p
f 14 THE OMAHA DAILY BEE : SUNDAY , EOEMBEE 21 , 1890. TWENTY PAGEfe.
I THE DEFEAT OF PROHIBITION ,
> i
How tbo Bankers and Business Men's As
sociation Accomplished It.
HIE FUNDS AND THEIR DISTRIBUTION ,
lion. 13. IlosGwatcr'fi Testimony In
tlio Gubcrnntorlnl Contest
IntcrcntliiK CnitipnlBii History
Maclo I'ubllc.
TLo following Is a continuation of Hon. E.
Roscvvntcr's testimony In tLo gubernatorial
contest that Las been In progress during tLo
past week. A part of Mr. Hose-water's ' testi
mony lins been published , In which Lo de
tailed tLo causes leading up to tLo organiza
tion of the state Business Men's and Bank
er's association , and that organization's plan
of campaign , The following Is a continua
tion of the stenographic report :
Q. Then your committee used In Omaha
to assist you In procuring foreigners to be
naturalized the dllTereut organizations that
you have immoJ , towlt : The Personal
Hlahts league , the Danish society , BoLcmlnn
society and any others besides these 1 A.
No , these fellows used us. They caino around
and wanted us to bulp them pay this
bill , and I said wo would pav It. Ouror au-
canlzntlon WB so arranged , as I stated bo-
Tore , that wo paid very little attention In
Omaha to that question.
Q. Is It not true thai nt one of the meet
ings of your committee this question was
discussed and it was agreed that the execu
tive committee of the association would use
every means In their power to secure this not
only in Douglas county , but throughout the
state ? A. No , that branch belonged to the
Personal Rights league. But what wo did
agree to was this. Wo decided that Inasmuch
os there wcro so mnny societies , and somoof
them didn't have the money , and a preat
tnany of those who wcro to Do naturalized
wcro worlcingman , and about all they could
do would bo to glvo their time to go for the
naturalization papers , wo thought wo would
nrrangoto relieve them from the expense of
the papers.
Q. From whom dlil that request come to
your committee ? A. I can give jou nn idea.
For instance , the Danish society would send
n eouplo or three men to call on mo personal
ly and say : "Olvo us a request for such a
number as wo wont , " and I would make a
request for three or ono. For instance ,
the editor of the Ilohcmlan paper called on
me. and so did Mr. ICnspar.
Q. Who was Mr. Kaspnr acting lorl A.
For the Bohemians and on his
own account. There were nnv number of
volunteers. As I Unoxv Mr. Kospar and I
knew ho was all rlfht and on general prin
ciples I might recognize him the satno as a
member of n society. The editor of the Bo
hemian paper was all right , and I simply
pave him such nn order as the others.
Q. Then who called upon you from the
Personal Klghts IcaRuo ? A. Sometimes HO
haa Mr. Jund , sometimes Iloimrod. There
wcro live or six. I think Mr. John Bauraer
was ono.
Q. What official position did Mr. Helmrod
hold ? A. Ho was the president of the state
league.
Q. And what position did Mr. Lund hold ?
A. I really don't know. Ho was ono of the
oMccrs , but I never Inquired what Lls posi
tion was.
Q. And they approached your committee ,
or approached you to see If your committee
would not pay for the papers of tbelr mem
bers who \\oro naturalized ? A. Yes , this
was ono of the uercements of their associa
tion. Wo had a general agreement with
their association , and that was that they
hould work in their Held and wo in our
field. Wo paid the e'xpenses on condition
that they would iiot solicit subscriptions
nmonKOur business people and capitalists.
\Vo furnished them means to carry on their
part of that ,
Q. That Is the Bankers' and Business
Men's association and your committed or as
sociation agreed to furnish the Personal
Rights league money to carry on their branch
of the work provided they would not solicit
subscriptions from business men in Omaha ?
A. That was the understanding , and wo did
BO. The expenses wcro small ; they had a lot
o.'printing to do , translating In German and
other languages , etc. , and they had some
thing like seven or eight traveling men.
Q. You may state how much your organi
zation furnished to the Personal Rights
league , If you know ) A. Something over
H.OOO.
Q. In a lump or from tlmo to time.
A. From tlino to tlmo Just as tLoy made
requisitions. They presented the names of
the parties whom they were employing and
tLo purposes for which they needed the
money in a general way. Of course the em
ployment of these parties was left to them.
Q. Oo you know whether the sum paid by
your committee or your organization to the
i'ersonal flights lenguo represented the
amount of money used In this campaign ?
A. It represented most of It. I understand
that they collected about $800 in spite of their
agreement. That is they went in and col
lected that amount. I think that all they
had at the very outside was about ? 5,000 , durIng -
* Ing the campaign.
Q. And tills money was paid I presume bv
the treasurer of the Bankers' and Buslnes's
Men's association , upon properly certified
vouchers to the order of the Personal Rlphrs
league. A. These things usually went
through three or four hands , and in the duo
coin-so of time wore paid upon vouchers.
