The new nest of traitors : a challenge to Whitney and Wright

=of Traitors

5524

IW5M3

19O1

|c. 1
ROBA

illenge to Whitney und Wright

in the Tory Camp to Give Whitney
|e Knife and Rid the Party of an
Incompetent Leader.

id the fellows and see how they feel
{new leader," says Organizer Wright. "I
lund an ounce of sense into Whitney's
I 'See Wright," says Dr. Pyne, "He has
of experience in American Campaign

to the fact that A. W. Wright, late of Phila-
J7.S.A., the Conservative organizer has fur-
lit erv iews written by himself to the Tory
;ference to the Mabee pamphlet I have-
to the public a few more details of the
i the Tory headquarters to depose the
of the Conservative partv and of the
nection therewith.

d always have felt that Wright's action
was in the best interests of the party
the chief organizer and were it not for
ie has deliberately misled the public in

•.
. %

The

of Traitors

A Challenge to Whitney and Wright

Plotting in the Tory Camp to Give WhHney

the Knife and Rid the Party of an

Incompetent Leader.

"Sound the fellows and see how they feel
about a new leader," says Organizer Wright. "I
can't pound an ounce of sense into Whitney's
head." "See Wright," says Dr. Pyne, "He has
had lots of experience in American Campaign
methods."

Owing to the fact that A. W. Wright, late of Phila-
delphia, U.S.A., the Conservative organizer has fur-
nished interviews written by himself to the Tory
papers with reference to the Mabee pamphlet I have
decided to give to the public a few more details of the
plot hatched in the Tory headquarters to depose the
present leader of the Conservative party and of the
organizer's connection therewith.

I feel now and always have felt that Wright's action
in this respect was in the best interests of the party
of which he is the chief organizer and were it not for
the fact that he has deliberately misled the public in

2 THE NEW NEST OF TRAITORS.

the interviews above referred to I would not feel it my
duty to give this information to the public.

Some time ago I sent out a few of the facts in my pos-
session in the form of a declaration and I know tRe ef-
fect of the same. I am, if there is:a false statement made
in the declaration, liable to criminal prosecution.
When I made the first declaration I did not deem it
necessary to go any further than simply to protect
myself. I however, am obliged to publish a little more
of the information which I have in my possession, and
it is for Wright and his friends to think it over before
they make any more reckless assertions and urge me
on to still further reveal the plot they hatched against
Mr. Whitney. The books of the banks will show that
1 got money from the Conservatives for compiling a
book for them. These facts cannot be disputed. I
challenge Wright to produce proof to the contrary.
Let him produce the bank books and he will there see
recorded that I was paid by the Conservatives as stat-
ed. Let Wright .show his sincerity by making a decla-
ration before a proper legal official embodying the
statements he has furnished the press. Let him do so
and abide the consequences.

The whole matter rests between myself and Wright
and the others who associate with him at the opposi-
tion headquarters, and in my declaration given below
I give to the public some additional information on
this matter, and I may, for my own protection, be
obliged to further disclose the plot hatched by Wright
and others. In the meantime, I challenge him to dis-
prove any statement I have made and to give under
oath the statements he so freely sends to the press.
Little did myself or Mr. Whitney know of the plot
when Mr. Whitney wrote saying he thought the idea
of the American book a good one, and when he exam-
ined with me the cartoons for the conservative book and
then recommended me to some of his followers, \vho
then sent me to Wright.

My presence in the political game in Ontario is due
entirely to Mr. Whitney, his supporters and organiza-
tion. Let Wright furnish his statements as I do under
oath and the people can then judge between ns for
themselves. I again challenge Wright to give under
oath the statements he has been issuing in letters and
interviews.

THE NEW NEST OF TRAITORS. 3

This little pamphlet is issued by myself at my own
expense and is merely intended to correct the false im-
pressions Wright and the Tory press have attempted
to create.

