to you that would lead you to believe that he was making a bia? A. No, sir. All the argument I used with Mr. Cosper was that Mr. Grant was the only Senatorial candidate from the Seventh Congressional District, and that fll the other Assemblymen in that dis- trict were favorable to Mr. Grant, and that“T had reason to belleve that every in the Seventh Congressional Dis- ict would be for Mr. Grant. Of course, there were two Senators that had not roted for him, Mr. Flint and Mr. Rowell. very nice man and would make a good Senator, all right; still, my | preferences were for Grant. In a conversation which I had with Mr. | Green some time after that I detailed 11 so | to Mr. Green substantially the state- ments that Mr. Cosper had made to me, and then, in a joking way, I said to him, *“Well, Milt, ain’t you mak- ing a mofey fight on this proposi- tion?” and he said, “No.” Well, I said, “I dian’t know, but if you were, | perhaps you might offer Cosper five or six thousand dollars and he would | see it your way.” And he said, “Well, ;we.are not making any money fight. ! I wouldn’t give him six cents, nor | any other man.” And so the incident closed. I had no serious thought in | the matter at all, and I am satisfied |that Mr. Green did not, because | everything that was said in connec- tion with the matter was said in a ¥ ! joking way, and I never thought | anything more of it. I went home a | few days after that. That was all of | that incident. o | Q. When did this conversation with Mr. ("‘Ob;per take place in regard to that mat- er? A. Well, T had several conversatio with Mr. Cosper. T had a conversation with him one evening in the billlard room of the Golden Eagle. I had conversations with him on the street and several times wherever I met him. I cannot remember all that was said at any one conversation, but what 1 have told Jou is the generai’ purport and meaning of the whole. I want to say that Mr. Cosper never, by word or deed, or in any manner, intimated to me, in any way, shape or manner, that he was desirous of or expected any pe- cuniary consideration for his vote in any i whatever. t between us. Mr. then, that perhaps if he would put up five or six thousand dollars he might be | able to see it Green's way? A. Well, 1 had heard a good many mors, as you always will about a Legis- lature. The general opinion of the peo- ple seems to be that when the Legislature meets Colonel Mazuma also appears, and that is a standing joke. Q. And the hunters for Colonel Mazu- ma A. Yes. And that is a standing joke among the people to talk that way— slightingly about the members of the Legislature and about their being for sale, just as k}s almost invariably with all people occ®Bying public positions. Mr. Melick—Did you not say to Mr. Green in that conversation that Colonel Burns had offered some money? A. Yes, I told him that—that I thought that uffers were being made. Q. To Mr. Cosper? A. No, not to Mr. Cosper. Q. But that Colonel Burns was making offers? A. Yes; I heard so. Q. And you told Green that Colonel Burns wts making offers, and per- | haps he had better make an offer? A. Well, yes, I told him I thought if he wanted to win, that if the other | side was going to make money offers, he had better get in and conduct it on a money basis also. Q. And then what did Green say? A. Oh, he said “I don’t believe that there are any offers being made.” He said, “I don’t believe it. I don’t believe there is a cent offered by anybody. So far as I am con- cerned, I won’t give a cent to any- body for their vote.” Q. Did Colonel Burns or any of his agents or friends make any proposition to vou in regard to Mr. Cosper's vote? A. Never spoke to me about it at all— any of them. ). Then from whom did you hear that he s offering money ? I just heard that in a joshing - in barrooms and saloons. Q. Do you remember anybody who said A. No, no. . Did you Cosper later? No; 1 did not see Mr. Cosper after I went home. Well, I think 1 had Mr. Cosper the evening before that nd I went home, I think, the evening fter that, and I did not see Mr. Cosper have a conversation. with in regard to what Green had v you had been sent money during gn by Mr. Green, had you not? not by anybod or distributing, for campaign pur- sir. not you give an ex-Senator down your county $400 to distribute? % the legislative ticket? = y other amount? 