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Ques. 18. Didn't you say anything about the Greenback party?-Ans. No, sir; we did not.

Ques. 19. Were you conscious of making any mistake on the day of election when you counted these votes?-Ans. No, sir; we were not.

Ques. 20. You thought you had them right?-Ans. Yes, sir.

Ques. 21. How did you count them?-Ans. They counted them.

Ques. 22. You handled them until you understood the manner of managing it?—Ans. They counted ten at a time, the quickest way possible, for they could not count them straight without counting one at a time.

Ques 23. Did you count them correctly?-Ans. Yes, sir.

Ques. 24. Wasn't there some scratching and erasing on the books at the time?—Ans. Possibly by clerks, but not by us.

Ques. 25. You did not write in the books?--Ans. No, sir.

Ques. 26. Only your names to the affidavits?-Ans. Yes, sir; that is all.

Ques. 27. You knew clerks may make erasures in reference to this matter of Congressmen? Ans. Yes, sir; I knew that scratching had been done, but did not know that scratching was done in one party more than in another. I knew that they had tallied too fast, at least they said so.

Ques. 28. They scratched?-Ans. Yes, sir.

Ques. 29. That scratching was to make it correct?-Ans. Yes, sir; to bring it up. Ques. 30. You believed that it was correct?-Ans. Yes, sir; I supposed so.

Ques. 31. At the time you went back, in Dec. in 1882, you and the other clerks, you found the ballots in the same condition?-Ans. Yes, sir; in the same condition as we left them.

Ques. 32. How did you know that?-Ans. Well, sir, from the way we had left them. Ques. 33. You know in the same condition?-Ans. I had examined them minutely when I had counted them in the first place.

Ques. 34. Did you put them in the box?-Ans. I saw them put in.

Ques. 35. They were on the string? Ans. Yes, sir.

Ques. 36. Were they on the string when put back?-Ans. Yes, sir.

Ques. 37. Could you tell by looking at the string in the ballot whether it had ever been off the string or not?-Ans. No, sir; not to be positive as to that.

Ques. 38. Could you tell whether one ballot had been added to the list or one abstracted or not, looking at the box of ballots?-Ans. No, sir; only by counting them. Ques. 39. Did they not count the same as they did on the day of election, on the 18th of Dec.? Did they count much the same as on the day of election?-Ans. No, sir; not according to the tally-list.

Ques. 40. If not, could you state of your own knowledge whether a ballot had been taken out and another put in or not?-Ans. No, sir; of course not. Ques. 41. Who first called your attention to the matter? tention to this matter?-Ans. I was requested to come.

What first called your at

Ques. 42. Who requested you?—Ans. In the first place I thought that they were all right, that there was no mistake in them.

Ques. 43. Who requested you to think differently?-Ans. There was a man came to me, also to the others, and asked if we would not look the matter over. I told him I did not think that there was any mistakes or that there could be any; I was quite positive as to that. I did not think so till after we had counted the votes.

Ques. 44. Who was that man?

(Mr. Brown objects to the question; immaterial.)

Ans. He was a man by the name of Palmer.

Ques. 45. Where does he live?-Ans. In Solon.

Ques. 46. Did Palmer tell you that there was a mistake?-Ans. No, sir; he only requested that we should examine them.

Ques. 47. What did he say?-Ans. To examine them to see whether there was a mistake.

Ques. 48. What else did he say ?-Ans. Nothing.

Ques. 49. What did he say about Frederick wanting a vote or two?-Ans. No, sir; nothing of the kind to me.

Ques. 50. Which way did he say the mistake might be?-Ans. He did not say. Ques. 51. Which way did he say the mistake was?-Ans. He did not say there was any mistake in the matter before that time. I did not gather anything as to it. I didn't think of a mistake.

Ques, 52. You were hunting for a mistake when you thought there was none?—Ans. Yes.

Ques. 53. For the benefit of Frederick?—Ans. No, sir; not any more than for any other man.

H. Mis. 22-15

Ques. 54. Did you go to the tally-list to examine as to any mistake for any other candidate except Congressman?-Ans. No, sir; I don't think we did.

Ques. 55. This investigation on behalf of the trustees and two clerks, Greenbacker and all, was in reference to vote for Congressman?-Ans. Yes, sir; I guess it was that part of it.

Ques. 56. Had you heard at that time that there was a very close call between Wilson and Frederick?-Ans. Yes, sir; through the papers.

