years. In 1872 Mr. Addicks persuaded her to sell this house for $36,000 and let him have the money to put into his busi ness, promising that in the near future he would give her other real estate of equal value. When they moved to Claymont, in 1877, he deeded to her the "Riverview" house, in partial fulfillment of this promise. On the 14th of April, 1888, however, about two years after the death of Mr. Wilson, Mr. Addicks induced his wife to deed the "Riverview" house in Claymont to Mrs. Wilson, in exchange for certain bonds left to the latter by her husband at his death. This deed will be found recorded in the office of the Recorder of Deeds for Newcastle County, Deed Record I., Vol. 14, p. 509. It thus appears that in January, 1889, when Mr. Addicks came into Delaware politics as a candidate for the Senatorship, he did not own the "Riverview" place, which was supposed to be his residence; did not live in the State, except when he came to Claymont and boarded for a day or two at Mrs. Wilson's; and was actually a citizen and resident of Boston. When he was asked one day in Claymont, by a lady from Pennsylvania who happened to be visiting Mrs. Wilson, how he could run for the Senatorship in Delaware when he actually resided in Massachusetts, he replied, "Oh, I live here; I've got a bureauful of clothes upstairs." In the fall of 1888, about six months after the transfer of the Claymont house to Mrs. Wilson, Mr. Addicks went to Europe, leaving his wife and daughter in Boston. Upon his return. in January, 1889, he called up Mrs. Addicks by longdistance telephone from the pier in New York, exchanged greetings with her, and said that he could not come to Boston at that time, for the reason that important business required his presence in Philadelphia. He thereupon went directly to Claymont, boarded for a few days at Mrs. Wilson's, then proceeded to Dover, where the State Legislature was in session, and there, upon the basis of "a bureauful of clothes" in the house of Mrs. Wilson at Claymont, he announced himself as a candidate from Delaware for the United States Senate. When he made his appearance in the Hotel Richardson at Dover, he wore a silk hat and a fur-lined overcoat; he was accompanied two or three showily dressed men whom nobody knew, and the party, as a whole, created in the quiet little capital something like a sensation. At first no one took Mr. Addicks or his pretensions seriously, and no one, apparently, discerned in him the skill, ability, and tenacity of purpose that he afterward manifested. He was regarded, by the people generally, with amusement and curiosity, as a new, exotic, and unfamiliar type of politician; but it was not thought for a moment that he could be dangerous or even formidable; and if it had been suggested, as a possibility, that he might eventually dominate the Republican party and hold up the State, the legislators who were voting for United States Senator that year would doubtless have laughed at the idea. Mr. Addicks, however, had full confidence in his own methods and resources; and, without paying any attention to the attitude taken toward him by the people, he went promptly to work. The first thing he did was to secure what has since been called an "inventory" of the Legislature. Picking out a bright young law student, who had taken rather an active part in State politics, he said to him: “I have a matter that I want to put through the Legislature at this session, and I should like to get some information with regard to the character, circumstances, and antecedents of the legislators who will pass upon it. I am willing to pay liberally for this information, and I have sent for you in order to ask whether you can get it for me." The young law student had never heard of Mr. Addicks, and knew nothing whatever of his character or purposes, but he was quite willing to do any honest work for liberal pay, and he therefore replied that he thought he could. Mr. Addicks then gave him a series of questions which he desired to have answered with reference to every Senator and Representative in the House of Assembly of that year. These questions were, in substance, as follows: Who is he? Where is he from? What is his age? Is he married or single? If married, how many children has he? Does he own any real estate? If so, are there any mortgages on it? What is he thought to be worth? (in money) and What are his habits and general reputation? The young law student spent two weeks or more in getting the desired information, and when the answers to the questions were ready, he called upon his employer and submitted them. Mr. Addicks looked them over, said they were perfectly satisfactory, and asked the young man the amount of his bill for the service. The student replied that the work was of an unusual nature, and that he hardly knew what charge should be made for it. He had spent, however, about two weeks in getting and compiling the data, and if Mr. Addicks thought that seventy-five dollars was not an excessive charge, he himself would be quite satisfied with that amount. Mr. Addicks promptly drew and gave to the young man a check for two hundred and fifty dollars. In The nature of the above questions indicates with sufficient clearness the use that