0, sir; not a cent, . Now, Mr. Green in his deposition this afternoon declined to answer how much » what amount of money he had Is he mistaken in that he sent r, I will tell you how much )t from Mr. Green and when 1 et any money from Mr. ampaign. Green during t he it? mpaign was over, I told n advaneing the interests islative candidates—one in one in the Sixty-fifth in_the Thirty-second ict—1 had expended out of my $134. and I asked him if he wanted to reimburse it to me, and he said, ‘Yes, I do.” And he gave me $13%5 and I did not have any dollar in my pocket to give him back any, and he said, “Well, we will take a drink on that, sequently.” That is all of my financ transactions. ] t all the mone Q. 1 suppose, in reference to yourself, you will state what position you occupied at that time? A1 was chairman of County Central Committee Courty, which position I still occupy. Q. Had that money been accounted for in your campaign fund by your auditing committee? A. Well, I do not know as—no; it had not. The auditing committee did not know anything about that money. The auditing committee did not have anything to do with the legislative ticket, because our auditing committee was an auditing committee for the county and took charge State ticket and of the county of- . The county was divided into legi lative districts, Mr. Cosper'shdistrict only taking off a small portion of our county— Tulare County—that is, the Sixty-fourth District, comprising a small portion of are County and all of Kings County. Consequently our disbursing committee, or auditing and disbursing committee, could not have charge of those offices or of those candidates, and did not attempt of the Republican in -‘Tulare | to. Q. Those Assembly districts’ had their own auditing committees, had they not? . No, sir; had no auditing committees at 1 know of. The fact of the matter s, this money that I spent was my own individual money, spent by my own indi- vidual self, without consulting anybody about it. And if any trouble ensues about that, why, they can come on me for it. Q. How much of this money did you expend in Mr. Cosper’s district? A. Oh, 1 don’t kno 1 could not tell you that. The county was divided by the Assembly districts, and the Senatorial District included both counties and Inyo County, and that money was spent indis- criminately in the three districts, Q. When you got this money from Grant or from Green did you say anything to him _about these legislators being friendly to Grant? A. No; I don't know whether I did or not. I can't recall. I probably told him that I thought Mr. Cosper was friendly or disposed to be friendly with Grant; prob- ably did. I don’t recollect that I did. Q. Well, was that part of the condition on which you got the money? A. Oh, no; not at all. Not at all. Mr. Burnett—How did you come to ap- ply to Mr. Green for the money, more than_any other man? A. Well, I knew that he was spending money for Mr. Grant, or thought ge was, and 1 just asked him if he wanted to re- imburse me. I did not ask him to do it. I just asked him if he wanted to do It. r. Melick—Who else was dispensing monéy down there, or disbursing that money down there in your district Ior Grant? A. No one that I know of. Mr. Burnett—How did you know t.at Mr. Green was spending money for Mr. Grant? A. Oh, well, I don’t remember. know how I knew that. knew it ju other things. Mr., La Baree—Have you been at Mr. Grant’s headquarters to-day? A. Yes. I went there as soon as I came in and got something to eat. Q. Did you have a talk with Mr. Bacon? A. No. I do not know him. I never met the gentleman in my life that I know of. Mr. Melick—You were subpenaed scv- eral days ago, were you not, Mr. Lam- berson? A. Yes, sir. Q. Why didn’t you come? A. Because at the time I was subpepaed I was engaged in the trial of an action in court before a jury and the case had at that time continued for six days, and it lasted in all ten day: 1 finished mv argument to the jury last night at a quar- ter past 5 o'clock and at 5:50 I took the train for Sacramento. I was an officer of the court and could not leave the court. It was impossible for me to get 1 do not T knew it the same as I know lots of away. Mr. La Baree—What time did you arrive hc}\-e 1}02-‘::13}'. Mr. Lamberson? 2 Q. Did it take you all that time to get your lunch? A. Why, no. T was subpenaed to be here, I understood, at 2:30, or 1 supposed the committee would meet at 2:30. 