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About The Loup City northwestern. (Loup City, Neb.) 189?-1917 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 3, 1899)
THE ALLOT FRAUD A Plan Concocted by Silas A. Holcomb and His Political Lieutenants to Steal Two Seats on the Supreme Bench. Tko darkest page in the political history of the state of Nebraska is the story of the infamous recount deal which was engineered during the leg islative session of 1897. The attempt was made by a crowd made up of state officials and disreputable politicians to so change the ballots cast by the peo ple that two additional judges of the supreme court could be counted in. The details of the plan were arranged at the house of Silas A. Holcomb, on “A" street in the city of Lincoln. The purpose was to place on the supremo bench William Neville, who is now the fusion candidate for congress in i the Sixth district, and J. S. Kirkpat-1 rick, the relative and law partner of Governor Holcomb. According to sworn evidence tba* J is too well fortified and corroborated ! to he questioned, the plan to deliber ately change the ballots was carefully arranged. Members of the legislature must have been taken Into every se- j crot of the scheme, as the most high handed proceedings took place in the legislative halls to further the ends of the conspirators. RECORD 19 OPEN. The record in this matter can be in npocted by everybody. The house and senate Journals of 1897 will show the date of the introduction of the first recount bill; they will show how this was railroaded through in order that the conspirators might get at their work; they will show how the seats of the republican members from Doug las county were stolen in order to in-. crease the majority of the party that was behind the scheme; they will show how the courts were defied, and how j the work of changing the ballots was hegun in star chamber sessions, part j of the time at the dead of night, and part of the time in daylight, but behind locked doors in the office of a state of flcKI. when the recount or the ballots was first, publicly proposed a delegation composed of G. M. Lambertson, George W. Post and others called upon the governor and urged that the ballots be publicly counted, and that none but the most reputable citizens of the state be selected to do the work. They pledged the moral support of all good citizens In case the business was thus transacted. But Silas A. Holcomb paid no at tention to their suggestions. He had other plans, and the proof Is now plain that the men who were to perform the work were selected long before the recount law was passed. BAD CHARACTER OF THE MEN. It Is well that the attention of the people be again called to the class of men selected for this work by Silas A. Holcomb. One was a man who had a case he wanted reversed by the su preme court, and who had openly threatened to kill one of the judges if the right kind of a decision was not rendered. One was a roustabout, who had a son serving time in the state penitentiary. One was a political mountebank who was later kicked out of the service of the exposition com mission because of questionable deal ings. All of the men were men who placed political success before honesty, and who, as future events proved, were promised good places or substantial re wards at the expense of the state treas ury. It was a force of men well equip ped to perform secretly by night and by day. The men in the legislature who were assisting in the deal did their part well. They stole seats to gain the necessary majority, and they pussed a recount bill which contained no penalty for fraudulent counting. All this is down in black and white in the public rec ords, and is an open page in the minds of the people of Nebraska. When the public indignation became so strong that the conspirators were coir,relied to do the balance of the work in the light of day the plan to count in the judges failed, and an at- ! tempt was made to destroy the proof of the fraud. The secretary of state, the ink upon whose certificate and oath of office was hardly dry. made v.uj with the original tally sheets, and ha:, never since dated to make them public. All this was done to protect Mias A Holcomb and his law partner and hi* political partner and the chairman of his state committee. Of the men who participated In tm* recount fraud, all received future re wards except one, and he turned state a evidence on the Othem. lie first COB- ‘ feased to his attorney, who was a man 1 high np In the counsels of the populist party, and then to a populist news paper man, who gave the story to the public. Chairmen Kdmlsteti of the state committee at once confessed hla own guilt by making su attempt to1 klduap the Informer and hustle him out of the country liefore he could tes tify to a tran I jury. TIIK INKOItMKR CORROHORATKD , The man Minions, who gave away the