were straight Democratic tickets?-A. No, sir; I said Democratic tickets. I handed them to them without saying a word. Q. 23. Did you hand your tickets to them in bunches, to peddle around?-A. Yes, sir. Q. 24. Did you not solicit any one to vote yourself?-A. No, sir. Q. 25. After the polls were open, did you take any part in peddling tickets and soliciting votes?-A. I cannot say for sure; I may have handed out a very few tickets. Q. 26. I suppose there were tickets of all kinds lying on the table when you were holding the election?-A. Yes, sir. Q. 27. So that a man could get whatever kind he wanted?-A. Yes, sir. Q. 28. Printed so that a man could read it plainly?-A. Yes, sir. Cross-examination: Q. 29. Did you vote the Republican ticket?-A. No, sir, I voted the Democratic ticket; that is, one of those bogus tickets. Q. 30. You understood what you were voting?-A. Yes, sir; I understood it. Q. 33. Let me ask you, did you attend election all day?-A. Yes, sir. Q. 34. What time did Jas. Storey go away; when did he sign the poll-book, that night or the next day?-A. I do not know when he signed them. Q. 35. Did you object to his signing them that night?-A. No, sir; he did not sign them that night at the election. Q. 36. He went away before the poll-books were signed, did he?—A. Yes, sir. Redirect: Q. 37. Can you read English yourself?-A. Yes, sir. Q. 38. Can the most of the Germans here that you are acquainted with read English t Q. 39. Are they intelligent men?-A. Yes, sir. Q. 40. Can they read English?-A. Yes, sir: they can read their name anyway. Most any one I know can read the name on the ticket. Q. 41. They are good enough men to know that much?—A. Yes, sir. Q. 42. Do you believe from your knowledge of the election that day that men were deceived by the tickets? (Objection, hearsay, leading; asking for the opinion rather than the fact.) Q. 42. Do you know these people?-A. Yes, sir. Q. 43. Are they intelligent people; people that can read any other than their own language, most of them -A. Yes, sir. In English can they read the name on the ticket?-A. Yes, sir, I guess they can. Q. 45. You take proper names as Fred. Hanson, as it is ordinarily printed in German or in English either, must a man be an English or a German scholar in order to read it-A. It is just the same in our language; the only difference is in spelling. Q. 46. Now take the name of Jas. Wilson, as it is printed on those tickets in large letters, would it not be printed substantially in the same characters in German?-Å. Yes, sir; in Wilson, we put in E instead of O. Q. 47. In Frederick, in German, the characters would be substantially in the same?— A. Yes, sir; the same. Q. 48. So that if a man could read Frederick in German he could read it in English, could he not?-A. Yes, sir. Q. 49. So if you take candidates whose names are on the tickets, if a man could read them in German he could read them in English, could he not?-A. Yes, sir. Q.50. Those people can all read English?-A. Yes, sir. Q. 51. Most of them read English ?-Yes, sir; such as the names. Recross-examination : Q. 52. Are you acquainted with these men who have testified here to-day; for instance, are you acquainted with Charles Malerbrook?-A. I just know him by sight. 9. 53. Do you know Henry Slake ?-A. Yes, sir. Do you know Jas. Wohl?-A. Yes, sir. Q.55. Do you know Peter Seek?-A. Yes, sir. Q. 56. Do you know Geo. Thode ?-A. Yes, sir. Q. 57. Do you know F. F. Goken?-A. Yes, sir; I know him. Q. 58. Now are all these responsible people? (Contestant objects, as not proper cross examination, and also that there has been no attempt to impeach the character of any of these parties; also that it is not a proper manner of showing reputation, character.) 9.59. Are these responsible people?-A. I think so. Q. 60. If they swore they could not read those names, would you believe them? (Contestee objects to the question, as for the reason that it calls for an opinion as to the question of veracity.) Q. 61. You don't know but some of those men could not read those names.-A. I think that every man could read every name. Q. 62. Did you ever hear them read names?-A. No, sir. Q. 63. You don't know absolutely that they can read names or pronounce them in English-A. No, sir. Q. 64. You don't want to swear that those men can read those names.-A. I do not swear anything about that. Q. 65. You are a very good scholar in your own language, are you not?-A. I count myself fair. Q. 66. Some of those men who have not had so much scholarship as you might not be able to pronounce as well as you.