them back on the string? I think that they were on the string when Mr. Cone and Ricord examined them.-Ans. Yes, sir; to the best of my knowledge.

Ques. 198. I will ask you another question. Were not the tickets the time you opened the box in the presence of Ricord and Cone, were they not strung, Democratic tickets in one file, Greenback tickets in one file, and Republican in another?-Ans. I cannot be sure about that; I think that they were all on the string. I cannot swear to it.

Ques. 199. You are certain that on the 13th of Dec. they were unstrung and left in the box? Ans. My impression is that they were; I cannot swear to it.

Ques. 200. Didn't you state positive a while ago that you strung them and put them back into the box?-Ans. Yes, sir; that is my belief that they were; I don't know that I stated more positive then than I do now; also, I think that when we counted them they separated them. I know that they were not strung after that.

Ques. 201. The question was what condition they found them in before they unstrung any tickets in your presence?-Ans. I could not say.

Ques. 202. Did you stay with them all the time? Now, I mean on the 13th of Dec. you counted them carefully?-Ans. That is what we thought.

Ques. 203. Well, on that day you found no error as you believe, or you found no error at all, except that there were 10 votes you think should have been counted for Frederick which were not counted for him before?-Ans. That is the only mistake we could dis

cover.

Ques. 204. You did not find 36 votes instead of 37 for Wilson on that occasion?—Ans. No, sir.

Ques 205. This is the third count to-day?-Ans. Yes, sir.

Ques. 206. Still there is another tally and different result from the first, is there not?— Ans. Yes, sir; we found that there is a mistake in the Wilson count; that we discovered when Mr. Cone and Ricord examined them.

Ques. 207. On the first count Frederick had 55; Wilson 37?-Ans. Yes, sir.

Ques. 208. On the second count, Dec. 13, you made them: Frederick 63, Wilson 37?— Ans. Yes, sir.

Ques. 209. On this last count you varied it, making Wilson 36?-Ans. Yes, sir.

Ques. 210. Then this counting seems to be a very variable quantity, won't stick anywhere; the more you count the worse it goes. Now, after Ricord and Cone canvassed the tickets, who else handled them?-Ans. No one.

Ques. 211. Who else has looked at them? Have they been out of the box since that time, to your knowledge?—Ans. No, sir.

Ques. 212. Has the box been kept locked?-Ans. Yes, sir.

Ques. 213. From the character of your building, the kitchen door being left unlocked part of the time, and either the door of this or another room not being locked, and from the fact that this is a very common key, could not the box have been opened?-Ans. Well, sir, I suppose it could; yes, sir.

Ques. 214. Could not changes have been made in these tickets if it was opened by persons interested in that matter?-Ans. No, sir; I think not; there has been no scratching done at all.

Ques. 215. Could they not have substituted tickets and put in more?-Ans. No, sir; I think that they could not.

Redirect examination:

Ques. 216. How many straight Democratic votes were polled in your precinct at the Nov. election, as shown by the tie tickets?

(Mr. Haddock objects to the question for the reason that it does not specify the office, and for the reason it is improper to count a vote only as for some person.)

Ans. 63.

Ques. 217. Do you remember at the time you counted the votes at the Nov. election, 1882, that Frederick's name for Representative was on all the straight Democratic tickets that were polled; also, what is your recollection about that?

(Mr. Haddock objects to the question, on the ground that it is incompetent to introduce remarks on election day.)

Ans. I don't remember of any remarks being made.

Ques. 218. Turn to page 18 of the poll-book of the Nov. election, 1882, held in Cedar Township, Johnson County, Iowa, and read the entry that was then made, that the notary may take it down, concerning the office of Representative in Congress.-Ans. Shall I read all the headings?

Ques. 219. Yes, sir; all the entries made, anything beginning with the words, "At an election held."

(Witness reads it.)

Ans. At an election held at Antioch, Cedar Township, Johnson County, Iowa, on the 7th of Nov., 1882, there were 128 ballots cast for the office of Representative in Congress,

5th district, of which James Wilson had 37 votes, Benjamin T. Frederick had 53 votes, David Platner had 28 votes.