atory, was not a reputable man and he was known to be absolutely without charm ter when Holcomb appointed him to hand!" the people's ballots fa der ordinary »lnumstan.es hi* testi mony would tie Viewed With tMM. h iUt pi. t in Hut he ha* told a stralgh' j slot y ledh to the an t on the witness stand, and step by step ki* story has been rorrufourated by oth rrw until it must be accepted ns Ibe truth Rvery opportunity kt< been given for th* •-•Htaplraliww to deny nr refute the story and none of them hay ■ had the hardihood to appear laiat July when th* legislate» Invea tiga'tng committee waa in tension H I Hinton* and ailaa \ H«h*»mb w«. ■ both called a* WUnease# to ti wtify a I to Ih# r lusting »f ihe ballot* Holeuml> denied the authority uf lb* com mil la* ; and hurriedly took the • train for Broken Bow. Simons appeared and re told under oath the story which had already been made public. The appearance of the ballots and the evi dence of a dozen witnesses from Lin coln and from vork corroborated the testimony of the Informer, and not a one of Holcomb’s cohorts dared to come forward to deny the story. The testimony of the man Simons, In which he gave the details of the fraud and told of Holcomb’s connection with it, Is given In part below, and will bear the close reading of thoughtful people: SIMON’S TESTIMONY. Edward L. Simon.,, being duly sworn testified, as follows: By Mr. Pound: y.—Mr. Simons state your residence and occupation. A—I live In Lincoln, Lancaster coun ty and a brick layer by occupation. y.—How long have you lived there? A.—Fifteen years. y.—You lived here the winter of 1897 when the legislature was iu session? A.—Yes, sir. y.—Were you employed In any ca pacity by either of the recount com mission about the oallots east for the constitutional amendment in the elec tion of 18915? A.—J was employed as a guard to w'atch the ballots In the vault of the secretary of state’s office at the time that the legislature took the ballots from the recount commission. y.—You were guard also In the sec ond recount? A.—I was guard over the ballots during the Intermediate time of the two sessions. y.—Prior to the time the second committee was appointed did you have anything to do with the ballots or any of them? A.—Not in the official capacity. y.—Did you In any other? y — I did. y.—Did you have any special Inter est In the matter of the result of that Recount f A—I did. y.—State what that was? A.—I had bad a law suit with a party for 150 acres of land and the rent of it for 13 years—200 acres of land and the rent of It for 13 years. y.—Where was that suit pending at that time? A.—Al mis lime n nan uccii bciiicu by compromise but I was figuring on having the heirs’ Interest taken to the supreme court. Q.—Did you think that gave you any Interest In the result of this recount? A.—I think it did or would have. Q.—In what way? A.—I thought If I would steal the Judges in they would help the boy oui. ARRANGED FOR A STEAL. Q.—Did you approach any one m authority or office with reference to this, particularly about the time these ballots were to be recounted? A.—I spoke with the parties manipu lating the recount. Q.—Who did you speak to? A.—Mr. Edmisten. Q.—Give his initials? A.—James H. Edmisten, he was state oil inspector and chairman of the State Central Committee. Q.—When did you speak about this? A.—Before the legislature conveued. Q.—What did you tell him? A.—I told him how l was situated and I wanted to help steal those judges in. Q.—How many times did you speak to him about that? A.—After the legislature conveued I was there every day. Q.—Did he have an office in the cap itol building? A.—Yes, sir. y—Slate wnere it wa ssiiuaiea.' A.—It was situated where General Barry's office is now. y.—In pursuance with your talk with him was there anything done and If so wiiat was it and when? A.—There was a hill passed by the legislature for a recount commission and the commission was appointed by the governor and when tney was ap pointed that organized tno next tiuy and the next night we— y.—Who were we? A.—That is Kdtnisten Blake and myself and several other parties. y.—That was the night after the commission was appointed and or ganized? A Night after the organization, y.—Where did you meet? A. In Kdmtsten's prlvute office, y —Who procured you to meet there? A. We knew where to go. y. Who told you where to go? A. It was mutually understood among all of u*. y What preparation diet you make there? KDMItTKN riWIl'Kri THK IIAl.I.OTri. A Why we had a talk and Kdntie ten went Into the aecretary of stale's office and got the drat bunch of ballot*. y The secretary of state s office u on the sante floor? A Yes. air; he occupied the corner opposite KdluUten'*. y Where were these ballot* at that time? \ In the necretary of *tat*'* offi *. y In what manner? A They were In package* a* re ceived by the secretary y Wa* there a guard over th n«? A Yes. sir y \\ h» * a* ii ’ A Keteev. y When Kdml ’cn g i th* ballots what did he do with t►*»’ A Opened the envelope* and got them tort y What *u done with them In th* t«Him* A Ws ftioh lh«m In the vault and opened the snvelopes ant ncs'hed Up *11 the blank* eveptiwg three or four ' In each precinct and changed those that were opposed to the amendment. Q.