-A. That is hard to say. Q. 67. You say there is another Fred. Hanson?-A. Yes, sir; another in the township; I don't know for sure whether he was here that day to vote. Q. 68. You did not hear Jas. Collins say anything about bogus tickets that forenoon?-A. No, sir. Q. 69. You do not remember that he said anything about it that forenoon?—A. No, sir; I know that they had some talk about it; I did not pay much attention to it. Q. 70. Did you make a correct count?-A. Yes, sir. Q. 71. You counted all the ballots in the box?-A. Yes, sir. Q. 72. Did the ballots in the box correspond to the number of men who voted?—A. Yes, sir. Q. 73. You think you made a correct count?-A. Yes, sir; I counted them over twice. Recross-examination: Q. 74. You don't say but what you might have made a mistake when those tickets were scratched for some particular officer; you don't say that it would be possible for you to make a mistake as to some of the names on the tickets; you don't say that it was impossible to make a mistake?-A. No, sir; but I think we got it right. Q. 75. Do you know that the clerks tallied right ?-A. Yes, sir. Q. 76. How do you know it?-A. That is, I read off all the names; they put it down; after we got through they corresponded with the number of tickets and the number of names. I think that that was right. Q. 77. You don't pretend to know but when they called Frederick's name they might have made a tally for Wilson by mistake, do you?-A. No, sir; but I guess not; I cannot swear to that. Q. 78. You tried to read them right, did yon?-A. Yes, sir. Q. 79. How many Republican tickets cast for the State, do you remember?—A. No, sir; I don't remember. (Excused.) 1.55 paid as fee by contestant. STATE OF IOWA, Benton County, 88: FRED. HANSEN. H. A. MEYER, being produced and sworn before G. W. Burnham, a notary public in and for Benton County, on this 19th day of April, A. D. 1883, and examined before me, testifies as follows (T. Brown appearing on the part of contestant, and Nichols and Burnham on the part of contestee): Q. 1. Where do you reside?-A. In Homer Township. Q. 2. How long?-A. Since '72. Q. 3. Were you present at the Nov. election, '82-A. Yes, sir. Q. 4. Did you hold any official position?-A. I was township clerk. Q. 5. Were you present all day?-A. Yes, sir. Q. 6. What kind of an election was it, pretty warm?-A. Yes, sir; the hottest that I have ever seen in this township. Q. 7. Who was general-in-chief on the Democratic side; Mr. Collins?-A. Yes, sir; that is, he was there. Q. 8. Was there anybody else on the Democratic side except Mr. Collins taking particular part?-A. I guess not; I did not see anybody else. Q. 9. Mr. Collins was all around here.-A. Yes, sir. Q. 10. Whenever a man was coming up to vote Collins was after him?-A. Yes, sir. Q. 11. Who was peddling on the other side?-A. David Smith. Q. 12. Did he and Mr. Collins have any conversation during the day?-A. Well, they had a little fun sometimes, I guess. Q. 13. What was it about?-A. I heard him say he had a bogus or a mixed ticket; a Democratic ticket with other names on it. Q. 14. Was that talked public here?-A. Yes, sir. Q. 15. What did Collins say about it?-A. I cannot say what he said about it. Q. 17. A good many times during the day?-A. I could not tell you about it; I heard them talk about it, though. Q. 18. Was it done publicly here, so that everybody could hear it?-A. Yes, sir. Q. 19. What time of day was it that you heard it ?-A. I don't know, but I guess it was in the afternoon. Q. 20. Tom was here when the ballots were opened, was he not?-A. I cannot tell whether he was or not. Q. 21. Did you know whether anything was said about it in the forenoon?-A. I believe in the afternoon, but I can't tell for certain which time it was. Q. 22. Did you know whether Smith was there in the forenoon? How many ballots were polled in the forenoon?-A. I can't remember. Q. 23. Were there only a few?-A. Not a great many. Q. 24. Can you tell about how many were polled before noon? Give us your best recollection.-A. Well, I cannot tell; it is not in my mind; I guess about 30 votes in the forenoon. Q. 25. Mr. Meyer, you are a German, are you not?-A. Yes, sir. Q. 26. You are educated in the German language?-A. Yes, sir. Q. 27. Now I will ask you to take the words Democratic State ticket, at the top of Exhibit A, which I hand you, and I will ask if the characters are not sufficiently alike so that the man who can read them in German can read them in English ? (Contestant objects, for the reason that it is asking for information requiring an expert.) Q. 23. Now take Jas. Wilson. Suppose that was written in German, would not the characters be substantially as they are in that word, with the exception that you would spell sen" instead of "son"?