the courts, refused. Mutterings of the disappointed conspirators
reached the ear of an enterprising newspaper reporter. Thereby
the Circuit Attorney, Joseph W. Folk, struck the trail of the
gang. Both the president of the railway company and the "agent"
of the rogues of the Assembly turned state's evidence; the
safe-deposit boxes were opened, disclosing the packages
containing one hundred and thirty-five $1000 bills.

This exposure led to others--the "Central Traction Conspiracy,"
the "Lighting Deal," the "Garbage Deal." In the cleaning-up
process, thirty-nine persons were indicted, twenty-four for
bribery and fifteen for perjury.

The evidence which Folk presented in the prosecution of these
scoundrels merely confirmed what had long been an unsavory rumor:
that franchises and contracts were bought and sold like
merchandise; that the buyers were men of eminence in the city's
business affairs; and that the sellers were the people's
representatives in the Assembly. The Grand Jury reported: "Our
investigation, covering more or less fully a period of ten years
shows that, with few exceptions, no ordinance has been passed
wherein valuable privileges or franchises are granted until those
interested have paid the legislators the money demanded for
action in the particular case . . . . So long has this practice
existed that such members have come to regard the receipt of
money for action on pending measures as a legitimate perquisite
of a legislator."

These legislators, it appeared from the testimony, had formed a
water-tight ring or "combine" in 1899, for the purpose of