Ques. 220. Look upon that poll-book I now present you and state who made the same.— Ans. I did.

Ques. 221. Is that the poll-book that was returned to the auditor of that township as a return of the votes cast at the Nov. election for the different candidates that were running for offices you have your township? Ans. Yes, sir.

Ques. 222. Read the return you made for office of Representative in Congress from that township.

(Reads it.)

Ans. At an election held at Antioch, Cedar Township, Johnson County, Iowa, on the 7th day of Nov., 1882, there were 138 ballots cast for the office of Representative in Congress, of which James Wilson had 37 votes, Benjamin T. Frederick 53, David Platner 28.

Ques. 223. Then does your returns show that there were 128 ballots cast for that office? Does it show that number were cast ?-Ans. No, sir.

Ques. 224. Didn't you just read it? Ans. It says that that many votes were cast, but it don't foot up so.

Ques. 225. Now, does the number of ballots cast for the different candidates for that office foot up 128?-Ans. No, sir.

Ques. 226. Then don't the tally-books show an evident mistake of ten votes on its face?-Ans. Yes, sir; it shows a mistake. They don't correspond. That is, the total vote as it is written out. They don't foot up to the account.

Ques. 227. The number of ballots cast for the respective candidates then only foots up to 118? Ans. Yes, sir; that is all.

Cross-examination by Mr. Haddock.

Ques. 228. What does the tally-list on the book show to have been cast as to the number of votes for Frederick, Wilson, and Platner in the box?-Ans. Wilson 37, Frederick 58, Platner 28.

Ques. 229. It foots up to how many?-Ans. 118.

Ques. 230. Now, wasn't the intention in the case to write the total number of votes cast taken from the tally-list?-Ans. For the office, you mean?

Ques. 331. Yes, sir.-Ans. Yes, sir; that was the intention.

Ques. 332. The intention in this case would be to write 118; it should have been, according to the tally-list, 118?-Ans. Yes, sir.

Ques. 333. Then the mistake was in writing 128 instead of 118?-Ans. Yes, sir; according to the tally-list.

Witness' fee, $1.75, paid by contestant.

STATE OF IOWA,

Johnson County, 88:

JOHN L. ADAMS.

Deposition of witness produced and sworn before me, Elden Moran, a notary public and commissioner agreed upon to take testimony on this 23d day of Feb., A. D. 1883, in a proceeding pending before the House of Representatives of the United States of America, in a contested election for the office of Representative in Congress, in which proceedings Benjamin T. Frederick is contestant and James Wilson is contestee. Brown

& Carney appearing as attorneys for Benjamin T. Frederick, and W. J. Haddock and J. W. Cone appearing as attorneys for James Wilson, contestee.

JOHN E. ADAMS, of lawful age, being produced and sworn in due form of law, testifies as follows:

Ques. 1. What is your name, age, place of residence, and occupation?-Ans. John E. Adams; 45 years of age on the 15th of Sept.; residence, Cedar Township, Johnson County, Iowa.

Ques. 2. Were you one of the judges of election for Cedar Township in the Nov. election, 1882, in which the electors voted for the office of Representative in Congress?— Ans. Yes, sir; I was.

Ques. 3. What is your politics?-Ans. I am a Republican. Occasionally there is a man I don't have any politics on.

Ques. 4. You may state if you have discovered if there is any mistake in the returns of the election made to the county auditor of your township for that election?-Ans. Not until the books were reopened on the 13th of Dec. I had heard nothing of it, and in fact knew nothing of it until Mr. Maloney came here and told me. I thought that it was impossible, and told him that I thought so.

Ques. 5. On the 13th day of Dec. were you present when the ballot-box was reopened and the ballots again counted ?-Ans. Yes, sir.

Ques. 6. Did you find you had made an error in your former return of votes for that precinct? A. Yes, sir.