1f I had_thought that you gentlemen wanted me I would have come directly here, but I went to the shotel and put on a clean collar and went to the barber-shop and got shaved and my boots shined. went And, in fact, such a | ng never was spoken of or hinted at | Burnett—Why did you suggest, | and got my lunch and went up to the Golden Eagle Hotel and went into Mr. Grant's headquarters; wanted to see Mr. Green, and could not see him; had a talk with Mr, Brown there in the head- quarters, and then I came up here to the Surveyor General's office and then ‘sent back downtown again. Mr. Burnett—Did anybody meet you at the train? A. My brother was there to meet me at the train. Q. Did anybody else meet you? A. The first man that met me that I knew when I Eo( off the train was Mr. Brommel— L. L. Brommel—and the next man that I met was my brother. Q. Did you meet any one on the street- car? A. Then when I got on the streetcar I met Mr. Brown. Q. Mr. Grant's manager? A. The gentleman that stays there at the headquarters. Q. What conversation did you and Mr. Brown have on the streetcar? A. Why, he told me to come up, that he wanted to see me as soon as I got around to it, asked me If I was going up to that hotel and I told him “No,” that I was going to the Western, and I told him that I would be up there after I got cleaned uk) a little. A . Did Mr. Brown come to your room at the Western then? . No, sir. Q. You went to Grant's after_that, then? A. Yes; after I got my lunch. headquarters Q. You saw Mr. Brown at Grant's headquarters? A.-Yes, sir. Q. What conversation took place be- tween you and Mr. Brown there? A. Why, I asked him about Milt, about how he was, He said he was a sick man, and 1 asked him if I could not see him. He said ‘“No.” And that is about all the conversation. 1 sat around there and gassed a little while in general conversa- tion. Q. Did he tell you what he wanted you to come up there for? A. No, sir. What did he say? Well, he wanted to talk to me; he anted to know, I suppose, something about what I would testify to. Q. What you were going to testify to? A. 1 suppose so. I supposed he wanted to_know that. Q. Did he give you any pointers as to what_had been testified to? A. No. Only 1 had seen the papers—I had read all the papers myself. Vell, did he tell you? A. No. 'He dil not tell me anything. Q. Did he tell you anything about what Mr. Green's testimony would be? A. No, he did not tell me that. Q. Did you meet any ope else down there on the streetcar? A. No; no one that I knew. Oh, ves, I did. On the streetcar I met an agent for a typewriting machine that I knew and shook hands with him. Q. Who was_that? A. 1 do not know his name. He is an agent for the Remington typewriting ma- chine. Mr. La Baree—Was anybody present during your conversation with Mr. Brown? A. Well, ves; there were two or three or four men there, but 1 did not know them. I do not know who they are. Mr. Burnett—Did you meet Captain Barbour? ‘A. Not that I know of. I was not in- troduced to any of them. Brown wi the only man that I knew and went in there and talked with him. He seemed to take it for granted that I knew the others, or else he did not care to intro- duce me. Mr. Melick—You say that James Brown as not with you in the Western Hotel? . Yes, 1 do. . He was not with you in the hotel? He stayed on_ the street car when I off at the Western. Q. And you went up to room 243, did vou not? " A. I do not know. I did not know the number_of the room and do not know it now. hey assigned me a room and I went there and never noticed the num- De: Q. Who came to vour room? A. My_brother went with me to the room. No one came there after we went there. Mr. Burnett—Mr. Brown told you fo come “to thelr headquarters there before vou came up here A. No. He said: “Come as soon as yoth can; I want to talk wvith you.” Of course, I had met Mr. Brown before and was ac- quainted with him. Mr. Meliek—Who told you that we met k % 1 saw in the papers that you met at 2:30, so I supposed, of course, you met at 2:30. was here about 2 o'clock and the door—or I went downstairs first to the sergeant at arm's room about 2 o’clock and asked him where you were holding your meetings, and he said that you were in executive session. I came up here to the Capitol just about 1 o’clock and went to the sergeant at arm’s room. I was acquainted with those people in there, and went in there and stayed for half an hour. Melick—From the time that you subpenaed, or within the last two since you went home, you had communications from Mr. Cosper, not? telegraph and telephone. None v letter. Q. And what was the nature of those? Well, I got the telegrams, I think—I guess I only got two. ] think that was the flrst one [ received (producing 10). L. Q. A acramento, Cal., Jan. 21—C. G. Lamberson, Visalia: Will you come here at once without subpena? Mileage pro- vided. Answer immediately. COSPER.” I think I answered that something to the effect that I was engaged in the trial of a e and I could not come; and the next one was yesterday: ‘“‘Sacramento, Cal., Jan. 26—C. G. Lamberson, Visalia, Cal.! Come at once. Let nothing delay. Contempt threatened. Investigating Com- mittee, per Cosper. chairman.” Q. Did you receive any communication from him that would give you any rea- son to delay your coming? A. No, sir. "I tell you, I was engaged in the trial of a damage case. A