648 



NEW YORK. 



son, the presiding officer of the joint As- 

 sembly, announced that a conference of Re- 

 publicans would be hold immediately. After 

 some discussion as to the means of bringing 

 about a " regular caucus," it was voted to 

 adjourn and " meet in caucus " at three o'clock, 

 for the purpose of nominating a candidate for 

 United States Senator. The " Stalwarts " took 

 part in the caucus, and the vote for candidate 

 was: Lapham, 61; (Jonkling, 28; Evarts, 1; 

 and Stewart L. Woodford, 1. The nomination 

 of Lapham was then made unanimous on mo- 

 tion of Senator Winslow, who had been a 

 prominent supporter of Conkling. The joint 

 Assembly resumed its session at 5 p. M., and 

 the fifty-sixth ballot on the election of a suc- 

 cessor of Senator Conkling was taken, result- 

 ing in ninety-two votes for Lapham and forty- 

 two for Potter. 



WABNEK MILLER was born in Oswego Coun- 

 ty, August 12, 1838, his parents being of Ger- 

 man extraction. He was educated in the pub- 

 lic schools of his native county, and passed 

 through Union College, graduating in 1860. 

 He then engaged in teaching at the Fort 

 Edward Collegiate Institute, but on the break- 

 ing out of the civil war enlisted as a private 

 in the Fifth New York Cavalry. Serving un- 

 der Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley, he was 

 promoted to a lieutenancy. After the battle of 

 Winchester he was taken prisoner and paroled 

 on the field, and soon after received an hon- 

 orable discharge from the army and went to 

 Europe. There he became interested in the 

 subject of paper-manufacture, and on his re- 

 turn established a manufactory at Herkimer. 

 In this business he has continued to the pres- 

 ent time. His first active participation in poli- 

 tics was in 1872, when he was a delegate to 

 the National Republican Convention at Phila- 

 delphia. He was elected to the State Assem- 

 bly in 18T4, and re-elected in 1875. In 1878 

 he became a candidate for Congress in the 

 Twenty-second District, which included the 

 counties of Herkimer, Jefferson, and Lewis. 

 He was elected in November of that year, and 

 re-elected to the Forty-seventh Congress in 

 1880. 



ELBEIDGE G. LAPHAM was born at Farming- 

 ton, New York, October 18, 1814. His early 

 life was spent on a farm, and his education was 

 obtained in the common schools and at the 

 Canandaigua Academy, where he was a class- 

 mate of Stephen A. Douglas. After leaving 

 the academy he studied civil engineering, and 

 was for a time employed as a civil engineer on 

 the Michigan Southern Railroad. Relinquish- 

 ing that employment, he studied law, and was 

 admitted to the bar in 1844, soon after which 

 he settled at Canandaigua, where he still re- 

 sides. In 1867 he was a member of the New 

 York Constitutional Convention, but was never 

 a candidate for a political office until 1874, 

 when he was nominated and elected as Repre- 

 sentative of the Twenty-seventh District in 

 Congress. He was successively re-elected in 



1876, 1878, and 1880. In Congress he has 

 been regarded as a careful and conscientious 

 rather than a brilliant legislator, and in politics 

 was in general sympathy with the Conkling 

 wing of the party. 



The charge of bribery made by Assembly- 

 man Bradley against Senator Sessions, to which 

 reference has been made, led to an investiga- 

 tion by a committee of the Assembly, the 

 result of which was reported by the Repub- 

 lican majority and the Democratic minority 

 of the committee on the 5th of July. In the 

 mean time Mr. Sessions and others had been 

 indicted for bribery by the Grand Jury of 

 Albany County. The report of the majority 

 of the committee was short, the following 

 being all but the introductory part : 



Eminent counsel appeared for and in behalf of the 

 persons charged by Mr. Bradley with making the 

 proposition to him, and the committee was repre- 

 sented by able counsel, to whom was intrusted the 

 conduct of the inquiry into all the matters that were 

 brought to the attention of the committee. The in- 

 vestigation extended through a period of about two 

 weeks, and the printed report of the testimony taken 

 and the proceedings had formed a volume of 500 pages, 

 which accompany this report. The testimony of Mr. 

 Bradley was direct and positive, and lie unequivocally 

 charged that on the 8th day of June last he was ap- 

 proached by the lion. Loren B. Sessions, a member 

 of the present Senate of this State, who at the same 

 time offered and paid to him the sum of $2.000 for 

 the purpose of influencing and inducing him to 

 change his vote for United States Senator and to cast 

 his vote for ChaunccyM. Dcpew for said office. The 

 denial of Mr. Sessions was as definite as the charge 

 of Mr. Bradley, and his testimony in support thereof 

 was equally positive. The remaining evidence in the 

 case is circumstantial. Besides the testimony relating 

 to the charge preferred by Mr. Bradley, evidence was 

 adduced upon the investigation tending to prove that 

 active members of the Assembly had been approached 

 by one Charles A. Edwards, with corrupt proposals 

 and offers of money, for the purpose of influencing 

 their votes for Chauncey M. Depew for United States 

 Senator. During a portion of the time that the in- 

 vestigation was in progress the District Attorney of 

 the County of Albany was present and heard the 

 testimony, being the officer especially charged by the 

 Constitution and laws of the State with the prosecu- 

 tion of the said persons charged with the offense of 

 attempt to bribe. He instituted proceedings against 

 such persons as soon as practicable. 



After the examination of the witnesses who were 

 produced and sworn before the committee^ and be- 

 fore the proceedings and testimony were printed and 

 furnished to the committee and an opportunity was 

 given them to examine it for the purpose of reporting 

 thereon, Senator Sessions and Charles A. Edwards, 

 who were charged with the crime, and others were 

 severally indicted by a Grand Jury of the County of 

 Albany, upon which indictment they were arraigned 

 and handed over for a trial in the Court of Sessions 

 of said county, a court having jurisdiction in the 

 premises. Official information of the finding of the 

 bills of indictment and the subsequent proceedings 

 taken as above stated was furnished to the committee 

 by the said district attorney, as will appear from the 

 following communication, viz. : 



" CITT OF ALBANY, DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, 



June 80, 1881. 



" DEAR SIB : In response to your request to be in- 

 formed as to whether the newspaper reports to the 

 effect that Senator Sessions, A. D. Barber, E. R. 

 Phelps, and Charles A. Edwards have been indicted 

 for attempted bribery of members of the Legislature 



