DOCUMENT NUMBER 20 HISTORY OF THE CHAMPAIGN "ELEPHANT,” BY ONE OF THE "RING," From the Chicago Times, March 21, 1867. In another part of this issue will be found a letter from a member of the Champaign "Agricultural college ring," who, disappointed by his failure to obtain the "chair of moral philosophy" in that institution-or what would be considered its equivalent, an opportunity to handle a large amount of some other man's money-turns "state's evidence" and exposes the internal operations of the ring without mercy. The exposure is rich, racy and instructive. It fully corroborates all the statements of corruption, rascality and "scuggery" made by Professor Turner in his recently published report, and will convince the public that the corruption of the recent legislature of Illinois has not one-half been told. Among other ways in which the Champaign ring made use of a $30,000 corruption fund, was the subsidizing of the country press generally, excepting in the counties of Morgan and McLean, and the writer, states moreover, that "we subsidize the two lesser radical luminaries in Chicago with $500 each." Whether the amount of the subsidy for one of these cheap luminaries went into the coffers of its Springfield owner, Mr. Jacob Bunn, or the pockets of Mr. Jacob Bunn's Chicago enfants, is not stated. The amount mentioned seems to indicate the price of the latter, although it is probably intended to purchase the former. This expose of the Champaign swindle will possibly serve to open the eyes of the people to the fact that there were perpetrated, with the aid of the recent legislature, yet greater swindles than this. The statehouse ring have managed better than the Champaign "male and female seminary" ring to provide all its members with the "fat berths" that were allotted to them in the original scheme. No one was left out to "peach" on the rogues within. The plunder having been distributed according to agreement, the thieves act harmoniously in covering up the modus operandi of the theft. Springfield Correspondence of the Times. Springfield, Ill., March 20. Aren't you pretty hard on the Champaign college "ring," particularly since we have been entirely spooned out of the university skillet? Why not hear reason, and allow me, a member of the "ring" to give you a straight out account of the whole business? By so doing you will give Brother Gregory, the regent, the finance and faculty committees and the trustees, a "pou sto" -which is Dutch for "where to stand"-when these gentlemen undertake the work of organizing and setting the university machinery in motion. THE URBANA AND CHAMPAIGN MALE AND FEMALE INSTITUTE So, to begin at the beginning:-Some six or seven-it may be eight-years ago, two men, hailing from Aurora, Ill., Messrs. Babcock and Stoughton, appeared at the county seat of Champaign, and awoke the town from its slumbers by proposing a grand educational scheme, which was to buy up a tract of prairie between the towns of Urbana and West Urbana, for $50 to $100 per acre, as the case might be, lay it off into lots; sell them at the rate of from $500 to $1,000 per acre; and on the difference between what they gave for the land and what they sold the lots for, build, endow and run the Urbana and Champaign male and female institute. They instanced the success of such a speculation at Aurora, Kane county, Ill., and claimed as much for it as "the ring" now claim for the Illinois Industrial University. It would raise the price of lands and lots, bring in population and capital, and put Champaign up before the world "like a city on a hill which cannot be hid." PROGRESS OF THE ENTERPRISE. Well, (I was residing in Champaign county at that time, and have been there, off and on, ever since) I went into the thing-in fact we all went into it, bald-headed; and between coaxing, arguing, humbugging and bullying, we soon got up steam, and soon after we were blowing it off a-howling. We let the contract, started the building, and got it well along toward completion. When the war came on the excitement died out, and, all of a sudden, we discovered that we had an elephant on our hands. We found this fact out during the summer of 1864, and then made preparations to get the assistance of the legislature which was to come together in January, 1865, to transfer the animal to the broader shoulders of the county and the state. For this purpose the county loaned its aid to the extent of some $8,000, and we went to Springfield to effect the job, and failed. For the why and wherefore of our failure, let the reader consult the columns of the Chicago Tribune for January and February, 1865 that sheet, to all appearances, then not being under the control of the eminent agricultural writer, with Harry White and Joe Medill for assistants. "DEAD-FALL" FOR RADICAL NEWSPAPERS AND LEGISLATURES Previous