woman was suing—I was attorney for plaintiff in a cdse where a woman was suing for damages for the death of her husband, caused by the explosiol f a gasoline tank. We had a jury imbaneled a week ago Monday; on the 16th I was conduct- ing the case on the part of the plaintiff: and we conducted that case right along until last night without intermission every day, and, I concluded, as I told you, my address to the jury at a quarter past 5 and left there at 5:50 last night. And after I got here to Sacramento 1 re ceived a telegram that the jury had brought in a verdict. Q. What is your brother doing here? A. 1 do not know; he is not engaged in any occupation at present. . Is he working in the Grant’s canvass? A. No, sir; he is not a politician. Q. What did he tell you about this in- vestigation to-day? interest of A. He did not tell me anything about it. He wanted to know if I had read the papers. 1 told him I had. I asked him if he knew anything except what was in the papers. He said, “No, that is all the information I have—just from reading the papers. Mr. Burnett—What about that telephone dispatch that you received from Cosper? What was the nature of that? A. Oh, he seemed to be very much ex- ercised because I could not drop my business there and come down here. And I told him that it was utterly impossibl that I could not do it, and I was not g ing to get up and leave that case right in the middle of it; I could not do it. The court would not let me, in the first place. I was between two fires. If I left there I would be fined for comtempt, and I thought this investigation could wait until I got through. In fact, I knew it would wait _for me. Q. Did you receive any other telephonic dispatches from any one in connection with this case? A. Yes, sir. Q. What were they and who from? A. Milt Green. One day he called me up and he—well,,I could not understand ex- actly. Milt ‘&reen has got a very bad voice for telephonic communication, but I understood enough to understand that he was swearing mad about the story that had got out—the report that had got out —about Cosper and his conversation with me. And then there were some other— he sald something else about Cosper—that he believed that Cosper was going into the Burns camp, or something of that kind, and T told him I didn't believe a word of it; and that was about the ex- tent of that. And he wanted to know if 4 couldn't come down. : Q. What did he want you to come down here for? A. Well, he said straighten that thing out. Q. 1}“% keep (Eolgel:ul;l "Il;e‘ for G}:nnt? . No, no; to tes efore t S mitiee, He wanted me to— s Q;’What did he want you to straighten to out? A. This story that had got six thousé.ndrsalhrs. Eptiabuntathay Q. Well, according to Mr. Green's tes- = timony and according to your own the story was true? A. Well, it was not true as published in the papers. That was what he had ref- erence to. Q. Did _any one telephone or any one else telephone to you and ask you if this was true as reported? A. No; hold on. Yes; Mr."Melick did. Is | that your name? Q. This is Mr. Melick (indicating.) A. Well, Mr. Melick called me up on the | teleghone and asked me if there was any | truth in it and I told him “No.” 1 expect I put it in very emphatic language; toid him there wasn't a — word of truth in it; something of that kind. Q. 'What about your testimony here now? You testify there is truth in it? A. I do not think so, I do not think so. I do not think I have testified that way. Q. Did you not say_that you told Mt Green_ that you thought he had better go in and miak”e a money fight If he was go- ing to win? fA ‘Well, that hadn’t anything to do with Cosper. 1 did not say anything of that kind about Cosper. Q. Did not you in your testimony here say that you told him that per- haps Cosper is waiting for a five or six thousand aollar bid? A. Yes, sir. Q. You did? A. Yes, I told that to Green. Q. What did you tell him that for? A. Well, I don’t know why I told him that, enly this—that I thought that if that was the kind of tight that was going to be made, Grant better make it. Q. He had better make an offer to Cosper? E A. No, not to him particularly, but to anybody. Q. Well, you were talking about Cosper at the time? A. Well, noj; at that time I was not talking particularly about Cosper. Q. As I understood your testi- mony, now, you said that you told him “perhaps he is waiting for a five or six thousand dollar offer”? A. Yes. . Q. Then you were talking about Cosper? A. Well, yes; that might have reference to him in that way. Q. Mr. Cosper was your friend, as I un- derstood it? A. Yes, sir. Q. Of course you understand that con- necting a man’s name with a five or six thousand dollar offer would not