—State who was doing the mark ing? A.—Blake, Edmlsten, myself and au other party. C What preparations for secret? If any vvcie made? What did you do In the way of preventing Intrusion? A.—Wliy, we had the outside door that leads from the hallway shut up and the door that leads between the private office and the big room closed and we had the vault door pretty near shut and we put paper over the in windows so you couldn’t see any light in there. Q.—Was there a light in the outer rooms? Was the gas lighted? A.—No, sir. Q.—Where did you get the material you used, the ink and so forth? A.—We used Kdmlsten's ink, after that there was about four bottles got of black ink. Q.—After the ballots were marked as you described, what was done w.^h lliem’ A—Wrapped up and packed to the secretary's office. Q.—Would you go hack and for wards several times during the evening or only once? A.—-As soon as wa got one btineh finished, we would go and get some more. Q.—Describe how the ballots were marked? A.—The blanks were marked for the amendment and those voted against amendment we would put a cross for the amendment at the top and one below. tj. I nat would leave a mark for tne amendment and still another for the Supreme Judge creating tlie itnprc salon tiint tiie voter had voted for those two and against the others? A.— No; the commission had yessed a resolution to give the benefit of all the doubtful votes for the amendment and we would make two crosses for the one as against the other. Q.—So the object was to cliangp them so as to create the Impression in fa vor of the amendment? A.—Yes. sir. Q.—How long were you engaged in this work? A.—We worked until about mid night.. Q —You say thp commission passed a resolution to give the benefit of the doubt in favor of the amendment; how do you know? Were you present? A.—I wasn't present. I was informed by the commission. Q — By the commission themselves? A.—Yes, sir. Q.—What number informed you? A.—Blake. Q.—He was one of the gentlemen present altering the ballots? A.—Yes sir. Q.—George W. Blake? A — bIi*. FIRST NIGHT'S WORK. Q.—Did you have any counties marked the first night? A.—The first two counties were Blane and Banner. Edmist.en carried one and I carried the other. Q.—When the ballots were marked, how were they returned? A.—They were put back in the en velope and the package wrapped up and taken back to the sccreary's office. Q.—Restored to their former ap pearance as near as possible? A.—YeH sir. Q.—In taking the ballots to and from the secretary's office describe the manner in which you did it. A.—The first two nights I had a large overcoat that I threw over my shoulders and I had the package un der that. Q.—Did you go through the main hall? A.—Yes sir. Q.—Was there any secret way in the way of knocking so the guard would know who it was? A.—Yes bir, we had a private rap. Q.—Describe what that was? A.—Three single raps. Q.—When you gave that rap lie op ened the door? A.—Yes sir. Q.—Did you make any change after the first night? A.—Yes sir. Q.—Describe that. * ~ A.—We were getting along to the big packages. I couldn't carry them under my coat any more and it was dangerous to go through the hall with them and we found a way from the hall in the basement, into the base ment room under Edmisten's office, which had a place leading to the up stairs. By opening a trap door we could get through into the private office, Q.—Did you carry them through the basement after the first night? A.—Yes sir. AFRAID OF GETTING CAUGHT. Q.—Describe to the committee th° reasons that led you to do that. Was it In fear of any Interruption? A.—Well, there was. A person was uiihie to in* i'uukdi wtiti lilt* parting? In IiIh |iuuewli':i. Q.—Waa there any sign of Inter rupt Iona? A. The second night we were ther1* Mr. Norval waa In the hall. Q—Judge Norval of the Supreme rourt? A - Yea air. he waa looking ground and we were afraid of being taught. HIS wife waa down Iheie to a meet. Ing of the ladtea i f aim* Inatltutlon and lie waa waiting for her anti walking up and down the hall and didn’t know but aomebody waa wstrh Ing ti*. tj — Mow many ntghta In all were voir engaged In thla matter you de scribed? A -Koitr ntghta. tj —Tell about the «b»te of thl** A lh> ttrat night tif the day after the I'liuRilatltia vat orgaaiaed. It waa | the four nlahia following that. U I wt*h y<»r w add t*dl the man aer In whteh the ballot* were kept la • he e' retary i nibe. Were they In a vault? A Mo air, they were lu the big rough g - Plied up were they* A Ye* air, on the e«at aide of the room leading to the main hall from th<* ggi («t«rl « ogbe g v\ *» »h«t i. ■ of >• •••at* w# t by the leotatr uf **ate In hla or* dinar» boat****' A Yea air Well, |l * ua t need *• the time of the vnmiI at alt There vaia'l anybody «tae In there I va tpitag the Mtuuat tuuaiittl’ia When the legislature meets they gen erally use that for an Investigating room or to give audience for the com mittees to work In. partita present nights wore all there. y.