Jasper County Democrat, Volume 23, Number 61, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 October 1920 — HOW McCRAY TRIED TO DECEIVE HIS NEIGHBORS [ARTICLE]

HOW McCRAY TRIED TO DECEIVE HIS NEIGHBORS

Hired Man Preceding County Seat Election to “Build Railroad on Paper." Some years ago there was a county seat fight In Newton county. The towns of Kentland, Goodalnd and Brook all had .'a hand in it, and two or thpee special elections wexe held. Kentland won out in the end, and the cherished new court hotise was built there. Warren T. McCray, the present Republican candidate for governor of Indiana, was one of the leaders in the fight for Kentland. Some of \the underhand methods to which he resorted have just been brought to light, and are backed up by court records covering a lawsuit that resulted. It has been pointed out that, according to the special finding of facts made by Judge C. W. Hanley in the Jasper circuit court, Warren ‘T. McCray secretly employed a Bayard Taylor to survey “what was given out and declared to be a lipe on which a railroad would probably be built, extending. .from the direction of Chicago through Kentland and in the direction of Terre Haute,”

and “said employment was made avid said work of surveying was done for the purpose of influencing the voters of Newton county to vote against the remqyal of the county seat of said county from Kentland and the said McCray paid all of the expenses of saki survey,” quoting from the court records. The full story of how McCray, in May, 1902, attempted to delude the citizens of Newton county into votr i ing to make Kentland, his * home, i the county seat, through the belief that he was inducing a railroad to come through Kentland, is told in the transcript of the case on file in the office of the clerk of the supreme court. | It discloses: 1. That McCray arranged to have a preliminary survey run to show a prospective railroad through Kentland when he had jio plans for building it. 2. That he instructed the surveyor deliberately to deceive the people of the county as to the purpose of the survey. l 3. That at that time, McCray, who is now being touted throughout Indiana as a "real dirt farmer,” was, according to the finding of the court “a real estate owner, banker and elevator man.” There can be no doubt of the exact 'truth of the finding of facts made iby Judge Hanley. The case was appealed to the supreme court and affirmed, and there is nothing in the record showing that McCray disputed the statement that he procured Bayard Taylor to perpetrate this fraud on his neighbors in Newton county. This record contains two letters from McCray to Taylor, which letters do more toward giving the people of Indiana an insight into the character of Warren T. McCray than ! anything that has heretofore been produced. i Both letters bear the signature of Warren T. McCray and are written on stationery of “McCray, Morrison & Co., Wholesale Grain Dealers, Kentland, Ind.” The first one, dated May 19, 1902, is as follows: “McCRAY. MORRISON & CO. Wholesale Grain Dealers Kentland, Indiana I May 19, 1902. Mr. Bayard Taylor w Sec’y, Chicago, Illinois. Dear Sir: We arrived home Friday and presume Mr. Olsen has re