Mr. Addicks intended to make of the information. He wanted, in the first place, to get from that Legislature a charter for the Bay State Gas Company of Boston; and, in the second place, he had decided to begin at once his campaign for the United States Senatorship. order to attain the objects he had in view, by the methods with which he was most familiar, he needed information that would guide him to the legislators who could be most easily and safely "approached." A poor legislator, with a large family and a mortgage on his farm, would be more accessible, and would yield more readily to influences of a certain kind, than would a wealthy Senator or Representative whose property was not encumbered and whose checks at the bank were always good. That Mr. Addicks, as a matter of fact, did use this information in this way, and for the purposes indicated, I shall try hereafter to show. It is said that he has had an 66 inventory" of this sort compiled for every Legislature since 1889. His next step was to get legal counsel to advise and help him in the matter of the Bay State Gas charter. Selecting one of the most eminent lawyers in the State, he called at the latter's office, introduced bimself as J. Edward Addicks, and said; Mr. D- I am interested in a number of matters in Delaware with regard to which I may need legal advice, and I have called upon you for the purpose of retaining you as my leading counsel in this State. I wish to say to you, at the outset, that the fees you'll get from me will amount to more than all the rest of your business put together." Mr. D, who had never before heard of Mr. Addicks, but who was unfavorably impressed by this method of "approach," drew himself up with dignity and said: "You may stop right there, Mr. Addicks. I don't want any proposition or talk from you about compensation until after you have explained what services you expect me to render. If, when I shall have learned the nature of your business, I think best to act as your counsel, it will be time enough to discuss the subject of compensation." Mr. Addicks thereupon explained that his particular business at that time was to get through the Legislature a charter for the Bay State Gas Company of Boston. The lawyer asked to see the draft of the charter, and Mr. Addicks produced it. Mr. D- looked through it hastily and then said: "The thing doesn't impress me favorably at first sight, Mr. Addicks, and I should like to have time to examine it and think about it." "How much time do you want?" "Three or four days; I'm going to Wilmington next Wednesday, and I'll try to give you an answer before that time." A careful perusal of the proposed charter convinced Mr. D― that it was thoroughly bad in form and in purpose, and when Mr. Addicks called upon him again, a few days later, he said to the latter: "I don't want to have anything to do with this charter, Mr. Addicks, for the reason that it seems to me improper, inconsistent with the public welfare, and opposed to what I regard as sound public policy. I must therefore decline to advise you with regard to it, and must also decline to act as your counsel in this or in any other matter." Mr. Addicks shortly afterward endeavored to secure the professional services of another eminent lawyer in Dover, who is well known both in and out of the State. This attempt also failed, and, so far as I have been able to ascertain, it was not until 1893 or 1894 that he succeeded in retaining as counsel a man in the first rank of the legal profession. Mr. Herbert H. Ward, the present Attorney-General of Delaware, acted for him in the divorce suit instituted by Mrs, Addicks, on statutory grounds, in 1894, and has since been his counsel in the Bay State Gas cases.1 What first suggested to Mr. Addicks the idea of seeking election to the United States Senate from Delaware, and what his underlying motives were, I do not know; but the opportunity presented itself when, for the first time in many years, the Republicans, in 1888, carried the State and got a majority in the Legislature. He was much more likely to succeed as a Republican candidate than as a nominee of the Democratic party; for the reason that a large part of the numerically strong and purchasable colored vote. in the two lower counties was Republican. The negroes could hardly be induced, by any temptation, to support a Democrat; but their choice as between one Republican and another might be influenced by money. Mr. Addicks probably had little expectation of being elected to the Senate in 1889; but he thought it expedient to begin his campaign then, make a study of the field, get hold of men who might be useful to him, and await develop ments. He sent one of his workers from Boston down into the southern part of the State to announce his candidacy, enlist influential adherents, and notify all whom it might concern that he was prepared to put up any necessary amount of cash. In that session of the Legislature, however, he had no adherent, unless, as he said in the Creelman interview, it was through his influence that Senator O. D. Moore cast the decisive vote for Anthony Higgins. There is no trustworthy evidence, so far as I know, that he spent any money in that Legislature, or in that year. His His first contribution to a campaign fund was made in 1890, when, it is alleged, he gave the sum of $5,000 to the Kent County Democratic Committee, with the understanding that the. Democrats, or some of 1 Mr. Addicks resisted his wife's attempt to get a divorce on statutory grounds, and she failed to obtain a decree. He subsequently allowed her, however, to get a divorce on the ground of desertion or non-support, and when he was free he married Mrs. Wilson. 