place your friend in a very good'light, do you not? A. Well, there is no intimation at all on my part and I had no right to inti- mate anything of the kind, that Mr. Cos- per would accept any sum of money what- ever for his vote, or that he could be in- fluenced by any financial consideration whatever. Q. But you suggested that perhaps he had better do it? A. Well, I suggested it. I suppose it more in a joking way than anything 1 suggested it upon the same plan that we talk about those things—the same lines as the newspapers will talk about there being money in the fight, and all that sort of thing. For myself—I wanted to find out for myself, too, as a matter of curiosit, hether there actually was go- ing to be—if it was going to be fought out on_that line. Q. You found it was not going to be fought out on that line? _ . ‘A. Well, I do not know whether I did or €. not. Q. You left the next morning? A. 1 left that evening. Q. Mr. Green told you that he was not buying votes? A. Yes, sir. Q. And the next morning you left? A. Yes—I left that evening. I would have left anyway, as my time was up. 1 had to go home. Q. What was your object in finding out whether they were making a money fight or not, or making an offer for votes? A. As a matter of curiosity to know. I always try to keep up with political af- fairs, and it does a man good sometimes to know things. Q. Now, you are a man of enough brains to know that connecting a man's name, as you did Mr. Cosper there, with a propo- sition of offering or giving him five or six thousand dollars for his vote might bring him into disrepute; you realized that at that time, did you not? A. No, sir; 1 did not. Q. You realize now? A. 1 do not realize it. I did not realize it then and 1 do not realize’ now that any legitimate inference of that kind could b drawn from it and I not believe that it would have any place whatever in any body’s mind if it was not for a suspicious legislative investigation golng on, where they are following up all sorts of idle ru- mors that there is absolutely nothing in and which they know thefe is nothing in, when they start in to follow them up. Q. You realize that it has caused Mr. Cosper’s name to be connected with ugly rumors throughout the State? A. Yes, sir, for all of which I am very SOITY. Q."Now, tell us why you made that proposition to Mr. Green. A. 1 did not make any proposition to Mr. Green, sir. Q. Well, as you_testified here in your testimony, why did you make that propo- sition? A. I have explained why I made it. Q. You have not explained. A. I have explained. Q. Well, what was it? A. The reporter’s notes will show what hat explanation is. g Q. Ym‘x have not told us why you asked that question. A. 1 have told you. Q. Well, tell us again. A. 1 don’t choose to. Q. Well, were you fishing? Were you attempting to pull Mr. Green’s leg in your own interest, if not Mr. Cosper's? A. Not at all, sir. Not at all. Q. You were very much interested to find out whether a money fight was going on? A. T am one of the fellows that gets his leg pulled. I do not make anything out of politics. I spend money. Q. How do you get your leg pulled? A. By spending money in political cam- paigns. Q. Were you playing for even on Green? A. No, sir., I did not think Green thought so or thinks so now. Q. What did Mr. Green tell you when you told him that perhaps Mr. Cosper was walting for an offer of six thousand dollars—five or six thousand dollars? A. Well, he said, “I will tell you, so far as I am concerned, I would th give him nor any other man a — cent.” Q. Did he tell you to tender his compli- ments to Mr. Cosper and tell him he was not buying votes? A. No, sir; he did not. Q. He did not tell you that? A o0, sir. Q. If he testified to that fact, then it is incarrect, s it? . Yes, sir, it is. It is not according to my recollection of the facts. Has any messenger gone down from Sacramento here to see yau at your home since this matter came up? Has any one come_down from Sacramento to see you? A. Yes, sir. Q. Who was it?