Ques. 57. Was that Palmer that suggested that you might possibly find a mistake ?— Ans. He suggested that may be there was a mistake.

Ques. 58. After this rumor through the papers you went in on it?-Ans. No, sir; not for some time afterwards.

Ques. 59. Was it before or after the rumor reached you that Taylor Township, Marshall County, was in dispute?-Ans. Taylor Township had been in dispute a month before that, to my knowledge.

Ques. 60. It was after that?-Ans. Yes, sir; some time after that.

Ques. 61. What reason have you to believe that you are more accurate upon your second call than upon the first one of the same ballots?-Ans. Because in footing up the account we may have made it out correctly, for the first time I did not examine the books very closely; but when we went to examine them the second time I examined them myself, and saw that they did not come out right.

Ques. 62. Was there anybody with you?—Ans. Yes, sir; there were three men with me; Mr. Gessler

Ques. 63. Was anybody present at the second examination except three trustees and two clerks?-Ans. Yes, sir; one or two others.

Ques. 64. Give names.-Ans. Mr. Walker was one man; I don't know but two or three others.

Ques. 65. Can you give names of any other but Walker?-Ans. I think Mr. Conlay, marshal of Solon.

Ques. 66. What is Mr. Conlay's politics?-Ans. I could not say.

Ques. 67. Have you any impression about it?-Ans. I don't know; the father is a Democrat-I don't know what the boy is. I have a boy that took a notion for voting Republican tickets.

Ques. 68. What is Palmer's politics?-Ans. Votes the Republican ticket, and catches thunder for it; we just give it to them.

Ques. 69. (WILSON.) That is right?-Ans. Yes, sir; it is.

Witness fee, 95c; paid by contestant.

STATE OF IOWA,

Johnson County, 88:

M. M. CORRIGAN.

Deposition of witness is produced and sworn before me, Eldon Moran, a notary public and commissioner, agreed upon to take testimony, on this 23rd 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, contesteee.

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

Ques. 1. You may state your name, age, place of residence, and occupation.—Ans. James M. Douglas; I live in Cedar Township, Johnson County, Iowa; I am a farmer and stock-dealer, and am 38 years old.

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

Ques. 3. You may state if since the return of that election was made you have discovered any error you made in the return to the county auditor of the number of votes cast for the office of Representative in Congress, and if so, what that mistake was, if any? (Lawyer Cone objects, that the witness does not show that he has any knowledge that the votes canvassed at the recount were the same canvassed at the time of the election.) Ans. After being called upon to count the votes over again we found a mistake of 10 votes in favor of Frederick.

.

Ques. 4. You may state if you were present at the canvass of the votes at the Nov. election and assisted in that canvass.-Ans. Yes, sir; I was there.

Ques. 5. Have you discovered by the recanvass to-day that too many votes were counted for the office of Representative in favor of either of the candidates, and if so, which one?-Ans. That too many were counted?

Ques. 6.-Yes, sir.-Ans. No, sir. We found that the votes for Frederick ran the same way that they were the day we made the second count at the clerk's office.

1

Ques. 7. How many ballots did you find were cast in favor of James Wilson for the office of Representative in Congress by your count to-day.-Ans. Thirty-six, I believe; yes, sir.

Ques. 8. How many did you return as being cast for him at your return of the election to the county auditor?-Ans. We returned-well, there was a mistake of one vote. Either we returned one vote less for him according to our count here to-day-I mean one more for him. We didn't know anything about that until to-day; at least I didn't know about it. It was counted by some of the outsiders.

Ques. 9. Are you satisfied you made a mistake in your original return of votes cast for the office of Representative in Congress of Cedar Township?

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

Ans. I could not help being satisfied there was a mistake.

After numbering the sec

ond count we found 10 votes in favor of Frederick. After numbering the second count, of course, we could not think otherwise than that there had been a mistake. We were satisfied that there was a mistake in our count, or at least that there were 10 more votes. in the box than we had counted at the time we counted the votes.

Ques. 10. Do you remember, from your examination of the ballots at the time you. counted the votes for the office of Representative in Congress in the November election, 1882, in Cedar Township, whether Frederick's name was scratched off from any of the straight Democratic tickets?—Ans. It was.

Ques. 11. How many straight Democratic votes were there cast at the November election, 1882, according to your recollection-I mean for all officers?