They paid out their own money. TLetr
treasurer , I presume , got all the money. I
don't think wo paid any vouchers to ttioir
men. I think tLoy would make a requisition
fora certain amount to bo used for a certain
purpose , and the money was paid over to
their treasurer.
Q. And this requisition would bo In the
hands of. what oltlcer ) A. I don't ' know
whether It was the chairman of the finance
committee or treasurer direct.
Q. Either the llimnco committee or the
treasurer would have all those papers } A.
Ves , sir.
. Q. And would the treasurer's books show
the disbursements through that channel ?
A. Well , 1 never saw cither the subscrip
tion list or the treasurer's books , because-I
never had auy thing to do with the financial
natters.
Q. Wiu there any partisanship In the or-
eanizatlont A. There was no partisanship
In the organization. It was composed of men
ol all parties , and It was understood from the
outset that there was to DO no work done or
effort made for any candidate. The contract
with Mr. Uopgcn was that if lie wns found at
any tlmo during the progress of the campaign
favoring any candidate or opposing any that
Lo was to bo dismissed after live dujs1 notice ,
and In our arrangement with the Personal
Hlghts league It was as clearly understood
and agreed that they were to Hoop out of pol
itics so far as candidates were concerned.
At ono tlmo ono of the orgaulzon made a
speech in the country , a democratic speech ,
and I protested against It , and ho was dls-
missed , because It was a violation of our
understanding.fo were accused by the
republicans of working for Uoyd and by
the democrats of working for Richards , but
as n matter of fact no part of the organization
lu nny manner , shape or form wns so used.
Q. You say Mr. Rosownter , that your
committee- furnished between $1,000 and $3,000
to the Personal Hights league ! A. Ves sir ,
Q.-Don't ' you know that the Personal
Rights league on the litth day of October as
a body , endorsed Mr. Iloyd for governor !
A. I don't ' know. In the llrat place this was
about nil paid them before the lath of Octo
ber , The action they did take down there
was reported hero , and I remonstrated with
Mr. Helmrod and told him that they had
man ? a great blunder in taking that stop.
They had sent out , as I understood , certain
questions. Mr , Richards told mo himself the
questions they sent hltn , and they were with
regard to the question of statutory prohibi
tion , and also on the school question. Mow.
it was probable that Mr. Boydhnd answered
these questions afllrmatlvcly and the others
had not. That was not really the Personal
Kichts league , but only come of the members'
and some of the ofllccrs took a stand lu favor
of Boyd.
Q. rs It not true that at least ono rcpro-
tativo from each branch In the state was
present thorol A. I don't know , for I don't
know enough about their meetings to say.
Q. What portion of this N.OOO or fc.OOo
was paid to the Personal Rights league after
the Kith of October ! A. Probably not WOO.
O. Are you sure upon that polutl A.
Yes , I nra sure of It , because the bulk of
What they received was all paid * In long be
fore that tlmo , becnuso they made n very
earjy requisition on us , something like In
' -Mr or August. They put their moa in the
field early , and ntono time wo wore not very
Hush , and they had tflitop their men as vroll
as wo Jul ours.
O. Wtmtvn * this forl A. For their
men in the field , and for printing circulars
and all sorts of papers ,
Q. You may state whether or not after
the notion of the state lenguo in Lincoln you
took nn offlclnl action towards advhlug the
Bankers' and Business Men's ' organization to
withdraw tLolr support ! A. I have taken
no other action than personal action. I
thought It was a great blunder and so told
Air. Helmrod. . . .
Q. Was Mr. Helmrod n member of too
Bankers' and Business Men's organization ?
A. No ; ho was president of the Personal
Rights league.
O. Then you didn't speak to any person
who belonged to the Bankers' and Business
Men's association on that qucsttonl A.
There was nothing f urtbcr to do. They had
acted and I took no ether steps.
Q. Did you continue to aftllUto lu nn or
ganization with the Personal Rights league
after that tlmo ? A.Vohad Just such rela
tions as would be a mere understanding. I
don't think wo had nny meeting after that.
Our agreements wcro made and requisitions
had been made. I think tbo bulk of the bus
iness was dono.
Q. Is it not true that the entire bill of Mr.
Moore's for naturalization papers wns all paid
it that time ! A. Yes : but that had nothing
, o do with the Personal Rights league. You
ice these papers had to bo taken out at least
.hlrty days before the elcctlon.and they must
lave been done by October 4 , so that what
-Rrccmout wo Lad must have bcca made
.n August or early In September.
Q. Do you know what proportion of thcso
. ' .boo foreigners were procured to bo natural-
zed by the Personal Rights league ! A. A
wry small proportion. I should say not ono-
'ourtli. because the societies did a great deal
Hid then wo had some men specially working
n that lino.
Q. 1 will ask you if It Is not true that
members of the Bohemian and Danish sodo
mies did not belong to the Personal Rights
caguo ! A. I don't know. I never bo-
oiiRcd to any of them , and consequently I
: ould not tell.