Province of Ontario
Dominion of Canada
County of York.
To Wit

I Charles Ralph Mabee of the City of Toronto in the
County of York, Publisher, do solemnly declare:

i. In the month of September, A.D. 1900, I sent to
Col. Tisdale M. P. for South Norfolk a copy of the
book "McKinley in the Witness Box" and wrote him
a letter asking him if he thought a similar book could
be got out for the Conservative party in the Domi-
nion campaign then going on. I wrote to him as I
knew him personally as I had lived in his Riding for
years and my family were among his strongest sup-
porters. Col. Tisdale wrote me in reply to the effect
that

The Idea was a Good One

but it would have to be done at once to be of any
use. He gave me the address of the Conservative
headquarters in Toronto, and told me to write them
at once and make a proposition. I did nothing more
about it as 1 concluded that the time was too short
to get out an effective book.

Whitney Endorsed the Idea.

2. I came home to Canada early in January A.D.
1901, and shortly afterwards I became acquainted
with "Mr. R. Southam the Manager of the Mail Job
Printing Company. I showed him a copy of the book
"McKinley in the Witness Box" and he sent it on to
Mr. Whitney. On or about the nth day of February
A.D. 1901, Mr. Southam handed me a letter which he
had received from Mr. Whitney, dated February 9th,
A.D. 1901, in which Mr. Whitney stated that he had
the American campaign book, and thought the idea
of a similar book in Ontario a good one. The said
letter is now in my possession and was marked as an
exhibit to a former declaration made by me.

4 THE NEW NEST OF TRAITORS.

Whitney Writes to Mabee.

3. After this, and during the month of February I
devoted some time to gathering material for a book
in the interests of the Conservative party and had
some cartoons prepared which I sent to Mr. Whitney.
On the 8th day of March A.D. 1901, I received a letter
from Mr. Whitney asking me to come and see him
either at the Parliament Buildings or at the Grosvenor
House with reference to the book. This letter is now
in my possession and was marked as an exhibit to a
former declaration made by me. Among other mat-
ters contained in said letter is a reference to the car-
toons which I had sent to him.

Mabee Interviews Whitney.

4. In answer to said letter I went and saw Mr.
Whitney in his private room in the Parliament Build-
ings when he told me he was convinced that a publica-
tion similar to the American book, issued in the in-
terests of the Conservative Party, would be of mater-
ial benefit to the party. At this time he had in his
possession some of the cartoons which he and some of
his followers have :>ince denounced, and was quite de-
lighted with them. He told me to go and see Dr.
Pyne and J. J. Foy with reference to the book and to
meet him next time at his rooms in the Grosvenor
House.

Pyne and Foy Endorse the Idea.

5. On the following Sunday morning I had an in-
terview with Dr. Pyne at his residence, and on Mon-
day I had an interview with J. J. Foy in his office on
Chtirch street in the City of Toronto.

Both of these gentlemen coincided with Mr. Whit-
ney's view of the matter and said that they thought
the idea of such a book was a splendid one. Mr. Foy
had a copy of the American book in his office and told
me that he talked the whole matter over with Mr.
Whitney. Dr. Pyne advised me to go and see A. W.
Wright about it as Mr. Wright had had considerable
experience in American campaign work and ougkt to
be able to five some valuable assistance.

THE NEW NEST OF TRAITORS. 5

Whitney's Instructions to Mabee.

6. Shortly after this I met Mr. Whitney in his
rooms in the Grosvenor House and we then and there
decided to publish the book. The chief topic of discus-
sion between us was whether the book should be sent
out free or a charge made for it. Mr. Whitney in-
clined to the view that it should be issued to candi-
dates free and said that he thought it could be ar-
ranged with the Southam Publishing Syndicate to
publish the book without any charge being made for
it, as in the event of the Conservatives coming into
power in Ontario this Syndicate would have the mono-
poly of all the Government printing. He said that
there were only two other Conservative printing
houses in Toronto and that one of them, W. S. John-
ston & Company, Adelaide Street West, was a small
concern and did not have large enough plant to do the
Government work, and the other, Charles Roddy,
Lombart Street already had the patronage of the
City of Toronto and should be satisfied with that. He
further said that he expected the Southam Syndicate
to contribute very liberally to the Conservative cam-
paign fund as his election would be worth a very
great deal to them, and that they might as well do
this work as part of their campaign contribution. He
told me to see Mr. A. W. Wright and that he would
also see him at once to instruct him to lumi<h me
with material to assist me with the book and that he
would also instruct him to make arrangements with
the publishers.