Ques. 7. What was that error?-Ans. Ten votes in favor of Benjamin T. Frederick. Ques. 8. Do you remember how many ballots known as straight Democratic ballots were cast at the Nov. election of 1882 from your count then made?-Ans. 53.

Ques. 9. How many straight tickets were there, irrespective of Frederick?—Ans. Democratic tickets were all straight on the Representative part of the ticket, no scratches. Ques. 10. How many Democratic tickets were there cast at the election as you remember from your count made at the time of the election?—Ans. As we counted them, 53; that is as they were polled that night.

Ques. 11. Now, how many Democratic tickets?-Ans. 63 Democratic tickets.

Ques. 12. Do you remember any of the Democratic tickets being scratched ?—Âns. No, sir; there was none.

Ques. 13. Are you satisfied, then, that Mr. Frederick received 63 ballots for the office of Representative in Congress at the Nov. election of 1882?

(Mr. Cone, attorney for contestee, objects to the question, on the ground that it calls for the conclusion of the witness and not for the fact.)

Ans. I am satisfied that there were 63 Democratic votes cast for Mr. Frederick.

Ques. 14. On the 13th of Dec., when you re-examined the ballot-box, did its appearance indicate that it was in the same condition as when left after the canvass at the election? Ans. Yes, sir; it did.

Ques. 15. You may state if at that canvass you looked over the number of ballots that were cast for Wilson.-Ans. You mean the time we opened the box?

Ques. 16. Yes, sir.—Ans. We didn't look over the ballots for Wilson. We merely separated the Democratic tickets and counted Frederick's vote; is all we done at that time.

Ques. 17. Were you present that day, and did you assist in the recanvass of the ballots then in the box?-Ans. Yes, sir.

Ques. 18. Did you find by this recanvass any error in your former canvass as to the number of ballots cast for James Wilson?-Ans. Yes, sir.

Ques. 19. What was that error?-Ans. It was one too many for Mr. Wilson at the former count-that is, the night of the election.

Ques. 20. How many ballots did you return as the total number of ballots cast for the office of Representative in Congress at the Nov. election?—Ans. 128.

Ques. 21. Who counted up or ascertained that number of ballots? Who was the clerk that evening?-Ans. I don't think of it; take the Representative's name. We took a single one, got done counting, added them up to see whether they tallied the same num-" ber of votes cast. They came out even, so we didn't run over any more of them, knowing that the tickets were all straight. We took one we knew was straight all through.

Cross-examination by Mr. Cone:

Ques. 22. How many Republican tickets did you find in the ballot-box at your first canvass of votes on the evening of the election?-Ans. I suppose we found 38. We made it out that night.

By Lawyer Brown:

Ques. 23. Was it not 37?-Ans. I don't know but it was.

Ques. 24. How many Greenback or National tickets did you find in the box on the evening of your first canvass?-Ans. I could not just exactly recollect only from the count here to-day we made of it. I could not have told if I had not have counted it over to-day.

Ques. 25. What did you say?—Ans. We found 28 to-day. The books show we found 29 that night. We kept track of the Greenback vote. They only counted three or four in the last four years. They generally tally about 27 votes.

Ques. 26. Who called off to the clerk the number of votes each person's names on the Democratic ticket received?—Ans. Mr. Douglass and myself.

Ques. 27. Who for the Republican?-Ans. It was mixed up. We would separate out five straight tickets, that is, Democratic tickets, perhaps, and commence at the head reading the name. The clerks tallied them. Next lot, perhaps, five Republican tickets the same way. When we sorted and separated out five straight tickets they would tally them as we read them over. The same way with the Greenback tickets, until we came where they were scattered, then one ticket at a time.

Ques. 28. After the canvass of votes that evening was there any adjournment? Did you sign the returns?-Ans. No, sir.

Ques. 29. In whose possession were the ballots during the time the clerks were making up their returns or filling out there certificates? Ans. In the possession of the judges. Ques. 30. Where were the tickets kept?-Ans. I think that they sat on the bench right on the clerks' stand between two of us.