-A. Yes, sir; that is the way it is spelled in my language. Q. 29. So that any person that could read it in English could read it in German ?— A. Yes, sir. Q.30. Now take the name Henry Davis or S. Hock, and others, is not that true of all?-A. Yes, sir; I guess any one who could read it one language could read it in the other. (Same objection to all the above questions, as leading, suggestive, &c.) sir. A. In our language we use roman letters, too, for proper names. Q.31. Now, in the word Bronson, you would spell it "sen," instead of "o"?-A. Yes, Q. 32. You use roman letters in proper names?-A. Yes, sir. Q.33. Take a ticket printed in this kind of letters, a German, you think, would be able to read it?-A. Yes, sir; if he wanted to. Q.34. Were you present when the count was made?-A. Yes, sir. Q. 35. Were you tally-clerk ?-A. Yes, sir. Q. 36. How many times did you count the ballots over ?-A. Twice. Q. 37. What did you count them over the second time for?-A. I guess we counted them over three times. In the first place we only counted 101 ballots, but there was one Greenback ticket in it; we did not count that, and that is the reason. looked it, I guess, and then counted again. Q.3. Did you make a correct count?-A. Yes, sir; we did. We over Q.39. Did the number of ballots you counted agree with the number of voters whose names were on the poll-books?-A. Yes, sir. Q. 40. Now, did you explain to every person to whom you gave a ticket just what it was?-A. Yes, sir; I explained it to them. Q.41. Did you hand anybody Democratic tickets that had Wilson's name on it?— A. Yes, sir. Q. 42. How many of them?-A. Five or six, I guess. Q. 43. You may state whether you did, or did not, explain to the parties to whom yon gave them just what those tickets were?-A. Yes, sir; I did. Q.44. Did you tell them why you wanted them voted?-A. Yes, sir; I gave the rea Q. 45. What reason did you give?-A. I told them that the reason is this: that I thought he would make a good Representative. Also, for the reason that he was an old farmer; that he would do better for the farmers in Congress. Q.46. You may state whether you deceived or attempted to deceive any of the men to whom you gave the tickets. Do you remember the names of the parties to whom you gave the tickets ?-A. I guess I can remember some. Q.47. Please give the names you can remember.-A. I guess I gave the tickets to Haack, also to George Mohr. Q. 48. Now, was there any single instance where you gave a ticket to any of your German friends, in which you did not fully explain the nature of the ticket to him, and why you wanted him to vote?-A. Yes, sir; I explained to him just the reason why. Q, 49. Do you remember an old man by the name of John Johnson?-A. Yes, sir. Q. 50. Did you give him a ticket ?-A. I do not know whether I did or not. Cross-examination: What explanation do you remember, now, given to John Johnson?-A. Well, I cannot tell. Q. 52. Do you remember what conversation you had with John Johnson ?-A. No, sir; I don't. Q. 53. Do you remember what conversation you had with Mr. Mohr?-A. No, sir; I explained to him what kind of a ticket it was. Q. 54. What words can you swear you used to Mr. Mohr?-A. I cannot say exactly. Q. 55. What words can you say you told Mr. Haack ?—A. I told him what ticket it was. Q. 56. Did you tell him that it was a Democratic ticket?-A. Yes, sir; that there were two other names on it. Q. 57. Did you tell him that those names were Republicans?—A. No, sir; I did not say Republicans, but Wilson and Smock. Q.58. You told him that they were Democratic tickets that had the names Wilson and Smock on them?-A. Yes, sir; I explained that I thought Wilson the best man. Q. 59. You did not pretend to say you told him that Wilson was a Republican ?—A. I do not remember that. Q. 60. You did not say that Wilson was in Congress before?-A. Yes, sir. Q. 61. And that he was a farmer?-A. Yes, sir. Q. 62. And would do more for farmers for that than any others?