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c f en nb i rrve-- ioi ® * € 9 --~~~ PHB GAGGED INvEsSTIGATION. ' brcapanliiactane . .+ ' "The Privileges and-- Elections Committee o e To C ie aoninscs tamowes in June s B S f\ecs f effluxion of time. The elections followed in June, yesterday took the desperate course of suppress-- 1908. The Chairman made himself ridiculous by d j ing the evidence essential to proving or disprov-- ruling that the committee must decide whether | ing the charges against the Premier and Provin-- the payment was corrupt or not, and excluding ; eial Secretary. Whether the evidence exists or not £lj efidente on which"stieh « detision could hs f . § made. It was obviously impossible for the com-- is a question the committee has determined shall mittee to make an intelligent decision without not be officially settled. The natural inference will knowing the conversations, representations, pro-- be that important evidence does exist, and that, mises, threats, and understandings attendant on damaging as the suppression will be in the eyes the payment of the money. All these things were of the public, the disclosures would have been excluded. 3 s $10%" vastly more damaging. The refusal of the com-- In the afternoon the by--play of the committee ' \ mittee to permit the giving of essential evidence, developed childish characteristics. Mr. Hanna ' i quite apart from the guilt or innocence of the made a lengthy defence of tl}e charge that had f accused, reveals the Legislature in a condition been ruled out by the. commillée hnd expungedl i q i1 q hx s from the record. Chairman Ferguson, who had| of inability to purge itself of the suspicion of poli-- ruled out the charge and prohibited the support--| } tical corruption. This is most lamentable, and its ing evidence, made a move towar(} cons}stency,l ' importance transcends any immediate question of \but the committee, which had sust.amed hm} whc;n ' the guilt or innocence of Ministers, When the rauing "Oft the charge / d c io toe, (.)\e'rro f ' ts 4 s s his ruling to exclude the defence. After his de--, seriousness of this is realized by the Legislature fence had been made, free from cross--examina--. and the Province there will be a compensatory tion, against the charge that would have been * reaction, and the failure of the committee may made but had been excluded, the committee made be more beneficial, ultimately, than the success of a pretence of consistency by hzfving the clefencs a Commission of Judges would have been. removed from the recorfl. The -- transgsforme # ' x';'%#*. _#' * % tragedy made but a sorry farce. Mr. Hanna pro The first serious suppression was in regard to 'fessed anxiety to make a statement, blllt or;];:te the manipulétion of coal tenders, and evidence vital point at is§ue _he *4 al')solute * stt r, bat o * ; C [though profuse in his explanation of ma ?S was rigidly excluded. Before the suppression Mr. 'quite irrelevant to the subject matter of the in-- Thorne, who had acted as arbitrator in the final quiry, settlement with Mr. Taylor, said he told _ Mr. l Enmnsummemmmmmenmnammencamnmemmement Hanna he thought if an agreement could be made | to leave the whole thing to him he could arrange' that there would be no more publicity in regard to the personal attacks. This was the most direct counection established between the settlement with Mr. Taylor and the charges which Mr. Taylor was holding. over the Provincial Secretary's head. % s s t The intolerable sunpression came when the receiving of a campaign contribution of $500 from Mr. Taylor was admitted on behalf of the| Provincial Secretary, and all further evidence re-! garding it was prohibited. The committee was! asked by Mr. Proudfoot and by the reference t'rom{ the Legislature to decide whether or not the| payment was corrupt. The Chagirman's prohibi-l tion of evidence regarding the interviews, repre-! sentations, circumstances, and all things oni which a judgment as to corrupt intent could be | based, carried suppression to a ridiculous length, and while Mr. Taylor was still on the stand the Liberals and their counsel withdrew. -- All sup-- pression rulings were sustained by party divisions in the committee. *k e L % It is a natural inference that as differences were arising between Mr. Taylor and the Provin-- cial Secretary, and the Provincial Secretary obtain-- f ed from Mr. Taylor a $500 political contribution with no election pending, Mr. Taylor, who is not a politician, expected that the payment would make matters run more smoothly. They did finally be-l come smooth, although Mr. Taylor was not paid | as much as he thought he should have received.] id the ultimate loss of the $500 fall on Mr.:! ' Taylor or on the Province? . S * * * Hon. Mr. Hanna's friends are saying he would y have suffered less in public estimation if he had faced the music. A word from him would j have caused the committee to hear and consider f the evidence against him in spite of the Chair-- P .& man's ruling. But Mr. Hanna knew what the -- tune would be. It was in November, 1907, that, according to the admission of counsel, he -- received $500 from Mr. Taylor. There was . no election pending, and no election talk in «l the air. The Legislature had fourteen months ,