Carrying1 Out the Instructions.

7. I went several times to the Conservative head-
quarters to see Wright but the office was always clos-
ed and it was a week or ten days after the above in-
terview that I succeeded in finding Mr. Wright. He
and Dr. Beattie Nesbitt were together ai:d I introduc-
ed myself to Mr. Wright. He in turn introduc-
ed me to Dr. Nesbitt. I asked to see Wright alone,
but he said he knew all about it and that we could
talk quite freely before the Doctor. They were both
very enthusiastic about the hook anrl .^aid it should be
issued as soon as possible. Mr. Wright said that the
Mail Job Printing Company would print it and take
the financial risk.

6 THE NEW NEST OF TRAITORS.

Several Took a Hand

8. I prepared some of the matter for the book my-
self, and some was furnished me by Mr. Wright, Mr.
Whitney, Dr. Pyne and others, and I put this into
shape. I remember that Mr. Whitney supplied me
among other things, with some matter about the cost
of maintenance of public institutions an<l the Royal
Commission for the invest iga 'ion of the financial
standing of the Province. As I got the proof sheets
from the printer I handed them to Mr. Wright who
read the proof and made corrections in his own hand-
writing, and told me that he in turn handed them
over to Mr. E. B. Osier, M.P., Mr. Whitney, M.P.P.,
Mr. Foy M.P.P., Dr. Pyiie, M.P.P., and others. Final-
ly Mr. Wright told me that the literature Committee
of the Conservative party had approved of the matter
contained in the proofs and had decided that the book
should be issued at once.

Publishers Expect Some Return.

9. On several occasions Mr. R. Southam told me
that he did not like the idea of taking the finan-
cial risk on the publication of the book, and thought
that he should have some guarantee against any loss.
I mentioned this to Wright who said he would see Mr.
Whitney about it. He afterwards told me that he
had spoken to Mr. Whitney about the matter and
that Mr. Whitney had instructed him to go to Ham-
ilton and see Mr. Southam, Senior, as he thought
more could be done with him than with his son.
About the end of May or first part of June, Wright
and I went to Hamilton together and had an inter-
view with Mr. Southam, Senior. Wright told him
that he had been sent to him by Whitney and was
authorized bv him to say that he wanted Mr. Soulh-
am to see that the book was issued, and that in the
event of Mr. Whitney winning the next election, he,
Mr. Southam, would be well repaid. Mr. Southam
then made some remarks about the sacrifices he had
made for the conservative party and how much the
printing companies and newspapers controlled by
him had done for the party, and said, "I certainly ex-

THE NEW NEST OF TRAITORS. 7

pect some return." He promised us that he would
write his son Richard instructing him to go on with
the printing of the book and said it would be issued
even if he lost money on it. Wright had the proofs
of the book with him and asked Mr. Southam to
look them over as there was some ''good hot stuff"
in them. He said they were all right as Mr. Whit-
ney had read them over and approved of them. Mr.
Southam did not appear to be anxious to look at
them, and dismissed us with the remark that he sup-
posed they were all right as Mr. Whitney approved of
them.

Whitney Read the Proofs

10. A few days afterwards I saw Mr. Southam,
Senior, in the Mail office and he void his son Richard,
in my presence, that he had learnod from Mr. Wright
that Mr. Whitney had read the proofs and had given
his approval of them. It appeare-l to be settled that
the Mail Job Printing Company were to go on and is-
sue the book. Shortly after this Mr. Richard South-
am made some further objection to taking the finan-
cial risk. He told me that his Company had an
old claim against the Conservative organi/,ation for
campaign literature which never had been paid,
and he thought he would prefer not to have
anything to do with the book until the claim was paid.
He said, that as Manager of the Company the re-
sponsibility was on him to make a good financial
showing at the end of the year. I told Wright about
this and he asked me to go to W. S. Johnston and
asik him to submit figures on the work. I went to
Johnston's place of business on Adelaide street west,
and he then went down to Wright's office where he ob-
tained a copy of the American hook and was asked
to submit figures on a similar book. A day or so
after this the Mail Job Printing Company finally de-
cided to go on and issue the work, and the negotia-
tions with Johnston were dropped. Wright after-
wards laughed and said he thought he had done a
pretty clever thing in using Johnston to bring South-
am to time. I learned later, however, that Mr South-
am knew nothing about Wright's scheming with John-
ston.