(Mr. Haddock objects to the question, that he is asking for that which only pertains to party interest and has no relation to the issue.)

Ans. There were 63.

Ques. 12. Is it your recollection now that Mr. Frederick's name for the office of Representative in Congress appeared upon all the straight Democratic tickets that were cast at the November election in Cedar Township?

(Mr. Haddock objects to the witness' recollection as being a matter we cannot contravene the record, also as not calling for a question of fact.)

Ans. At the time of the count we counted the votes out the night of the election. I didn't pay particular attention who was scratched, only we separated the main votes as they were. I think this man, Frederick, may have been scratched that night. Ques. 13. You may not have reported him?-Ans. We might have reported him scratched. I paid no attention, not knowing how many scratches each man got. We were requested to come to count the ballots the second time, and in coming to count them, we found

Ques. 14. I asked you whether you remembered that Frederick's name was crossed off from any of the straight Democratic tickets at the Nov. election at the time you made the original count? Ans. I said I didn't know he was scratched.

Ques. 15, You have no recollection of his being scratched? Ans. No, sir.

Ques. 16. Did the tickets when you opened the ballot-box the second time have the same appearance as they did when they were strung and placed in the box on the evening of the election?-Ans. Yes, sir. I believe they were all strung; any way, I did not see any new scratches.

Ques. 17. If at the time you had counted the votes at the election in your township the same Frederick's name had been scratched from 10 tickets, would you not be likely now to remember it?

(Mr. Haddock objects to the question as villainously leading.)

Ans. I think I would have recollected it and noticed it if there had been that number scratched.

Ques. 18. What is your recollection now as to the tickets being unscratched for the office of Representative in Congress, both Democratic, Republican, and Greenback?

(Mr. Haddock objects to the question for the reason that it is a repetition of the question asked before, and not right to be gone over so often).

Ques. 19. What is your recollection now of their not being scratched?-Ans. I could not answer that, whether any scratches or not.

Cross-examination by Mr. Cone:

Ques. 20. Who filled out the returns in the poll-books?—Ans. Adams, the clerk. Ques. 21. Was your attention called that evening to the fact that Mr. Frederick had but 53 votes? Ans. Well, now I think not any more than at the time they were filling out. I believe I read off as he filled out such and such a man had so many votes. If he had

so many of course we supposed it to be correct and did'nt go to work to count up exactly ourselves. Of course the clerks done the adding up; we supposed it at that time to be correct.

Ques. 22. Was your attention called at that time to the fact that the Democratic State candidates, auditor, secretary of the treasury, attorney-general of the State, had 93 votes? Was not your attention called to it that night? Ans. Well, perhaps.

Ques. 23. Was any mention made that evening of the fact that Benjamin T. Frederick had received 10 votes less than the remainder of his ticket, or that he had run behind his ticket in his township?-Ans. No, sir, I didn't notice any such remark, but think he was mentioned.

Ques. 24. What part did you take in the canvass of the votes?-Ans. Well, I read the tickets, perhaps one-half of them. Mr. Adams took a turn, and then I a turn, and then he

a turn.

Ques. 25. What kind of tickets did you read, Democratic, Republican or National?— Ans. Well I think the first tickets I read were Democratic tickets, but I won't be positive.

Ques. 26. Did you canvass all the Democratic tickets before you canvassed the Republican tickets? Ans. I cannot answer that, whether or not; I cannot say which tickets it was we called first. I don't know about that.

Ques. 27. Did you file any class of tickets before canvassing another class of tickets?— Ans. I believe we did. Yes, sir; all of the Democratic or Republican or Greenback first, then the others, I am pretty sure, but which one we took first I don't remember. Ques. 28. Did you call all of any single class of tickets?--Ans. Myself?

Ques. 29, Yes, sir?-Ans. Well, I could not answer that whether or not I called until I began to get tired; wanted water or something; then he took my place.

Ques. 30. In what mode did you canvass the vote for Representative in Congress?Ans. Well, I believe there were secleted out of the box 5 straight tickets by Adams or Maloney; one or the other passed them to the other and then to me; I read until I changed with them or I took place.

Ques. 31. And counted them in five?- Ans. Yes, sir.

Ques. 32. Showing Mr. Frederick had received 5 votes?-Ans. Yes, sir; also then called the names of all the ticket.