Q. Are you in a position to say that such
snot the case ? A. I am not , because I do
lot know anything about it.
Q. Then , so far a ? you know , these men
iat wore acting for these societies were also
acting for the Personal Bights league ? A.
They may Lave boon , but If there Lad been
irruiiKomcnts made for them and for their
iranchps there wouM bo no use for them
joining to see mo.
Q. When you say $4,000 or $ . " ,000 was fur
nished by the Bankers' and Business Men's
association , you may sUto whether or not
.hat is In addition to the amount paid to Mr.
Moorcs. A. Yes , that is cntlrolylndopend-
3iit of what wo paid to Mr. Mooics. Wo
didn't keep track of the Moorcs papers , as to
ivhom the pnpei-3 were gotten out by. Wo
paid for the whole of them , and this ether
money was independent.
Q. Thcso foreigners , as you have stated ,
u ore procured for the solo and only purpose
if voting against prohibition ? A. That was
, ho only Idea.
Q. You may state who was regarded as
.ho distinctive candidate of the aiitl-prohlbl-
.lonlsts In the city of Omaha. A. Candi
date for governor ?
Q. Yes , sir. A. Mr. Boyd , the well
Jcnown candidate of the democratic party ,
had announced himself against prohibition ,
so ho was tied right down to that principle.
Ho was nn nutl-prohibltlonibt. "We bad no
candidate.
Q. You may state how the canJldnoy of
Mr. Powers and Mr , Rlchars was regarded
by the people of Omaha. A. Mr. Powers'
candidacy was not regarded tis any very in *
portatit factor by our people.
Q. I mean with relerenco to the prohibi
tion question. A. Ills attitude was not dis
cussed in Omahn very much , and while ho
was known to Be or believed to bo a prohibi
tionist because ho had written n letter over
his own signature to the Now York Voice
that ho was for the amendment. Although
Lo denied that here in his speech wo didn't
take so much stock in his denial. Mr.
Richards had not taken any positive stand on
tills question. Personally Lo assured , mo
ho was In favor of high license and against
prohibition , but ho had not so stated in pub
lic.
lic.Q. . You will please answer the question
that I ask If you can how was the candi
dacy of Mr. Richards and Mr. Powers re
garded in Omaha upon the question of prohi
bition ; you have said that Mr. Boyd was re
garded as an anti-prohlbitlontst. A. Boyd
was regarded as an anti-prohibitionist ,
Richards as n man sawing wood and Powers
was regarded as a prohibitionist or the uoxt
door to it.
Q. Isn't it true that Mr. Richards was re
garded by a largo number of people in this
city as a prohibitionist at heart ? A. There
wcro some qulto a number who thought
that ho was notilxod in his ideas on the sub
ject and that ho was wavering between two
sides.
Q. The Personal Rights league and the
Bankers' and Business Men's association
were organized for the express puruoso of
defeating prohibition ? A. Yes , and there
was another question that entered into the
campaign , and that was the question of stain
lory prohibition.
Q. How dldtnntenter into the campaign
A. Becnuso it was well understood that tb
prohibitionists Intended it prohibition was do
fented at the polls that they would renew the
light at. the legislature.
Q. "What relevancy did that bear to the
fight that wns being made in this city ? A.
It bore this relevancy , that If Mr. Richards
had done what Mr. Itoyd had done hoould
have been elected. That Is , If ho had said he
would respect the will of the people and refuse -
fuse to sanction making prohibition statutory
af Ur the people had uofcutcd prohibition ut
the pollsho would hnvo been undoubtedly
the recipient of n great many more vote.
Q. You think If ho had come out and
clared himself In the same mcnncr that Mr.
Boyd did , and said that ho was opposed t <
prohibition , that Lo would veto any attemp
at statutory prohibition , that ho would liuvi
been elected ? A. . Yes ; if ho had said thn' '
after the people had voted it down that h
would let it stay there.
Q. You mean to bo understood as saying
that It was understood In Omaha that Mr ,
RlcLards would not veto any attempt tolegis'
late statutory prohibition ? A. I mean to be
understood assaying that they did not know
what ho would do , and for that reason a gooi'
many , voted for a mail that they kuew whui
ho would do.
Q , What action did the Bankers' andBusI
ness Men's association and the Persona !
Rights league take In the promises ! A. The
Bankers' and Buslno-ts Men's association
took no action In the premises. Their objecl
was to defeat prohibition. The Personal
Rights league I nm not familiar with.
Q. If there was nny doubt as to whothei
or not Mr. Richards was opposed to prohlbl
tlonand If there was any doubt as to whothei
ho would veto an attempt at statutory prohl
bltlon , then It was not possible for him tc
have the support of the Bankers' ' and Bus ! '
ness Men's ' association ? A. It was not a
partisan body. It Lad nothing whatever tc
do with n man's veto. They did whatove
they pleased.