THK NEW NKvST OF TRAITORS.
Mabee Received Tory Money.

11. During the time that the book was in course of
preparation I received from the Mail Job Printing
Company several sums of money, partly in cash and
partly in cheques on the Molson's Bank, and I also
received from the said Company money for
travelling expenses, paid to me partly in cash and
partly by cheques on the said Molson's Bank. I
also received abotit May or June, either three or four
cheques from Dr. Beattie Nesbitt, pay-
able to my order at a Branch Bank on Spadina

Avenue. These were given to me hv Dr. Nesbitt as
he said "on the side" and to help along with the
book. He asked me to give him anything that I
thought would be "red hot" and new in the way of
material for a speech, and said he would like to have
me prepare some material for him on the personal ex-
penses of the Cabinet Ministers, such as cab hire,
street car tickets, etc. He said this was great stuff
to catch the voters.

The Talk at Tory Headquarters

12. During the time the book was being prepared I
did not come very much in contact with any of the
members of the conservative party outside of the
city of Toronto and my oAvn constituency of South
Norfolk in which I spent part of my time at my home
in Vittoria, and consequently did not realize the ex-
tent of the dissatisfaction with the leadership and
management of the party. I had often heard Wright.
Leavitt, Nesbitt and others in the const:rva.tive head-
quarters on King street, Toronto, denounce Whitney
for his conceit, overbearing manner, and total lav k of
political tact and business ability, but 1 did no; pay
very much attention to this as it was quite appar.
ent that the Wright-Leavitt-Nesbitt crowd were down
on Whitney, and that Whitney had no confidence in
them but simply tolerated them because he had to.
Wright told me one day when he was very angry
about something that Whitney was so "self-opinion-
ated that he could not pound an ounce of sense into
his head." I am using Wright's actual words with

THE NEW NEST OF TRAITORS. 9

the expletives left out. Wright told me to wait un-
til I got out into the constituencies and I would find
out what the workers thought of their leader.

Tory Candidate Demands Money.

13. When at my home in Vittoria during the sum-
mer, I came in contact with I\Ir. John L. Biick, the
conservative candidate for South Norfolk. We talked
over the political situation and he informed me that
Whitney wanted him to run again at the next elec-
tion, but that he would not take chances again unless
his election expenses were put up for him. Knowing
that I was in contact with the leaders in Toronto he
asked what I thought the chances were for financial
help. I agreed to let him know when Whitney was
expected in Toronto. I wrote him afterwards from
Toronto that Mr. Whitney would be in the city on a
certain day, and he wired me that he was coming
down. I met him at the Union Depot and we went
together to the conservative headquarters and saw
Mr. Whitney. Mr. Buck afterwards told me at lunch
in Nasmith's restaurant that he had arranged mat-
ters all right, and that Mr. Whitney had assured him
that he would have $1,000.00, the whole amount to
rje paid to his brother at least one month before
election. Mr. Buck repeated this again at the Un-
ion Depot that same evening to myself and three
others. Mr. Buck told me that he had told Mr.
Whitney that he wanted the money sent to his
brother so that the Tisdale crowd in Simcoe would
have nothing to do with it.

The Question of Leadership.