Ques. 33. Did you say you called at that time all the names that appeared on the Democratic ticket for candidate for Congress? Did you say you did?—Ans. That is what our books say.

Ques. 34. Did you say that you called all the names that appeared on the Republican tickets? Ans. Yes, sir; that is what we were getting at.

Ques. 35. The same on the Greenback tickets?-Ans. Yes, sir.

Ques. 36. When you filed your canvass of the votes did you suppose you were signing a true return of the votes canvassed at that time?-Ans. Yes, sir; I supposed so.

Ques. 37. I would ask you who all were present at the canvass of the votes; the evening before the election, how many were present?-Ans. There were boys in there and some men; 10 or 15 men and boys; I could get the names of some, perhaps a dozen more or less.

Ques. 38. After the opening of the ballot-box in the evening or before the close of the canvass and signing of the returns, was there any adjournment from the room where the ballot-box was opened until you got through? Ans. No, sir; I think not.

Ques. 39. After the ballots were counted, and before the returns were signed, and the ballots returned to the box and delivered to the clerk, was there any adjournment; I mean after the ballots were all tallied and before your official adjournment, and before the returns were signed; was there any adjournment ?-Ans. No, sir.

Ques. 40. Were all the judges present all the time during the canvass?-Ans. Well, they may have stepped out of the door for a minute, nothing more than one at a time; I think probably two were present all the time.

Ques. 41. Did the judges of the election seal the ballot-box at the close of the election when the ballots were returned to the box?-Ans. No, sir.

Ques. 42. Was the box locked?-Ans. Yes, sir; I think it was locked after the pollbook was put into the envelope and sealed, and then put into the box and the box locked. Ques. 43. To whom was the key of the ballot-box given?-Ans. Well, the clerk had the key and locked it, and it remained with him secure.

Ques. 44. What means of knowledge have you in saying that the ballots which you canvassed here to-day were the same ballots which you canvassed on the 13th of Dec. ?— Ans. I did'nt say that they were the same.

Ques. 45. Have you any means of knowledge?-Ans. No, sir; I have not.

Ques. 46. Is there any way in which you can identify these ballots as being the same

ballots that were cast at the Nov. election?-Ans. No, sir; I have no means of identifying them.

Ques. 48. In case a Republican had been taken from the box and a Greenback substituted, could you, at this date, tell as a matter of fact that such had been done?—Ans. No, sir; not from the appearance of the tickets; I could not.

Ques. 49. Would you say that the error had been made in giving Mr. Wilson one vote too many and Mr. Platner one vote too few, merely because you found a discrepancy to-day from the count made on the 7th of Nov. ?-Ans. All I can say is they count out differently now from what they did then, giving one more now counted out than a month after we had the election.

Ques. 50. Had you discovered that there was an error in the vote for Mr. Wilson prior to canvassing the vote to-day?-Ans. No, sir; I had not.

Ques. 51. Had your attention at any time been called to the fact that an error might exist in the vote for Mr. Wilson ?—Ans. No, sir; I had never heard it until to-day or known anything of it.

Redirect examination by Mr. Brown:

Ques. 52. You took part in the count to-day, did you?—Ans. Yes, sir.

Ques. 53. The count to-day was correct, was it? Ans. Yes, sir; we counted it cor

rect.

Recross-examination by Mr. Cone:

Ques. 54. You counted the ballots correct to-day, did you; that is, as you found them in the box ?-Ans. Yes, sir.

Ques. 55. You don't wish to be understood as saying that the count you made to-day is correct or is to be the correct count for the 7th of Nov.?-Ans. No, sir.

Ques. 56. At the time you made your recount on the 13th of Nov. did you restring the ballots?-Ans. No, sir.

Same question was asked Mr. Adams and Maloney.

No, sir; we did not (both answered).

Ques. 57. (To James M. Douglass.) The clerk had an idea to-day that the ballots were strung.-Ans. Well, when we counted the ballots one of the judges spoke of stringing again. We didn't have a needle to string them with. They proposed to put them in without stringing them.

Witness fee, $2.15. Paid by contestant.

STATE OF IOWA,

Johnson County, 88:

JAMES M. DOUGLAS.

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 Feb. 22d, 1883, do truly certify that on the 23d day of Feb., 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, 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, con

testee.

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

1883.

ELDON MORAN,

Notary Public of Johnson County, Iowa, and Commissioner agreed upon to take testimony.

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