_ A. This red-hedded here. Q. Anyhody else? A. No, sir. Mr. Sanford—You say you spent a great deal of money in the campaign? A. 1 always do. Q. Is It a fact that you spent a consid- erable amount of money in this cam- paign? A. Well, you would not call it consider- able among millionaires, but then among poor fellows that have to work for what they make one hundred dollars or such a matter is considerable. Ql. H_’ow much did you spend in the cam- algn? A. Well, I could not -exactly tell; but it does not concern this committee, anyhow, because what I spent that I was not re- imbursed for was spent in aid of the State sergeant-at-arms and county ticket and not in aid of the legislative ticket. Every cent that I spent in aid of the legislative ticket was reim- bursed to me by Mr. Green—a dollar ex- tra. Don’'t forget that ®ollar. Q. 31347 A. $134. Q. You were chairman of the *Republi- can County Central Committee? A. Yes. Q Did you receive donations to spend in the camp: A. No, sir; I was not a member of the Auditing and Finance Commitee. Q. You went to San Francisco two or three times during the campaign, did you? A. I think as many as that. Q. Did you not state in Tulare that you had the ‘sack from San Francisco, and that that was_ expended, and that you were going back to get some more? A. Well, I do not know whethier I did or not. I do not remember of any such thing. If anybody said that I did, why 1 would not deny it. X Q. Was it true that you had the sack? A. No, sir. s Q. You' did get money from parties in San Francisco to aid in that fight down there? A. No, sir., Q. Did you have any money to ald Mr. Chatfelter in his candidacy? A. 1 spent some of this money that was spoken of for Mr. Chatfelter. & Q. It is reported that you received $1500 of Grant's money during the campaign. Is that true? A. It is absolutely false. Mr. Burnett—Do you know who did re- ceive it down there? A. Well, no; 1 do not know who received Grant’s money. Q. Well, Grant money fromn Green? A. No, nor any money from Green either. Q. From his private secretary in San Francisco, Miss Levin? A. No, sir. Mr. La Baree—Do you know anybody that received anybody else’'s money? A. Well, I cannot say 1 know. Mr. Melick—What did you hear about 1.7 A. Well, I do not know that that con- cerns the committee—what I heard about t. Mr. Burnett—That concerns us consid- erably. A. Well, T do not know. I heard a good deal about that. Mr. Sanford—Did Senator Linder re- ceive it? A. Well, I do not know whether he aid or not. Q. Is it not a fact that you and Sena- for Linder made an expensive campaign there, expending four or five hundred dol- lars a week? 2 A. Is that an expensive campaign? Q. Five hu:lldre ;.idolla;ai a week might ered considerable. beA.c%l}ls,ldB. week? I thought you said four or five hundred dollars in the cam- aign. D?)‘_g“'eu, four or five hundred uollars would be more than one hundred and -four. lh;‘&“.ly\\'ell. I do not know what Senator Linder did. If the committee wanted to know what Senator Linder recelved and what he did with it and who he got it from, they ought to have subpenaed him. Mr. Burnett—Howdldld youeylrfnmwflax‘:é s spending money? s That D ntin the Senatorial fight? vell, I do not know. 31 You'do not Know how vou found it out? .1 do not know how I found it o.ut nt;: I don’t absolutely know that I ever did find it out, that is to say that I knew it—of course I suspected it. = Q. What made you suspect it? Well, I do not know. A thousand and things might occur to make a man suspect a thing. 4 Q. Are y?u of a s:zsplc(ous nature? . No, sir; no, sir. 3 {\\!;)-sdld vou suspect, then, that he vas spending mone; “3‘ \\If)el], Igsuppose it was something 2 eard Oor saw. lhl\qll!r.l ):‘a Baree to Mr. Cosper—Do you want to ask the witness any questions? Mr. Cosper—Yes, when the committee is entirely done 1 want to ask a question urm': ‘(",’nspepmr. Lamberson, I have been criticized somewhat through the publit press, and the statement has been made that 1 had deterred you from coming here, or something to that effect, and had delayed the taking of your testimony in this case. If there is anything, di- rectly or indirectly, in the way of a com- munication, express or implied, from me to you, that has detained or postponed your coming to testify in this case, I want you to tell the committee about it. A. I have already detailed to the com- mittee everything I know about that. I have shown them the two dispatches and told them of the telephonic communi- cation. That WSN all the communication that I now recall that has passed be- tween us since you came—since I left Sacramento. 1 have never written you a word and I have never received a word in_writing from you. Q. Have you had any communication— A. I want to say that, so_far as being deterred from coming to this place to testify before this committee is con- cerned, that I had determined, after I had got into the trial of that case, to stay there until it was finished. 