Ques. 31. On the table or in the ballot-box?-Ans. In the ballot-box set on the bench in front of us.

Ques. 32. Who all were present at the canvass other than the clerks and judges?— Ans. Quite a number were present; I don't know who all; some young fellows, I won't need to tell all of them.

Ques. 33. How many?-Ans. Perhaps a dozen or more.

Ques. 34. Were they close to the table?-Ans. No, sir, not very close; they were looking on.

Ques. 35. Were they taking an interest in the canvass?-Ans. Yes, sir; some of them

were.

Ques. 36. I believe that you testified on the direct examination that you only counted votes for Mr. Frederick.-Ans. Yes, sir; that is all at the time we opened the box. Ques. 37. Did you examine the tickets that were headed Republican tickets to see whether Mr. Frederick's name was on any of them?-Ans. No, sir, we did not.

Ques. 38. Did you examine the Greenback tickets at that time to see whether Frederick's name was on any of them?-Ans. No, sir.

Ques. 39. Did you examine the Greenback tickets on the second count to see whether any of Wilson's names were on them?-Ans. No, sir. We merely separated the tickets. Saw that Frederick had ten more cast for him than we credited him for. Then we stopped and went no further. Ques. 40. On the night of your recanvass did you see any Democratic tickets with Frederick's name erased?-Ans. No, sir.

Ques. 41. Or any with Wilson's name written instead?-Ans. No, sir; I am pretty sure of that. I am satisfied there were no Democratic tickets, only those that were straight so far as Representative was concerned; that is, no tickets of any party were scratched as to the office of Representative.

$1.85 fee, paid by contestant.

STATE OF IOWA,

County. 88:

JOHN E. ADAMS.

I, Eldon Moran, a notary public and commissioner agreed upon by the parties to take testimony in this cause in pursuance of the annexed agreement attached to the testimony of M. M. Corrigan, whose testimony was taken February 22, 1883, do truly certify that on the 23d day of February, A. D. 1883, in pursuance of the notice hereto annexed, I took the deposition of the following-named witness, whose testimony is set forth herein in the following manner: Each witness was first by me duly sworn, or caused to be sworn in my presence, as provided by law; and, when sworn, the questions were propounded to him by the respective parties, Benjamin T. Frederick, contestant, and James Wilson, contestee, by their respective attorneys, and the question by me read to the witness, who answered the same, and his answer, in the language of the witness, was by me taken down under each question propounded, and reduced to writing until the deposition was completed. I further certify that when the testimony of each witness was taken I carefully read the same over to the witness, who corrected the same and each correction noted, and said testimony was then signed by the witness and sworn to by him before me. I further certify that T. Brown, esq., appeared as counsel for the contestant, Benjamin T. Frederick, and W. J. Haddock and J. W. Cone appeared as counsels for James Wilson, contestee.

In witness whereof I have set my hand and seal notarial this 23d day of Feb., A. D. 1883.

[SEAL.]

STATE OF IOWA,

Johnson County, 88:

ELDON MORAN,
Notary Public of Johnson Co., Iowa, and
Commissioner agreed upon to take testimony.

Deposition of witness produced and sworn before me, Eldon Moran, a notary public and commissioner agreed upon to take testimony, on this 22d day of Feb., A. D. 1883, in a proceeding pending before the House of Representatives of the United States of America in a contested election for the office of Representative in Congress, in which proceedings Benjamin T. Frederick is contestant and James Wilson is contestee; Brown & Carney appearing as attorneys for Benjamin T. Frederick, and W. J. Haddock and J. W. Cone appearing as attorneys for James Wilson, contestee.

A. W. BEUTER, of lawful age, being produced and sworn in due form of law, testifies as follows:

Ques. 1. What is your name, age, place of residence, and occupation?—Ans. I live in Big Grove Township; am a farmer; 46 years old.

Ques. 2. Were you one of the trustees for Big Grove Township for the year 1882? Were you one of the judges of the Nov. election, 1882?-Ans. Yes, sir.