14. In July and August I travelled over the West-
ern part of Ontario in connection with the book. Be*
fore starting out Wright gave me a list of candidates
in the present election and all the names of the Exe-
cutive Committee of the Ontario Conservative Asso-
ciation, comprising the names of Presidents of elector-
al Division Associations, Conservative Members of the
Legislature, Conservative Members of the House of
Commons in Ontario, Conservative Senators in On-

io THE NEW NEST OF TRAITORS.

tario and defeated candidates for the Legislature and
House of Commons in Ontario at the last election. I
still have this list in my possession as it was given
to me by Wright. He asked me to call upon as
many of them as possible and sound them on the
question of holding' a convention and appointing a
new leader. He said that the plans were all laid and
that if the fellows in the country were all right, he
and Leavitt would resign and close up the headquart-
ers office. "The Toronto World" newspaper would
resume the agitation for a convention and six loading
conservatives would issue the call for a convention.

General Dissatisfaction with Whitney.

15. When I came in contact with the leading con-
servatives in several constituencies I found a verv gen-
eral dissatisfaction with the leadership of Mr. Whit-
ney and fully as much with the work of the organi/ers.
Some men told me that the grit organizers had been
around helping the local grits with their voters' lists
and holding organization meetings, while the torv or-
ganizers could not be found unless there was a chance
to make a speech at some big meeting. They alsp
complained that when they went to Toronto they
would find the headquarters office closed and no one
to give any information. I informed Wright of what
I heard in this respect, and told him that if a con-
vention were held he should be prepared to make
some explanation about these matters. A great
many country conservatives complained that the
party was being run by the Albany Club, and that it
was the only place to go, when in the city, to get
any information. Several of them criticised Mr.
Whitney very severely for spending $76,000.00 on
election protests, all to no purpose, except helping
some Toronto lawyers to make a good thing otit of
it. Some of them remarked that if it were on hand
then to distribute amongst the candidates they would
have at least $1,000.00 each to help them in looking
after their voters' lists and paying the expenses of
the campaign. Lack of confidence in Whitney, Foy
and the Albany Club, and disgust with the gross mis-
management of the Party were apparent everywhere.

THE NEW NEST OF TRAITORS. it

Maclean the Favorite.

1 6. Some of the candidates whom I saw during my
tour were: Charters of Peel, Carscallen of Hamil-
ton, Wardell of North Wentworth, Jessop of Lincoln,
Sutherland of South Oxford, Stewart of North Mid-
dlesex, Downey of South Wellington, Monteith of
North Perth, Hanna of West Lambton, Beck of West
Huron, Snider of North Norfolk, Herring of South
Essex and Kribs of South Waterloo. In addition to
these I went to some other ridings and did not succeed
in finding the candidates at home, but in nearly all
the ridings above mentioned I saw some of the men
mentioned in the list given me by Wright. I can-
vassed every man I called upon with reference to the
leadership and found an overwhelming feeling against
both Whitney and Foy. I was surprised to find so
many in favor of Dr. Nesbitt, but on enquiring close-
ly into these causes, his strength seemed to come
ra\her more from the fact that he was looked upon
as a genial fellow and a good entertainer than from
his being considered a man of any capacity for public
life. Maclean was undoubtedly the favorite for lead-
er. He was looked upon as being able and aggres-
sive, and not likely to commit Whitney's fatal blunder
of blindly fighting everything proposed by the liber-
als.

Money, Jealousy and Lack of Unity.

17. Charters of Peel told me he would not have
taken the nomination if he had thought he would have
to pay his own election expenses. He said that Mr.
Blain, M. P., was on the Financial Committee of the
Ontario Conservative Association, and had promised
him that he woiild see that his campaign did not cost
him anything. He complained that he had already
been to considerable expense and had not been able to
get anything. He was down on Whitney for expend-
ing so much money on protests and leaving his can-
didates to put up their own expenses. He said he
had been approached by one, Fitzgerald, who was
feeling the ground on behalf of Maclean for leader, and
had told Fitzgerald that he would support Maclean

12 THE NEW NEST OF TRAITORS.

if a convention were called. Downey of Guelph told
me he had no use for Whitney. One of his objections
was that he kept himself at an out of the way hotel
in Toronto, and it was hard for any of his followers
to see him. He told me that he had remonstrated
with Whitney about this. Carscallen of Hamilton
said that he had talked with Whitney about the book,
and that Whitney thought it would gain him a lot of
votes. He said he would have the Hamilton Con-
servative Association order 1,000 books not later than
October ist. I had a long talk with him. He said
that their party could win if there was not so much
disorganization, and Whitney did not seem to be able
to pull the boys together. He said,

