. 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 systematizing
this traffic. A regular scale of prices was adopted: so much for an
excavation, so much per foot for a railway switch, so much for a street
pavement, so much for a grain elevator. Edward R. Butler was the master
under whose commands for many years this trafficking was reduced to
systematic perfection. He had come to St. Louis when a young man, had
opened a blacksmith shop, had built up a good trade in horseshoeing, and
also a pliant political following in his ward. His attempt to defeat the
home rule charter in 1876 had given him wider prominence, and he soon
became the boss of the Democratic machine. His energy, shrewdness,
liberality, and capacity for friendship gave him sway over both
Republican and Democratic votes in certain portions of the city. A
prominent St. Louis attorney says that for over twenty years "he named
candidates on both tickets, fixed, collected, and disbursed campaign
assessments, determined the results in elections, and in fine,
practically controlled the public affairs of St. L