Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 11.djvu/363

 THE MUNICIPAL LEAGUE OF PHILADELPHIA 347

whose personal abilities and official powers were such as to insure, if he should decide to co-operate earnestly and efficiently with the league, that the corruption incident to the promotion of the bill would be exposed.

After numerous conferences, the district attorney took hold of the matter; steps looking toward the indictment of Smith (the man who offered the bribe), and the prosecution of an investiga- tion by two judges sitting as justices of the peace, and as such vested with the authority to inquire into the welfare of the county, were inaugurated; Judges Bregy and Gordon agreed to sit as committing magistrates and justices of the peace; Stevenson (the councilman making the charge) gave his evidence again; and Smith was bound over in $10,000 bail to answer at the then pres- ent term of court the charge of corrupt solicitation. ,

After this, the district attorney proceeded with an examina- tion of some of the members of the Committee on Water to ascer- tain, if possible, to what extent corruption had been practiced in connection with the Schuylkill Valley ordinance. One select councilman testified, under skilful cross-examination, assisted by the judges, that he had been paid $500 in cash by a common coun- cilman in his saloon to sign the report of the committee favoring the Schuylkill Valley ordinance ; and that another select council- man had subsequently offered him $5,000 for his vote on final passage. Chairman Bringhurst, of the Water Committee, testi- fied that the promoter of the ordinance had approached him with a view of interesting him in the ordinance, but, upon his refusal to have anything whatever to do with it, Colonel Green declared that no other ordinance could be got through the committee. Selectman Henry Clay gave similar and other testimony tending to show Green's corrupt connection with the ordinance; and at one of the hearings Dr. William Pepper testified that Judge Henry Green, of the Supreme Court, had introduced the promoter Green to him, and that the latter had attempted to secure his support of the scheme ; and the mayor testified that the promoter had shown him a copy of the Supreme Court decision declaring the $i 1,000,- ooo loan invalid on the very morning and at the very hour that the court itself had handed down the decision at Harrisburg over