Q. I understood you to say that It was or <
gauizcd for the solo and exclusive purpose of
defeating prohibition ! A , To defeat the
amendment , yes , sir.
Q. Do you mean as a body ? A , I think
thlssThoy wcro not willing to support a man
when they did not know how he stood on the
question of prohibition. Wo could not have
agreed to support any man. They certainly
could not have gotten me to support the dem
ocratic ticketand thpro were democrats there
whom I could not have gotten to support the
republican ticket. Wo never discussed the
question of candidates. "Wo had that under
stood at the outset. Besides there never was
a meeting of the business men's association
after the month of May , and the business was
done by committees two or three commit
tees.
tees.Q
Q , You had numerous committees after
that tlmo ? A. Yes , any number of them.
Q. Bo you mean to say that your commit
tees discussed the attitude of Mr. Richards
on this question ? A. There were men who
wanted to know why Richards did not como
out , Wo wcro constantly trying to get him
to say how ho stood. And I tried Uvo or throe
days before election to get him to say Lo
would vote an attempt at statutory prohibi
tion.
tion.Q. . In your opinion it would have been ad
vantageous bad no squarely aannouncd him
self opposed to prohibition ! A. Yes sir , It
would have.
Q. Wore you a member of tbo convention
that nominated him ? A. Yes sir.
Q. Is it not true that you drafted the plat
form at that convention ! A. I drafted most
of It.
It.Q.
Q. You woroamemborof that committee
appointed by thoctmrimanof that convention
for that purpose ! A. Not for the purpose.
I don't think Mr. Church Howe wautcd ao
to draft it.
Q. Isn't It true that you loft out lu that
platform any allusion or reference to tLo
prohibition question ! A. Yes , because wo
thought it best not to get into a vrrnngla in
the convention.
Q. In your opinion if it was bettor for you
to take a squnrostnnd on that\vhydldyou not
Insert a plank to that effect In the platform !
A. Simply because wo dla not want to com
mit our candidates on these questions. "Wo
probably had some candidates that wcro out
and out prohibitionists , but most of tbo can
didates were not pronounced on this Issue.
They had adopted a plank In snito of our
protest in the convention two
rears before pledging the party
to submit prohibition. The party wns
committed to that Issue and they could not
go baclc on It , and all wo could do was to
await the rcsultof tlio election , Mr. RlcLards
did not hnvo to put a padlock on his mouth on
this question of statutory prohibition. Ho
could have talked just as freely upon this
question as upon others. If * anyone hud
asked him If ho would approve n law miking
the rate of Interest 4 per cent , ho would
have a right to say , "No , " nnd ho certainly
had a right to say whether ho would or
would not approve a bill nullifying1 the will
of the people after they had voted upon the
amendment.
Q. Isn't ' It a fact that you nro now criti
cising Mr , Richards for standing on the plat
form which you adopted ! A , There were
men there who were in favor of prohibition ,
and the chances nro wo would have had a
wrangle. See thought it had better bo left
tut nil together ,
Q. Now , for the purpose of preventing a
wrauglo you wcro willing to draw a platform
which insured the defeat of the republicans
at the fall election I A , When wo drafted
that wo did not know who the candidates
wcro goiiig to bo. I supposed that wo were
golnir to nominate n man that could dellno
himself nnd talk freely , but wo did not hap
pen to dolt.
O. You don't think It would have been
right for the candidate for governor to have
advocated any principles which were not ad
vocated by the platform ? A. I should have
considered it right for a man to have opin
ions of his own.
Q. You nt this tlmo consider that Mr.
Richards should have gone farther than the
convention which nominated him upon that
question ) A. I think ho should have nt
least stated that ho would not undo what the
people had done at the election. I only urged
him to commit himself on that question that
if the people voted it down ho would uot vote
It up.
Q , I will ask you to state If ho hadn't the
nmo rlcht to respect the feelings of those
thcr men who were in tnvor of it as had
our committee. A. lie had n right to ro-
pect them , but their feelings would uot hnvo
> een hurt lu the least If ho had spokcu
rccly.
Q Do you think their feelings would have
con hurt if they had drafted It In the plat-
erin ! A , I cannot stato. Candidates somc-
imes have no feelings ; they want to bo
ilcctcd. I don't know what their feelings
vould have been. In this Instance the rc-
Jtlbllcans were defeated on account of their
untlidnto not wanting to bo on cither side ,
, ud he lost on both sides.
Q , He stood on the platform ! A. Ho did
ty saying nothing ,
Q. The platform said nothing ! A. The
jlatform was silent ; but he could have ex
pressed himself. Suppose somebody should
ntcrrogatc James U. Blainoon a question of
.nipurtauco that was not in our platform. Ho
, vould have aif opinion.