experience having taught us how to deal with radical newspapers and legislatures, last summer we set a "deadfall" for both, pretty near in the following manner. (Not being on the ground I may not be exact in every particular; but you may rely on it, Mr. Editor, that the general facts are correctly stated.) First-We made an arrangement with the county board to take the institute building and grounds (ten acres) from us, the county giving us therefore $30,000 in county bonds, drawing ten per cent. interest. Second-We prevailed on the board of supervisors to order an election for an appropriation of $100,000 in aid of the enterprise. This we carried by the usual appliances of coaxing, bullying and humbugging. Third-We obtained an appropriation of $5,000 from the board of supervisors to pay LEGISLATIVE EXPENSES; and further, got them to appoint a committee of three of their own number to go to Springfield and see the thing out. Fourth-Meantime one man Griggs had been elected representative to the general assembly from this district, and the cities of Urbana and Champaign appropriated the first $200 and the last named $300, to be paid over to him, to be used to the best advantage in furthering the design of "the ring." GRIGGS' OPERATIONS. He immediately took the cars and traveled up and down the state; and according to the Chicago Tribune correspondent's puff of him, written for the purpose of putting him into the office of treasurer, he was mainly instrumental in getting up the state house swindle, the Cairo penitentiary swindle, and, if you will have it so, the Champaign county swindle, and putting them through the legislature A BID. Meantime, we, "the ring", had prepared a bid, under the authority of the board of supervisors of Champaign county, about as follows: The Urbana and Champaign male and female institute building and ten acres of ground, at a cost to the county of $30,000; 160 acres of land in section 18, $14,000; and 640 acres of prairie parts of section 21 and 28, situated three and one half miles from the college at $50 per acre $34,000; in all say $78,000. -The county had already voted $100,000, of which $5,000 had been appropriated. So we had $17,000 left for working expenses. To be sure we put this bid in at more than twice these figures but that was to be the cost to the county. OPERATIONS AT SPRINGFIELD. We went to Springfield early and engaged a suite of rooms at the Leland House, at the trifling cost of $30 per day, to be used as headquarters. A whiskey chebang was opened next door, where everything was free to our friends. We decreed a subvention to the country press outside of McLean and Morgan counties; subsidized two of the lesser radical luminaries of Chicago with the payment of $500 each, more or less; paid the tavern bills of our friends and members of "the ring"; and, by the use of money, whiskey, stuffing, padding and forcepumping, kept the newspaper correspondents up to their work; and as a consequence, nearly the whole press of the state was filled with puffs of the greatness and glory of the Champaign county "ring". THE EVANGELICAL HEADQUARTERS. For the evangelical and temperance portion of "the ring" and their friends, we had a quiet room set apart provided only with a bible, a pitcher of cold water, and a bottle of bay rum (for the hair); and here your correspondent spent most of his time. How much money was paid to senators or representatives for their votes; how much champagne was drunk; how much bad whiskey swallowed, and how much deviltry generally and stealing particularly, was accomplished, your correspondent, from his pious associations has no means of knowing. He goes no deeper into the affair than common report in Springfield gives him authority for doing. OPPONENTS. But, though we had the inside track by previous arrangement, we found a formidable crowd from Jacksonville, headed by old man Turner, (who gave us a great deal of trouble); another body; equally formidable, from Bloomington; to say nothing about the Lincoln boys. Of course, $5,000 soon disap-. peared, and we had to "go back" on the people of Champaign county for more money and a bigger bid; again for a bigger bid and more money; and so on, several times repeated. ANOTHER BID. Finally, we brought the thing to a head by a bid valued at $400,000 but at a cost to the county not including legislative expenses, of $200,200, as follows: Champaign Male and Female Institute buildings and ten acres of land near centre section 7 T. 19, 9 E. $ 30,000 N12 S. E. and S. 11⁄2 N. E. section 18, T. 19 9 E. 160 acres. .. 14,000 The Griggs tract of 400 acres, section 21, T. 19, 9 E. at $55.... 22,000 The Busey tract, 410 acres, section 19, T. 19, 9 E. at $70... 28,700 Bonds of Champaign county. 100,000 The Dunlap subsidy of fruit and shade trees "at lowest catalogue rates" 2,000 |