2 According to the statements of "three persons of integrity and character who have since made oath thereto," Mr. Addicks, in April, 1892, admitted that he gave this sum of $5,000 to the Democrats in order to help them elect their candidate for Governor (Robert J. Reynolds). The reason that he assigned was, "You know I had no interest in the Richardsons" (the Republican candidate for Governor and his father). This statement is abridged from the reply of the Republican State Committee of Delaware to a communication from J. Frank Allee, Chairman of the Union State Committee. them, should help him with his Bay State Gas charter. The Legislature to be elected in 1890 would not have a United States Senatorship to dispose of, so there was no particular object in trying to obtain control of it; but in 1892 Mr. Addicks made one of his characteristically adroit attempts to get hold of the Republican nominees to the Legislature from Sussex County by giving them money for their campaign expenses. A well-known citizen of Wilmington, whom Mr. Addicks had already secured, went down into Sussex County that fall with a satchel containing ten thousand dollars or more in cash. One Senator and seven Representatives were to be elected to the House of Assembly from Sussex County that year; and to every one of these eight Republican nominees the agent of Mr. Addicks offered the sum of one thousand dollars for personal campaign expenses. A well-informed and experienced chairman of the Sussex County Republican Committee informed me that two thousand dollars was the largest sum that could be expended in that county for legitimate political purposes; and yet the agent of Mr. Addicks was offering to the Republican nominees eight thousand dollars, to be used at their own discretion, in addition to the regular campaign fund of the county, which was ample. His expectation apparently was that these men, finding it impossible to spend all of the eight thousand dollars, would use a part of it and put the rest in their pockets. If they should do this, he would get hold of them and be able to intimidate them; and even if they should not misappropriate the money, the mere acceptance of it would put them, to a certain extent, in his power. All but three of the candidates took the cash and used it-for legitimate purposes, I sincerely trust! Three of them consented to take it but refused to spend it, and eventually turned it into the general county fund. One of the three, whom I shall call Mr. L-, gave his thousand dollars to the chairman of the Republican County Committee, in the presence of witnesses, and took a receipt for it. Some months later, after the election, Mr. L- chanced to meet Mr. Addicks, Mr. Layton, and Mr. Allee in the office of the Fourth Assistant Postmaster-General in Washington. As the Delaware trio left the room, Mr. Who is right in this contention I shall Addicks turned to Mr. L and said, not undertake to determine, but it seems loudly enough for all to hear, “ L——, to me fairly probable that, inasmuch as you'd better send me your check for that Mr. Addicks did put up a large sum of thousand dollars of mine." This was to money in 1892, some of that money was give Mr. Bristow and others who were used to pay the taxes of Republican voters present the impression that Mr. L had who had been disfranchised by the operataken a thousand-dollar bribe from Mr. tion of the delinquent tax law, as well as Addicks, and had then refused to" deliver to pay for the "work" and "influence" the goods" or return the money. that were needed to give the party fighting efficiency. Be that, however, as it may, Mr. Addicks's expenditures in 1892 brought no practical results, for the reason that National influences and tendencies gave rise that year to a Democratic tidal wave, which rolled over Delaware and carried into the House of Assembly twenty-eight Democratic legislators out of a total membership of thirty. How much Mr. Addicks spent in bribery and vote-buying in 1892 cannot with certainty be stated; but such information as I have been able to get, taken in connection with a semi-public statement made by him personally in 1894, indicates that the sum was not less than seventyfive thousand dollars. This amount, moreover, does not include twenty-five thousand dollars used in getting through the Legislature his Bay State Gas charter. In 1894 he told a prominent Republican politician of Sussex County, in whom he had confidence, that it had cost him twenty-five thousand dollars to get that charter, but that he had cleaned up two mill ion dollars in the Boston gas "deal." Precisely in what way the twenty-five thousand dollars had been used he did not explain. For It is said by the Addicks men generally, and by Dr. Layton and Dr. Marshall in particular, that in the years 