Whitney was Jealous of Everybody

who possessed any ability or who might be likely to
come to the front in the party. Sutherland of South
Oxford did not think much of Whitney and favored
Nesbitt. I saw, also, Messrs. Bullock and Patterson,
the President and Secretary of the Association. Bul-
lock favored Maclean and Patterson favored Foy.
Jessop of Lincoln was sore" on the whole crowd. He
said that they hadn't a man fit for a leader, but con-
sidered Maclean the best of the crowd, and thought
that steps should have been taken to get him into the
Legislature. He was in favor of a convention being
held to consider the question. Stewart of North
Middlesex thought that Whitney lacked the necessary
qualifications for a successful leader and seemed to feel
sore over the treatment the candidate against Col.
Leys, at the last London election had received from
Whitney at the Shaw-Wood banquet in London. He
did not know whom to favor, but thought that

Anybody Would be as Good as Whitney.

Monteith of North Perth condemned Whitney for
his management of the large protest fund, and would
support either Nesbitt or Maclean. Hanna of West
Lambton was for Whitney out and out, and thought
he was an ideal leader. Beck of West Huron told me
about a fi.ooo.oo note which had been raised to

THE NEW NEST OF TRAITORS. '3

fight the Garrow protest to which he and five others
had attached their names. He claimed that Mr.
Whitney had promised him that it would be paid
within three months from the time it was made, and
that it had then been running in the Bank for over a
year and nothing paid on it. He favored Maclean
strongly for leader. Kribs of South Waterloo was
down on everybody. He did not think that any of
them were any good, and was so disgusted that he
doubted very much if he would even be a candidate
again. Herring of South Essex didn't care who was
leader. He was quite satisfied with any of them so
long as Herring could be elected for South Essex. He
said that was all he cared about. Snider of North
Norfolk did not have much to say except that he was
disappointed with Whitney's management of thi
party.

Success Impossible under Whitney

1 8. After encountering such a diversity of opinion
and such general dissatisfaction, I was convinced that
the conservatives could not succeed under the present
leadership, and that if by any chance the Liberal Gov-
ernment should be defeated, the affairs of the Province,
with Whitney as Premier, would be so grossly mis-
managed that the Conservatives would be turned out
at the end of four years, and the Liberals again re-
turned to power, probably for another thirty years-

Withdrew use of His Name.

19. While my sympathies were always with the con-
servative party I had gone into the scheme of pub-
lishing the book with the expectation of making some
money out of it, and I found that I had been grossly
misled by Messrs. Whitney, Wright, Nesbitt, and the
rest of them. I told Wright, Leavitt and Nesbitt,
that the only kind of a book which would appeal to
the country Conservatives wa^ one denouncing Whit-
ney as leader of the party. They were still anxious
to have the book got out, and Wright talked of rais-
ing a subscription which they expected W. R. Brock,
M. P., to head with $500.00, and then send the book

14 THE NEW NEST OF TRAITORS.

out at a reduced rate or give it away free. I told
them they could pay me for what work I had done on
it and I would draw out of it and let them issue it
on their own responsibility. I immediately found out
that they wanted me to take the responsibility for the
many wild and inaccurate statements which they had
themselves furnished me with. I then refused to
have the book issued in my name, and took the plate
of my signature away from the Mail office, with the
result that the book still remains in cold type in the
office of the Mail Job Printing Company.

Wright Plotting: Against Whitney.

20. When I mentioned to Wright that I thought the
oest selling book among Conservatives would be one
denouncing Whitney as leader, he said it would be a
good thing if such a book were got out at once and
not left until it was too late to change leaders. He
said he would help me all he could, provided I did
not come out in favor of the Government, and he
gave me the names of several people who could give
me information about Whitney. I saw most of these
people, and I have used some of the information
gleaned from them, and some I have not used, for
reasons which I can give if necessary.

Mabee Issues a Book of His Own.