Ques. 3. When the electors of your township voted for the office of Representative in Congress?-Ans. Yes, sir.

Ques. 4. You may state if you were present at the original canvass of the votes of that township for that office.-Ans. Yes, sir.

Ques. 5. You may state if at that time or at any time you re-examined the ballots for that office; if so, state when.-Ans. Well, I got there just as they got there. They had just finished. One of the trustees came to me in the forenoon and said that he wanted the votes counted; wanted we should count the votes over. I told them that I could not come; had just commenced butchering. I went right after dinner. I told them I would be there; then when I got there they had just got through. Ques. 6. Did you look over the ballots?-Ans. No, sir. (Witness fee, $2.15, paid by contestant.)

STATE OF IOWA,

Johnson County, ss:

A. W. BEUTER.

Deposition of witness is produced and sworn before me, Eldon Moran, a notary public and commissioner agreed upon to take testimony on this 22d day of Feb., A. D. 1883, in a proceeding pending before the House of Representatives of the United States of America in a contested election for the office of Representative in Congress, in which proceedings Benjamin T. Frederick is contestant and James Wilson is contestee; Brown & Carney appearing as attorneys for Benjamin T. Frederick, and W. J. Haddock & J. W. Cone appearing as attorneys for James Wilson, contestee.

M. M. CORRIGAN, of lawful age, being produced and sworn in due form of law, testifies as follows:

Ques. 1. What is your name, age, place of residence, and occupation?—Ans. I am 31 years old; am a farmer by occupation; residence Big Grove Township, Johnson Co., Iowa. Yes, sir.

Ques. 2. Were you one of the judges at the Nov. election A. D. 1882, held in Big Grove Township? Ans. Yes, sir.

Ques. 3. Have you since the returns were made by the board of township canvassers of the Nov. election, 1882, discovered any error that was made in copying the ballots for the office of Representative in Congress for the 5th Congressional district? And, if so, state when you discovered it, and what the error was, and how many votes each candidate received.-Ans. It was on the 18th of Dec. We examined them and found that there was a mistake of two votes on Benjamin T. Frederick and one on James Wilson. Ques. 4. How many ought Benjamin T. Frederick to have received, and how many ought James Wilson to have received credit for in that vote?-Ans. Benjamin T. Frederick ought to have received 174 votes, and James Wilson 52.

Ques. 5. Who assisted you in making the 2d canvass of the count?-Ans. The judge and both clerks, Mr. Beuter and Mr. Kessler; also two clerks.

Ques. 6. How were the ballots put up and placed in the box at the time of the election? Ans. You mean while they were voting?

Ques. 7. No, sir; afterwards, at the time of the canvass.-Ans. They were taken out and counted and strung the same as they are on the string.

Ques. 8. At the time you counted on the 18th of Dec. did the ballots appear in any way disturbed or changed from what they were when you concluded your count on the 7th of Nov., 1882?-Ans. No, sir, they did not; they were just the way we had left them.

Cross-examined by Mr. HADDOCK:

Ques. 9. What is your official position now in that township?-Ans. Out of office now; I was township trustee.

Ques. 10. When trustee?-Ans. In the year 1881 and '82.

Ques. 11. What is your politics?-Ans. I am a Democrat as a rule.

Ques. 12. What is the politics of the clerk, De Vault?-Ans. I don't know; I could not say exactly; I guess Democrat.

Ques. 13. What the politics of the assistant clerk?-Ans. Greenbacker.

Ques. 14. What was the politics of the other two trustees?-Ans. I believe they were Democrats; of course I am not positive as to that.

Ques. 15. Is that Greenbacker here to-day?-Ans. No, sir; I have not seen him. Ques. 16. You have not called on him?-Ans. No, sir; I asked a man who came to subpoena me whether he subponed him, he said, "No, sir."

Ques. 17. Did not want the Greenbacker?-Ans. I asked because he thought judges and clerk were sufficient; that is the way he dated it. I asked him why he did not.