Q This was n vital question in this cam-
laign i A. It was n vital question although
> ho platform was silent on It ,
Q. Was it not the principal .question of
his campaign ! A. It proved to be in the
cud ,
Q. You don't pretend to say that you did
not see It at that time ? A. I foresaw it as
'nr back ns when Judge Maxwell rendered a
decision two years ago legalizing the action
to submit It , and I said to Judgi * Maxwell :
"You bavo sentenced one man to one term , "
und ho turned around and said : "U'ho Is
jo I" nnd I said : "You have sentenced Mr.
onnoll to ono term in t'onifrses. "
Q.- And jour opinion is that the action of
Mr. Mnxwell was responsible for tbo defeat
of Mr. Council { A. The defeat of Mr. Cou-
: ipll was the consequence of It.
Q. There Is no effect without a cause und
thcrefoio there must , have been a cause ?
A. I saw that Issue would split up the re
publican party.
Q. And still you nro now criticising Mr.
Richards because ho dUn't take that step ?
A. Wo cotnmlttced ourselves to submit this
question , and all ho had to do was to say that
ho was cither one way or the othor.
Q. And y ou still say so , although the plat
form upon which ho hud been placed was si
lent upon that question ! A. Yw , sir ; 1 do ,
because It would have made him friends , and
as it is ho lost on both sides.
Q. You have been in politics for some
years ? A. Yes : nearly twenty years.
Q. Is it customary for candidates to go
outside of their platform and advocate prin
ciples whicU their party was nfr.iid to put In
their platform J A. Men are always called
upon to answer people questions that are not
lu their platform. There nro local Issues at
times that make , a terrible racket. A con
gressman may bo running nnd there is n
postofllco to bo built and every fellow in town
wants to know whether the postofllco Is go
ing to stay where it is or whether it Is to bo
moved across the street. " "Ho may say noth
ing or bo may say ' perhaps it would bo hot
ter to Lave it across the street ; " and there
are many instances where n candidate is
obliged to say something about a matter In
which a large community is Interested.
Q. Is theio not a vast difference between
n postoftleo by n congressman nnd the ni'tion
of a candidate for governor , Ingoing outside
the principles of his partyi A. Tim princi
ples of the republican party have nothing to
do with prohibition ono \vnyor another , but
the legislature may do it , and when the legis
lature U nhout to do something wnlch is lia
ble to damage a largo portion of the commu
nity people have a i-icht to feel unxitus.
Q. Is It not true that thorupubllcan party ,
ns n party , had submitted the quoition of
prohibition to the people , nnd whan you were
placed upon this committee , you , us an In
dividual opposed the action taken by the
party , and that Is the reason that prohibition ,
was not Inserted I A. Nobody proposed to
Insert It there , but all they wanted to do waste
to put In a plank pledging tlio governor to
enforce the law. I opposed that because"
every governor was pledged to enforce the
law , and the committee voted that down and
agreed with me. That wns the onlv action
wo had on the subject. Wo never discussed
the proposition to insert it in the platform.
Q. I will ask you to state If you don't
think It unfair to Mr. Richards to crlliso him
for not doing the very thing that his party
refused to do ? A. Perhaps some of his ad
visers would think that way , but I think dif
ferently. That same question was asked mo
during the campaign , and I regarded itasn
little bit cowardly. Wo would not have cared
If ho would have * said if prohibition is de
feated that ho would not allow it to become a
statutoyr law , and If ho had said that ho
would have got two more thousand votes iu
Omaha.
Q. When you said It was cowardly , what
do vou meant A. I think In refusing to put
hlnisclf in position , leaving himself in that
attitude of a muu who was afraid of his own
opinion.
Q. Ho never advocated prohibition.
A. No.
Q. Ho\\ could ho rotrcat ? A. Ho hadn't
advocated the other , cither ,
Q. How could ho retreat ? A. Ho was in
that peculiar position , ho did uot take a tlriu
stand.
Q. Who put him in thatpositlon ? A. Ho
put himself there.
Q. Did ho or did the republican party put
him there ! A. I presume the platform was
made first , but that was no reason that ha
should not have an opinion.
Q. Now you may state who wns the chair
man of the tlnanco committee of tbo Bankers
and Business Men's association ! A. William
A. Puxton.
Q. What means were adopted to carry or
tLeir work ! A. They passed around the ha' '
so tar as I know and got pcoulo to subscribe
nnd pay as much mouoy as they felt like con
trlbutlng.
Q. When you say they passed around the
hat you used that in a llguratlvo scnso ? A.
Yos. They had a paper and passed It nrouni
among the business men and bankers and pro
fessional people , and different classes of people
plo that owned property In Omaha.