'If this committee had sent for me with a war- rant, it would have been all the same. 1 should have applied to the Judge there for a writ of habeas corpus for my re- lease, and would have still continued to try that ca until I got through with it. That was my duty as I con- celved it. Q. Have you had any communication from me, directly or indirectly, expressed or implied, by which I sought to learn what your testimony would be in this case, or what your feeling in the matter was? A. Never one word in any way, shape or manner, by any communication through any messenger, by any person, in any manner whatever. Mr. La Baree—Any more questions? Mr. Lardner—Just one more question. Did you win your damage suit? A. T got a dispatch after I arrived here that the jury brought in a verdict for $8000 in my favor. Mr. Burnett—Excuse me—just another question. Did you have any conversation with Mr. Burns or with any one who pur- ported or represented himself as repre- senting Mr. Burns in regard to any vote for Senator? Mr. Melick—I asked that question. The witness—I have not answered any such question as that before that I know o ; Mr. Burnett—Well, then, I will ask the question.” Have you had any conversation with Mr. Burns or with any one who rep- resented that he represented Mr. Burns in regard to the Senatorial proposition or getting votes for Senator? A. Yes, sir. What was that? State who it was and what it was. ‘Well, T have had conversations with two or three men that I know to be very friendly with Mr. Burns—that is all T know. I am not acquainted with Mr. Burns—or any more than I have been in- troduced to him two or three times. We meet so seldom that our acquaintance don't last from. one introduction to the other. Q. Well, tell us those conversations and if they have any relation to the Senator- Q. with A ship. A. Well, they have no relation to it any further than that they were wanting to know if T knew how Mr. Cosper stoo the Senatorial question. That is about all. Q. Did they make any suggestions as to securing his Vote or suggest any means to secure his vote? A. No. The talk with those people was on a line of threats. Q. What were the threats? A. Well, Mr. Cosper would not have any standing in_ the administration, or he would not have any patronage, nor he would not have his bills allowed, and everything would be against him if he did not come into their camp. Q. This talk, I understand, friends of Mr. Burns? A. 1 do not know whether they repre- sented him or not, but just as friends; just people that I knew were his friends. Q. Did they say that they represented him? A. No, sir. Q. Who were they? A. Well, T do not know that I care to divulge their names. I don’t think—they certainly have not been witnesses. Q. It don't make any difference. A. Ts that an important matter with you folks? Q. It might be. A. They have not been witnesses here, and I do not know that they had any au- thority to represent Mr. Burns at all. They might just simply have been talking for the sake of talking. Q. Were they expressing simply their opinions? l‘l‘L Just simply their opinions; that is was with all. Q. None of them made any suggestions as to what might be secured for a vote? A. Oh, no; nothing of that kind. All the talk with those people was upon the line that a man was putting himself in a very bad shape if he did not vote for Dan Burns; that he was going to have the powers down on him. Mr. Lardner—Could you say whether it was McLaughlin, the chairman of the Republican State Central Committee? A. No, it was not him—it was not him. On motion of Mr. La Baree the com- mittee went into executive session. g Work for the Attorney General. CALL HEADQUARTERS, SACRA- MENTO, Jan. 27.—Senator Dickinson has presented a bill to the Senate which specl- fies thn% ((he[Anrr;rnof General Is to have one assistant, who shall act in i of his chief on the State Board r‘\lr"elig(lnfll’l?3 iners when he is absent, and who is to receive $2700 per annum. By the terms of the bill he is given three other deputies at a salary of $2400 per annum each. The bill provides that under no circumstances | is_any State official to employ any legal advice outside of the Attorney General's office. The Board of Regents of the State University and the State Board of Har- bor Commissioners are exempt from this provision. It is furthermore set forth that in the event any District Attorney is disquall- fied from conducting any prosecution within his county the Attorney General may employ special counsel to conduct such prosecution, and the attorneys’ fees shall be a legal charge against the State. A BILL TO KNOCK OUT THE PROFESSIONAL JUROR CALL HEADQUARTERS, SACRA- MENTO, Jan. 27.