2.1. I do not pretend to possess auy great political
virtue, nor am I pharisaical like organizer Wright. I
confess that my sympathies always were, and still are
with the conservative party. I found out, however,
that the weight of argximent in the coming campaign
was on the side of the Government. I went to
Alexander Smith and told him that I proposed to get
out a pamphlet setting forth the condition of affairs
as I studied them while working with the
conservative organization, and commending the for-
ward policy of the Government. I found that Mr.
Smith had known about the conservative book for
months, which somewhat surprised me. He told
me plainly that neither the Government nor the liber-
al party would have anything to do with my proposed

THE NEW NEST OF TRAITORS. 15

new book, but that if I would go ahead and get a
book out on my own responsibility, he would write
the Liberal candidates for whatever came to his no-
tice of value to them, he made it his business to ad-
vise them of the same so that they would be posted
on everything that concerned them in their campaign.
This was not exactly what I wanted him to. do but
I found that he was firm in his attitude, and I decid-
ed to go ahead on this plan with all speed, for I felt
that 100,000 copies of the book compiled in the con-
servative headquarters would be issued by the con-
servative organization by November 1st. The new
book, "Our Progress," was issued by Hunter, Rose &
Company shortly after October 1st. The sale of the
book has been large and is increasing, and the matter
contained in it speaks for itself. I prepared the
book, "Our Progress," myself from material which I
looked up myself, and arranged myself with Hunter,
Rose & Company for its publication.

Not Aided by Liberals.

22. I have not received any assistance, financial or
otherwise, from any person, in connection with the
book, "Our Progress," nor do I expect to receive any-
thing from anybody except through my publishers on
the sale of the book. Wright knows that I have to-
day proof sheets of the book, "Our Progress," with
corrections and additions made in his own hand writ-
ing. The. sentence at the bottom of page 6 in said
book, as follows, "119,500 of this $76,000 is now in
the hands of Toronto politicians as profits," was sug-
gested to me by Wright. He gave me the names of
two Toronto Conservative lawyers, who he said bad
got the money, and wanted me to use their names,
but I refused. He also wanted me to say that Whit-
ney had got part of the money, but I refused to do
this, also. Wright was the first man to give me the
information about Whitney being deposed from the
position of President of a Loan Company. He also
asked me to say in the pamphlet that Whitney's
greatest friend in Toronto was a man who had
threatened to expose the secrets of the conservative
party unless he was paid so much money.

16 THE NEW NEST OF TRAITORS.

23. I have never consulted any member of the Gov-
ernment in his room or elsewhere, with reference to
the booik, "Our Progress," or had any conversation
or communication in any way with any member of
the Government with reference thereto, and any state-
ment to the contrary is deliberately false.

Dr. Nesbitt Fears Results.

24. Since the publication of the book "Our Pro-
gress," Dr. Beattie Nesbitt sent a messenger to my
house that he wanted me to come and see him at his
residence. The message came at a very late hour
on Saturday, October igth last, and 1 called at his
residence on Sunday morning, October 2oth, and had
a talk with him, lasting over an hour. He first said
he wanted about 50 copies of the book, and I told
him to go to Hunter, Rose & Co. for them, which
he did next morning. He then asked me for the let-
ter which he had given me recommending the book,
which had been prepared for the Conservative party.
I told him that I did not have it with me, but that
I would let him have it when I was through with it.
He asked me, as a personal favor, not to let it be-
come public, as it showed that Whitney had read and
approved of the book, and that Whitney now denied that
He said he had no use for Whitney, but the publica-
tion of his letter would injure him (Nesbitt) very
much with the Conservative party. He pleaded so
hard that I would have promised not to publish it,
had it not been that it was necessary to do so for
my own protection.

And I make this solemn declaration conscientiously
b^Heving it to be true, and knowing that it is of the
same force and effect as if made under oath and by
virtue of the Canada Evidence Act, 1893.

Declared before me at the >
city of Toronto in the Conn- (Signed)

ty of York, this I5th day of CHAS R MABEE

November, A. D., 1901.

(Signed) DONALD MACDONALD,

A Commissioner, etc.