Q. When they passed around this papei
wosltlott free to ttio individual business
man to subscribe whatever ho felt able to
give , or did this committee go a stop further
than that and name the amount that each one
should glvo ? A. I never suw the subscrlp
tion paper and I don't know lust what ruOthot
was adopted. I think that at any rate , up to
the last part of the campaign there was notli
Ing but Bltnplv a volunteer subscription
Kuch ono who subscribed put down the
amount he saw lit to glvo , nnd thuy paid i
In instalments as they wished , Now toward
the lost I do not know whethe
they solicited certain amounts frou
persons or not. They got pretty
hard up and the expenses were running high ,
or rather the people wore so confident of the
defeat of prohlbltlon/liiftt / Ihoro was a few
llko these during tlidnr n few "copper
. ,
( } . Have you nny oMoctlon to naming some
of those copperheads ! A ; > I could name senio
oftlicm ,
Q. Do you know whether any of these
copperheads were re rtoi'M0 for prohlbl-
Llon ? A. I don't Ifaow anything about
.hat. , , ,
O. Now , you state tjiat toward * the latter
end of the campaign the committee got more
solicitous for help. You may state what
methods they adopted , then to raise money ?
A. 1 don't know ttmtlb'py adopted any dif
ferent methods , only ( they Increased their
workers. They first only had three or four ,
nnd they subdivided their worK and lot the
work out some to sco grocers and others dry
goods men ana so on.
Q. Is it not trim that that committee had
n meeting In which they formally assessed
every business man In this city nu amount
In proportion to the volumeof business which
ho did ! A. I was not u member , but I will
say that I don't believe that any ono will tes
tify that to bo truo.
Q. I will ask you to look at this paper and
stitowhat Itlsl A , It Is n blank of the
Hankers' nnd Business Men's association.
No , It Is not a blank , It is simply n printed
circular.
Q. Sent out by the Bankers' and Busi
ness Men's association ? A. It Is signed by
Mr. Paxton , chairman. 1 don't know whether
it was sent out by them or not. Some ono
clso might have got up one , too.
Q You may state whether or not the
Bankers' and Business Men's association
sent out any such document ns that to any
person In the city of Omaha ! A. I don't
know. They didn't send any to mo. I Lad
no moans of knowing of the actions of the
finance department. This whole business of
money was lott lu the hands of ttio finance
committee ,
Q. You don't know whether a letter llko
tLls was sent out ! A. I do not.
Q. Do jou state that you do not know
whether they did make any assessments or
not ? A. I state that 1 do not know.
Q. You stated that towards the latter end
of the campaign they became more urgent in
their appeals for money ! How was that
urgency expressed ? A I don't know. They
had a prolltublo way of expressing It.
Q. What did thpy do ? A. They In
creased the number of their committees or
organized themselves into special committees
mid canvassed the town and asked individ
uals or linns to contribute. They may have
sent out circulars for all I know.
Q.-Do you know whether or not any state
ment wns made by Mr. Charles A , Coo or
any persons acting for him to certain busi
ness men that In two thcydid not contribute
to the extent of the amount named by the
committee that theie was a list known as the
black list , nnd that their names would bo
placed on thut list ! A I say that there
was no such a black list , and 1 would say
that he never suld it , and 1 will bet on it.
Q. Anil you say positively that .icllhcr ho
nornnybody acting for him ever made such a
threat as that to any business man in tlio
city of Omaha ! A I know there was no
blacklist. I don't know wnat some of them
said. I know there was no black ' 1st. It may
have been said in a Joke , but not in earnest.
Q. You were chairman of the executive
committee ! A. Yes , sir.
Q.-And did you or your committee moot
with the ( imumt'o committee of thiit associa
tion ? A , With omo of their members , but
lover with the committee. I never attended
any meetings of the llniinco committee.
Q. Then how do you know the finance
committee did'thavo imy list of that kind )
V. They cortmnly uould hnvo talked with
no about it If tLoy hililthad one.
Q. What other means besides thcso that
ou h.cvo enumerated did the finance commit-
eo employ to raise inoney ! A. I never
icard of nny other. *
Q. Do jou moan to be understood that all
he inoney caino from the business men lu
Jmnlui i A. I know of one other place where
here wns sonic nthcrmoney sent. There was
' 100 tame frcvn Lincoln from Mr. Mo liier , a
Hinkcr , and I turned it pvor to the assojia-
tlon.
tlon.Q.
Q. That is the only money that came from
you direct ! A. All'tbat I know of from any
ilnco.
Q. Do yon mean to say that the whisky
trust of Pcorla never furnished any moiiov !
A. They never furiit.hed | u dollar to the
Bankers' ' and Buslncr.s.Mcn's association.
Q.-I \\lll-aak you whether 315,000 was
furnished to your association during the
month of Alay by the whisky trust of I'eoria
to bo used In this campaign ! A. There was
loverSl.'i.OOOnor $15.
Q.-I will ask you to state If $15,000 was
'uriiishetl to your association during the
mouths of Juno and July ? A. I will say at
no tlmo from the beginning of the campaign
to the end of the campaign was there fur-
lished to our committee or association that
amount by the whisky trust of Peoria , 111. , or-
any ether whisky trust.
Q. You may state whether or not It is a
Taut that during months of May , Juno and
July the sum of $45,000 , or any other sum was
Furnished to the Bunkers' und Business
Men's association cither by the whisky trust
) f Illinois or by any other parties to bo used
n this campaign ? A. All the money wenad
ogetuer would scarcely amount to M5.UOO.