—Senator Braunhart has obtained from the Senate Committee on Judiciary favorable action on his bill pro- viding for jury reform, in that his act will have the effect, if it is adopted, of knocking out the professional juror. inis lts a reform which has been long looked or. Senator Braunhart's bill provides that once each year the Superior Court in every county shall designate the esti- mated number of grand and trial jurors required for the entire year to discharge the business of the court. In the counties where there are more than one Superior Judge, each Judge shall select his =ro rata of the total number required. No Superjor Judge can delegate the power of selecting jurors to any other person, After persons are selected the clerk of the court is to examine them to ascer- tain if they are qualified to sit as jurors. Every Judge is required to affix an affi- davit to the jury list, stating that he personally made the selections and that no other person assisted him. The selec- tlons and listings are to be made from persons who are on the assessment roll of the city or county, who are of fair character, approved integrity and sound judgment. No person can serve as grand uror within two years last preceding the selection of the grand jurors of whom he was one.- No person shall serve as a trial juror who has served as a regular Jjuror within a year preceding the selec- tion of trial jurors and no person is re- quired to serve as trial juror for more than one month in one year, and he can serve as such juror in not more than five cases during the term for which he was selected. As soon as he has served in five cases his name is to be stricken from the jury lists. This law was originally designed for San Francisco alone, but the Judiclary Committee has so amended it as to make it applicable to the entire State. e e ASSEMBLY BILLS OF MUCH IMPORTANCE CALL HEADQUARTERS, SACRA- MENTO, Jan. 27.—Assemblyman O’'Brien of San Francisco introduced in the As- sembly this morning a bill which has for its object the erection of a State building in the city of San Francisco, and the sum of $300,000 is appropriated to cover the cost of the establishment. The build- ing is intended to provide quarters for the Supreme Court, Court Commissioners, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Yosemite Val ley Commission, State Mineralogist. Fish Commission, Bank Commission, Immigra- tion and Insurance Commissions, Attorney General’s office and other: The Governor shall appoint three com- missioners who shall employ a secretary at $1500 per year, and shall have sole con- trol and direction of the purchase or ren- tal of a site for the building, the con- struction of the building and its mainte- nance. They shall also appoint an archi- tect, whose commission shall not exceed 3 per cent of the $300,000, and a supervising architect. Cobb of San Francisco offered a bili ap- proprigting $3000 to be used in furnishing the office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Assembly Knowland of Alameda intro- duced a bill which provtded that ten hours’ work twelve consecutive hours shall constitute a ds work on any railroad not a mileage road or a regu- lar schedule trip. Trainmen employed overtime shall be paid by hour proportionately with thelr Railroad corporations failing to salarie: comply with the law shall be guilty of misdemeanor, e To Restrict Pawnbrokers. CALL HEADQUARTERS, SACRA- MENTO, Jan. 2.—A bill was introduced in the Assembly to-day which is calculat- ed to greatly restrict the privileges of pawnbrokers 4nd bring their business and customers under the strict surveillance of the police. The bill provides that every person car- rying on a loan business shall do so only under license issued by the Mayor of the city in which he is/established. The broker must keep a complete register of gledges upon which he makes loans and efore 12 o'clock noon of every day must hand in to the Chief of Police or Marshal a list of pledges accepted by him, a de- scription of them and of the persons who have negotiated loans. No pawnbroker shall®relcase a pledge until twenty-four hours have élapsed after the: list has been handed the police. A change also is made by the bill in the method of disposing of pledges that have not been redeemed. Instead of being sold at private sale they must be adver- tised for five successive days in a daily paper and then sold at public sale. No pledge shall be soid until after six months after the time fixed by the contract for redemption. The bill is in the hands of the Judiciary Committee, BLOOD POISON BLOZD POISON T ¥ BLOOD POISON 39-ay Ci s S| BLOOD POISON — Ly BLOOD POISON stages—in the First Stage, in the Second Btage (more commonly called secondary), and in the Third Stage, or Tertiary State. You will note your hair faliing, you will note copper- colored spots on the =kin, vou will discover @ very sore throat, you will find glandular lumps. ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN TO GURE. When in this condition an absolute cure is guaranteed, and if you are not cured in the time specified the treatment continues free. 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