-A. Yes, sir. $1.05 fee, by contestant, STATE OF IOWA, Benton County, 88: I, Eldon Moran, a notary public for Johnson County, and commissioner agreed upon to take testimony in this cause, in pursuance of the annexed agreement, attached to the testimony of J. L. Adams, whose testimony was taken Feb. 22, 1883, do truly certify that on the 19th day of April, 1883, in pursuance of the notice hereunto annexed, I took the depositions of the following witnesses: Thos. Collins, Beu Seikert, Thos. Peterson, H. Kramer, Chas. Kussel, John Scharenberg, Louis Illian, Henry Selk, J. Whol, Peter Seek, P. M. Theisen, George Thode, H. Albers, Peter Brandt, H. W. Kussel, T. F. Goken, A. R. Gaghagen, M. E. Howard, Jacob Landgrebe, P. F. Deppe, John Hornstein, Chas. Albright, Martin Albright, Henry Ripple, John Johnson, Claus Haack, Geo. Haack, John Krug, Marcus Witt, Justus Melhaus, S. Theisen, Peter Schoelerman, Nic Schoelerman, Henry Theisen, Henry Stein, D. W. Shoemaker, C. O. Byam, C. O. Byam (recalled), C. O. Byam (recalled), Claus Young Claus, James Storey, Fred Hansen, H. A. Myer; whose testimony is set forth 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, Benj. T. Frederick, contestant, and James Wilson, contestee, by their respective att'ys, and the question by me read to the witness, who answered the same, and his answer by me, in the language of the witness taken down under each question propounded, and reduced to writing, till 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. 1 further certify that T. Brown & Carney appeared as counsel for the contestant, Benj. T. Frederick; and Nichols Burnham appeared as counsel for the contestee, James Wilson. In witness whereof I have set my hand and seal hereunto, notarially, this 19th day of April, 1883. [SEAL.] ELDON MORAN, Notary Public for Johnson County, Iowa, and To James Wilson, or J. H. Feenan, his attorney: You are hereby notified that at the office of A. J. Morrison, and before Eldon Moran, a notary public and commissioner agreed upon to take testimony, in Marengo, State of Iowa, on 9th day of March, A. D. 1883, at 1 o'clock p. m., your contestant, Benjamin T. Frederick, will take the testimony of the following-named witnesses residing in township, in Iowa County: J. B. Lyon, A. M. Henderson, with poll-book, ballot-box, and ballots voted at Nov. election, 1882; Jno. Saney, E. Tucker, B. F. Reno, all of Marengo Township, Iowa County, State of Iowa; Martin Hanson, Rob't Powell, Andrew Jacobs, with poll-book, ballot-box, and ballots cast at the Nov. election, 1882, at office above named, all of Hilton Township, Iowa County, State of Iowa; J. S. Wagner, with poll-book as returned of Nov. election, 1882, of Marengo, and Hilton Township, Iowa County, State of Iowa, whose testimony, when so taken and at the proper time, will be read in evidence before the House of Representatives of the United States, in the contest of your election as a member of the House of Representatives, between Benjamin T. Frederick, contestant, and you, James Wilson, respondent or contestee. Dated at Marengo, this 8th day of March, A. D. 1883. BENJAMIN T. FREDERICK, His Attorneys and Counsellors. I received this notice on the 8th day of March, 1883, and served the same on the same day, at 10 o'clock and five minutes a. m., on J. H. Feenan, as attorney for James Wilson, at Marengo, in Iowa County, Iowa, by reading this notice to him, and by delivering to him personally a true copy of the same. Dated March 8th, 1883. T. J. TALBOTT, Sheriff, By S. A. WILSON, Deputy. Deposition of witness produced before me, Eldon Moran, a notary public and commissioner agreed upon to take testimony, and duly sworn by A. J. Morrison, a notary public in and for the county of Iowa, Iowa, on this 8th day of March, A. D. 1883, in pursuance of the notice hereunto annexed, in the town of Marengo, Iowa County, Iowa, 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 proceeding Benjamin T. Frederick is contestant, and James Wilson, contestee; Brown & Carney appearing for the contestant, and A. H. Simpson and J. N. W. Rumple for contestee. The following testimony was taken before me: STATE OF IOWA, Iowa County, 88: J. B. LYON, being produced and sworn before A. J. Morrison, a notary public for Iowa County, on this 8th day of March, A. D. 1883, and examined before me, testifies as follows (T. Brown appearing on the part of contestant, A. H. Simpson on part of contestee): Q. 1. Did you go to New Mexico last spring?-A. Yes, sir. Q. 2. When did you go?—A. Last Nov. Q. 3. What time did you return here?-A. In Oct. last. Q. 4. What day, do you know?-A. Went away on the 14th of Nov. and returned on the 14th of Oct. Q. 5. 14th of Nov. and returned the 14th of Oct., 1882 ?-A. Yes, sir. Q. 6. Are you a married man and have a family here?-A. No, sir; I am a single man. Q. 7. Did you vote at the last general election?-A. Yes, sir; the straight Republican ticket clear through. |