turned by this time and made you a compelte 'report of the interview in New York. Let us know what you are doing and what hope you have of success. I want you to enter the north end of county the first of next week and solicit for the right of way, you can put up a good' talk and go at it just as though you fully "xpected to complete the road. I would go along the line about as we expect to bulla the road in case it is built. In fact, YOU ARE NOT TO KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE COUNTY SEAT RUMPUS WE ARE IN. . 1 I would start over in Lake county a piece and come down. Would not just start in at Lake county line or matter might look too obvious. I would spend two or three days in Lake township, going from there to McClellan, on down to Beaver. OUR COUNTY SEAT ELECTION IS DUE THE 7TH, and we want to make the north end of the county well before that tjme. I Please advise us what you expect , per day, also let us know how much money you will need ‘for expenses. You will understand, of course, that THIS MATTER IS TO BE STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL and YOU MUST ACT IN GOOD FAITH AND BE AN EARNEST ADVOCATE OF ’THE ROAD, which I am still hope--1 ful will be built on some plan or other. I Please let us know if you are willring to do this. We thought it hardily worth while ,to go to the expense 'of running a line, as your presence there talking the road and soliciting the right of way, taking contracts, etc., would in effect amount to the same thing and be considerably cheaper. [ Let us hear from yftu on this promptly. PLEASE DESTROY THIS LETTER AFTER YOU READ IT. I would also say if there is anything you think any of us can do to assist you in complying with Mr. Lawrence’s demand, we will be pleased to know it. If you fail in securing contracts that will be satisfactory, please let us know as we may have something to suggest that may be of value to you. Yours confidentially, (Signed) WARREN T.~ McCRAY.” Another letter from the man who now aspires to be governor of Indiana, taken from the court records, reads: ' “McCRAY, MORRISON & CO. Wholesale Grain Dealers Kentland, Indiana May 23, 1902. Mr. -Bayard Taylor, Sec’y, 951 Marquette Bldg., Chicago, Illinois. - Dear Sir: Your favor of the 21st at hand, and replying will say to same, $35 seems a little steep for the work. I suppose a full engineering corps would not cost to exceed S2O per day, and it certainly would not take 15 days to do our work. We want you to figure this as closely as you can, allowing yourself good fair wages. We want the work done, (however, and want you to start to |do it Monday morning. I would ; start in Lake county and come down through this county. YOU KNOW, OF COURSE, YOU ARE NOT TO KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE SITUATION HERE, NEITHER ARE YOU TO KNOW ANYBODY IN KENTLAND, MORE THAN JUST TO KNOW THEM THROUGH THE RAILROAD PROPOSITION. YOU MUST BE ENTIRELY INNOCENT REGARDING COUNTY SEAT AFFAIRS, and be sure you DO NOT MAKE ANY STATEMENTS THAT COULD CAUSE ANYBODY TO KNOW YOU WERE IN COLLUSION WITH US. DO NOT MENTION OUR NAMES in any way if you can avoid it. We enclose herewith a draft for $l5O. You will please see if you can do this work for less than $350 and let us know. We will do our correspondence through your Chicago office. We can write there and Mr. Olsen can forward it to you wher lever you are. WE WANT YOU TO PUT UP A GOOD STIFF TALK jAND CONVINCE THEM THAT THE ROAD IS A SURE THING. We ■ also want you to run this line where it will be suitable for railroad purposes. j We are in receipt of a letter from Mr. Lawrence and he still has faith |we wiif be able to build the road, I rather think he is anxious to do this work, and if you make a good showing there will be no trouble about It being built. I WE DO NOT LIKE TO TALK OVER THE PHONE; AS IT HAS TO GO THROUGH GOODLAND AND , THEY OF COURSE HEAR EVERY- . THING WE SAY. For this reason 'do not call up over the phone, 'neither will- we call you up. Remember, all correspondence is to be conducted through the Chicago office. Please advise us by return mail what you think this will -cost and j try not to make the whole expense | over S2OO if you possibly can. We are very much impressed with the idea that -it would make ( a much better showing to have the surveyor along and set stakes than just to !gb right . through. The argument you advance in this matter is good and we want the surveyor, but do not want it to cost any more than can be helped. We are already at enormqus expense in this matter and have to watch carefully our ex penses. Yours respectfully, (Signed) WARREN T. McCRAY.” For some reason which had best be left to the imagination for the immediate present, a part of records of the Jasper circuit court in the original c&se of Bayard Taylor vs. Chicago, Indiana & Southern Railway company, Carroll C. Kent and Warren T. McCray, have disappeared from the files in tlie court house at Rensselaer. • : ~- Speciflcally, the record that is now missing ever since Warren T% McCray entered the race for* the Republican nomination for governor is an interpleader filed by the New

York Central railroad on May 31, 1916. In the court records there is an entry which reads: “May 31, 1916, N. Y. C. flies interpleader. Court declines to hear anything in vacation.’’ Diligent search through the flies, musty and otherwise, of the office of the clerk of the court reveals nothing of the original interpleader. Diligent inquiry made of attorneys who appeared in this case has so far failed to disclose all that the interpleader contained. Friends of Warren T. McCray simply will not talk about It in public. They profess to have forgotten the affair, or to* have become confused regarding its details and none cares to attempt to supply'at present the missing link in a' story of a railroad that reads like a Wallingford serial. How and when this record disappeared is a tale that lies as deeply buried as the why of its disappearance. ' The only public clue to it lies in two other notations on the court docket at Rensselaer. These notations are as follows: “June 12, 1915. Received of New York Central Railroad company the sum of $11,261.67. JUDSON H. PERKINS, Clerk.” “June 12, 1915. Received of Judson H. Perkins, clerk, the sum of $11,261.67, in full satisfaction of the judgment and the judgment is released. BAYARD TAYLOR.” It is interesting to note that the payments above referred to were made about two weeks after the interpleader was filed, that the court was Still in vacation and no hearing was held on the plea of intervention on the part of. the New York Central railroad in the case of Taylor vs. the C., I. & S. R. R., Warren T. McCray Carroll C. Kent. But the incident serves to give a very ~clear insight into the character of the Warren T. McCray of several years ago. From it a few examples of the fluent letter-writing ability of the man who aspires to be governor are obtainable. Such words as “collusion,” “confidential,” “please destroy this,” 4 '’ “ybu are not to know anything at all,” etc., make very interest reading. And seem to sound a warning of what one may expect if a man of such supreme self-interest is elected to administer state affairs.