1892, '93, and '94, when none of the old Republican leaders would put up the money that was needed for campaign expenses, Mr. Addicks threw himself into the breach, assumed the leadership, paid the taxes of fifteen hundred Republican voters who had practically been disfranchised in Kent and Sussex Counties by the Democratic delinquent tax law, and, generally, reorganized the party in the State, provided it with funds, and set it on its feet. this service he thought he was fairly entitled to the United States Senatorship. On the other hand, ex-United States Senator Anthony Higgins says that "Mr. Addicks was brought into our affairs shortly before the election of 1892, after our taxes had been fully paid and a thorough organization of the party in the State had been made. After the taxes had been paid and the party had been organized, he came to snatch for himself the result-hoping to succeed to Senator Gray's seat, then becoming vacant."1 'Evening News, Wilmington, Del., November 19, 1902. In 1894, however, there were manifest signs of a reaction in favor of the Republican party, and Mr. Addicks, seeing that there was an excellent prospect of again getting a Republican majority in the Legislature, determined to use a very considerable part of the money cleaned up in the Boston gas "deal" in securing the election of legislators who would vote for him as United States Senator. One of the first things that he attempted. to do was to get, as chairmen of the Republican committees in Kent and Sussex Counties, influential and experienced men, who might be trusted to put his money where it would do the most good. Upon looking over his "inventory" for that year, he found the name of a man in the southern part of the State who had had some political experience and training, but who was poor, and who at that particular time was rather hard pressed for money with which to educate his three sons. Mr. Addicks promptly sent for this man, and said to him, in substance, "Mr. N, I'm trying to find somebody who is willing and able to look after my interests in Sussex County, and I have sent for you in order to make a proposition to you. It is quite likely that I shall start a new party before long, and I shall want a chairman for my committee in your county. If you'll go in with me, I'll give you a salary of $100 a month, appoint you Chairman of the Sussex County Committee, and put $100,000 to your credit for campaign expenses." Mr. N was very much taken by surprise, and could only say that Mr. Addicks knew very little about him, and would hardly be justified in intrusting to a comparative stranger so large a sum as a hundred thousand dollars. "That's all right!" replied Mr. Addicks; "I know what I'm about. I want somebody that will stay with me, and I'm told you're one of that kind.” Mr. N―, who had just borrowed five hundred dollars to pay the school expenses of his oldest son, was probably tempted by the offer; but he told the tempter, nevertheless, that he was not prepared, at that moment, to accept the proposition. "Well," said Mr. Addicks, "if one hundred dollars isn't enough, I'll give you two hundred dollars a month and put a hundred thousand dollars to your credit." Mr. N- still held back, and replied that he could not act in such a matter without consideration. "If you won't take two hundred dollars," persisted Mr. Addicks, "what will you take? Name your price." Mr. N―finally declined to do anything more than consider the matter, and the interview closed. In the spring of that same year (whether before or.after the interview with Mr. N I do not know) Mr. Addicks is said to have come personally before the Sussex County Republican Committee, in the office of D. J. Layton, at Georgetown, with an offer to give them one hundred thousand dollars for campaign purposes, A Little Mr. if they would nominate a ticket of legislators in that county who would vote for him as United States Senator. The gentlemen of the Committee, who were in favor of the re-election of Senator Higgins, declined to accept the proposition. Addicks, nevertheless, put thirty-three thousand dollars into the hands of the Committee that summer, thirty thousand dollars of which were spent in paying for "work," "influence," and votes. On the other hand, it is asserted by the Addicks men that the Democrats had a "corruption fund" of twenty-six thousand dollars that same year. The State election in 1894 resulted in a sweeping Republican victory, the Republicans electing their Governor and Congressman, as well as nineteen out of the thirty members of the Legislature. Mr. Addicks regarded this victory as the result of his own efforts and expenditures, and had no doubt, apparently, that it would be followed by his election to the United States Senate. On the Thursday after the State electionthat is, on the evening of November 8, 1894-a dinner was given at the house of Charles L. Moore, in Georgetown, Sussex County, to fourteen prominent Republicans from the southern part of the State. At that dinner Mr. Addicks made a speech in which, among other things, he said: "Well, boys, we've won! . . . I've bought it; I've paid for it; and I'm going to have it! It has cost me one hundred and forty thousand dollars!" [TO BE CONTINUED] Minister |