The whole thing was a blank lie. Then
wasn't any money furnished to us by them in
any inatinur , shape or form. I think there
wns S3.UOJ offered but rejected.
Q. Mj-question was "either by the whisky
trust or bvanjf other parties ! " A. I am
telling you "by nny ether parties. " The
whole amount wai about f Itf.O 0 that wo
iised , or somewhere a little ovcrf(0,000. ( It
is perfectly lidiculous. In Mnj' , Juno and
July wo hadn't ' spent $10,000 up to August' ! ,
and hadn'b had It to spend. The greatest
trouble that wo had was to raise the money
that we did get , und get It hero.
Q. Jloiv much inoney was used by the
Bankers' and Business Men's association If
you know ! A. I think all told it was a lit
tle overIOXU ( or $43,000. I don't know ;
I wasn't on the llnancocommittee , but that Is
what I think it wns. *
Q , What'proportlon of that money was
raised in Omaha ? A. The bulk of it ; 90 per
cent of It. I don't know what might hnvo
been done by Individuals outside of our asso-
I at ion. I am talking of the Bankers' and
Business Men's association.
Q. Ninoty-ninopar cent of the $ -12,000 or
543,000 was raised from the business men of
this city ! A. Yes , sir. As 1 have no per
sonal knowledge of Individuals I cannot tell.
Q. Do j'ou know whether or not Mr. Peter
Her received any moooy from the whisky
trust ? A. I don't know. If ho did pay ft
out ho paid It out without our kuowlcdgo.
Ho didn't pay to us.
'Q. 1 simply ask j'ou If you know ? A. I
told you I don't know.
Q. Do j-ou remember n letter written by
Dr , George Miller to a certain party In New
York iu which he stated that Mr. Her wns at
that time In Pcorla and ho had received a
telegram that ho had been successful In his
efforts to ralso money thorol A. I remem
ber that article was published In the Voice.
The representative of the Voice Landed mo
that letter. That U tLo llrst information
I Imd. Of course I don't ' know
anything about it oiilj * just wnat I saw lu the
papers.
Q. You don't ' known whether the state
ment mnUo by Dr. Mlllqr was true
or not ! A , I do uot , I know
this much however , that what
wo got got out of the whisky trust was a lot
of old papers and n good many of them nro
lof tin Tnr. lieu building , and n lot of ad
dresses that wcro stale and Worthless , that I
wish they hail kept ,
Q. What was the character of the papers !
A. Literature that was about fifteen years
old , and a lot of addresses and wrappers
Which wcro nil stale nnd worthless ,
Q , And so far as you know the only con
tribution made by the whlskj- trust of Peoria
was mndo in the shnpo of literature and
wrappers ! A , That is all wo had.
Q , Now I will ask j-ou to state whether
there wa1 * anyone besides the Bankers and
Business Men's association that wns dealing
with the whisky trust upon this question I
A. I don't know , unless It wns Mr. Her
himself. Ho Is a member of the whisky
trust.
Q. Is It true that the Bankers nnd Busi
ness Men's ' association of this city wns mix-
lout that their connection with" the whisky
trust should not bo known ? A. It was de
cided nt the outset that wo would conduct
this campaign without the liquor dealers and
kept them iu the background , and not have
anv more relation with them than wo wcro
obllncd to havo.
< J , What was the reason that Induced the
association to take thut action ! -Becauso
the prohibitionists were charging all along
and had charged that § 100,000 , was being
poured into this state by the whlskj- people
and that the saloonkeepers were the main
spring against prohibition in tln movement ,
nnd that no respectable person would go out
and agitate against prohibition , and thut It
wn * all a uiovcincutof the thugs nnd rowdies ,
and wo wanted to bo free from all such
things.
Q. So for as nny public connection wns
concerned ! A. Or any private connection ,
where wo could avoid It.
Q. Isn't it a fact that your organization
solicited from the whisky dealers' associa
tion ! A. There maj'havo been somoof the
members who hud correspondence with thorn ,
but the association never did ,
Q. And don't you know that the finance
committee made repeated efforts to get
money from the whisky men of Pcorla to
cairy on this campaign ! A. Evidently they
wcro very unsuccessful , as far as I can learn ,
if they did.
Q , 1 will repeat the question. Is It not a
fact that the Bankers'and ' Business Men's '
association did innko repeated efforts to get
inonov or financial assistance from the
whisky trust of I'eoria ? A. I don't know
anything about It. I know only this , that
the whisky trust people sent out an agent
hero by the name Turner , und ho represented
that they wcro going to take a very deep In
terest In the movement here , but for some
occult reason I don't know anything about ,
they took no interest , but they humbugged
n round hero and never contributed iinythinir ,
and if there is any reason for it , It must
bo because ns Air. Turner told mo hlmsolf ,
that they don't care whether the distilleries
of Nobraskurun or not , us they coiiti'ollcd all
distilleries , and it would not make any.iUfter-
enro , because moro whisky would bo sold
after prohibition carried than beer , and so
they didn't caro. That was towards the last
of the campaign.
Q. I will rupcat my question. Is It not a
f.iet that the Bankers and Business Men's ns-
sedation did make repeated efforts to pet
financial assistance from the whisky trust of
Peoria to carry on the campaign ! A. They
ceitalnly did not to carry on the campaign
with.
- Ift ?
Tfflrffmfi
H. B. 1REY & BRO. .
Real Estate and Loan Broken.
A CHRISTMAS PRESENT
Given in the shape of a lot or
house and lot in this city is of far
more benefitthan toys , diamonds
and jewelry. Why not make
such a present to your wife ,
mother or friend , that will
double in value in a year , and be
a lasting benefit for life ?
We have lots joining EAST
OMAHA , that the thousands of
dollars to be expended there
the coming of spring , will cause
them to double In value in less
than a year. They are on track
age and can be bought for $80O
each , on easy terms.
Wo hnvo fine residences In all parts of the
city , ns well us residence lots. Wo can bull you
Inside lots , that If you Improve , no eish re
quired , and long tlmo given on the balance.
Houses nnd lots on monthly payments.
Acreage propoity for sale. LIttyour nrop-
ertv with us. Houses to rent. Eastern
money to loan.
II. U. Ircy & llro. , 200 N. Y. Lift ) K'.tl't , ' .
DR. GLOJOK ,
EYE AND EAR ,
Barker Block , Uth nnd Farnam. Toleohono C51
AHQpPE , 1513 BOU6LH88Y.
ChristmasBi
OFFERS SPECIAL PRICES ON THE
.
ORGAN.
Sheet Musics
and B ooks
Musical
unient
Fine Pictures For t/ho Holidays
14O9
NEW YORK CHICAGO ,
, STPAUL'
MINNEAPOLISV'TNDIANApOLJ3 ) ]
SAN FRANCISCO US ) ANGELA
ii- ! * PORTLAND OREGON.fe jH
Say George ?
Nicoll the Tailor's midwinter
ter sale is on , and in order
to keep their large force o'
workmen busily employed , they're making very interesting
prices.
I've seen a range of their $25 office and evening suits to ,
measure , that are really captivating and worth $10 more easily ;
Overcoats as tempting , 520 to measure and up to $35 for
the fine double-breasted kerseys ,
They're offering several thousand trouser lengths ( samples )
$5 , $6 and $ S to measure. Two pairs for about the worth of one *
They're open evenings. Mail Orders Filled.
NIGOLL THE TMILQR ,
Established a Quarter of a Century Ago.
i unvn
Great Jewel Palace ;
The Pride of Omak
Our Magnificent Display of
Rich Holiday Offerings
One of the Sights of the City ,
This Immense Stock Amounting to
ALMOST
A Half Million Dollars
Must be Seen to be Appreciated.
Upwards of $1OOOOO in diamonds
alone. $5QOOO worth of Gentlemen's
and Ladies'gold watches. $25OOO in
sterling silver ware. A car load of Fine
Clocks , Bronze ornaments and bric-a-
brac. 1.50O fine silk umbrellas ,
natural wood , oxidized silver and gold
handles , from $3 up to $25. 20O beau
tiful piano , banquet and table lamps , in
silver , gold and cream [ first empire ]
from $4 up to $10O.
Hundreds of Other Novelties
From all Parts of the Globe , Forming
as a Whole
R Veritable Worlds' Fair.
Solid Gold Jewelry
In Endless Variety.
Also sterlingsilver and fine gold pla
ted jewelry of every description. 3OOO
vest chains from $1 to $ IOO. 5.0OO
solid gold rings from $1 to $25. Lace
pins , scarf pins , earrings , cuff buttons
collar buttons , charms , necklaces ,
bracelets , etc. , etc.
Solid Gold Spectacles and Eye Glasses
From S3.OO Up.
$25,000 to $5O,000 worth of
goods exhibited in our eight large
show windows every day , worth
coming miles to see.
Open Every Evening Until After
Christmas.
v\j j
Jewelers and Importers.
16th and Farnam Sts. , . Omaha , Neb.
> * ; . * *
YORK DENTHL PHRLQR8 \
N. E. Cor. 14th and Farnam Sts ,
DR. . F. Lx.
$4.00 $4.00
mnkflToii ' asotnf tnotli. uslnx tlie licit . rulilior , and GUAHANTEEa fit , for II.00.
'KSaKXrHAl'TINWithour metlicxl. tcctli urn _ . KxtraoUd AbioluUly WHUout I'a
OoYclVbTfv'or'awf l HOMO llltluirB , Crown unfl llrlilBO WorU. .
Our ilolto Tlic IJt-ST Uuutul work , ut LOWEST llviutlprluci.