-Do you know who occupied the room where those ballots were kept. Isn’t It a fact that Mr. Starrlt of the secretary of state's office occupied that room? A —No, I wouldn’t be positive. Ho might have had a desk there to work an hour a day or bo, y.—He was not In there In the duy time? A.—No Hlr, he had an office at an other place. y—The room that 1 was speaking of.«You may state whether or not the same persons were present on uH of these occasions. A.—Yes sir. y.—Tuke Mr. Kdmlsten for instance. Was he present the whole length of time? A.—No, he used to go and open the door and start the work, and when we started he would leave. y.—How long would he Btay there? A.—About an hour or so. y.—Did ho take? part In the murk lug? A.—Yes sir. Q.—Did you have anything to do with the ballot mixes In uny other precinct? A.—The first night we opened the poll books to s«e bow many votes were east, and we found out It didn't do any good and we didn't have the ballots to mark up and we didn't open the poll hooks any more. (j.—Just describe what kind of mark you would make and how? A.—Well, If the ballot was blank entirely we would Just mark op posite the amendment. Q.—Wns there any effort made In the marking of the ballots to make them appear differently as though marked by different hanua? A.—What 1 marked I changed the form of the mark and the other fel lows as much as I took notice of just went right ahead and hail the same cross all the way through. IJ.—How long on the average would you be engaged in this on the four nights you have mentioned? FIXED YORK COUNTY. A.—The first three nights. One night we worked until 2 o'clock. The last night when we fixed up the York county ballots we worked until half past 1 o’clock, and then two of us. I got York county, and two of us stayed until morning. (J.—Can you name any of the coun ties the ballots of which were mark ed In this manner? A.—Yes sir. Q.—Name some of them? A.—Blaine, Banner, Chase, Dodge, Brown, Keya Paha, Dawson, Oosper, Keith, Wayne. Box Butte, McPherson, Scotts Bluff. Cherry. Q.—How about Harlan county? A.—Harlan county. Q.—How about Dundy county? A.—Yes sir. Q.—And Sioux? A.—Yes sir. Q.—And York county? A.—York county was the last. Q.—And Dodge county? A.—That was fixed afterwards. Q.—You did fix Dodge county? A.—The way we fixed that we laid one precinct on unolher and counted them. Q.—Explain that again please? A.—After the legislative committe° took the ballots I got on first as one of the clerks anil it was my place to open the packages of ballots and the envelopes and then I would give the counters the ballots and they would hand them back to me and I would take half of those and lay them on the next precinct and send them back as much as i thought the package would stand. Q—In other words you would count them over several times? A.—Yes sir. Q.—That w'as done during the ses sion of the recount committee? A.—And the legislative committee, yes. ti.—The committee was all present? A.—They didn't know anything of it. Q.—Who did know of it besides you? A.—The man we was counting for. lj—Who was he? OBERKELTER A BALLOT FIXER. A.—I think it was Oberfelter. cj—He was a member of the com mittee? A.—He was a member of the gov ernor’s commission, and after the leg islature started the count the com mission was all employed us clerks helping to count them except Hed lund. Q.—Do you recognize any of those exhibits lying before you on the table? A.—Yes sir. Q - If you were to look at any of ! those could you identify them as the ii.uiois you 111:11 nruKiMi: A.—This p.-< k»«** of ballot* were blanks ttmt hud not keen list'd at th« polls and wo pot them down there and we just marked them for the amend ment end we put them In. q.—Can you explain how they conn to be separate in thla matter? A.-They wera put In different wards. q.— In other words you distributed those uncast nr.llota? A Yea air. They wnf* dtatrlbuted and rnje tel I y the recount people. q — Was there anythin* done by • ay of try In* to alfscl the signature of the judge* on any of tho*e ballot*? A —Ther* *«• In one precinct. q,- What prvelnrt ? * Al the precinct In which M Cool Junction i« In q Could you Identify nny of those If you «oubl im them? A.- Ye* alf. q At the time that you opened the envelop** containing lh* bellols o.t thla amendment In th« several pee 1 in ta In Yurh roonty. or they were opened hy yoi and other*. w*r* there any un> aat ballots in any of the pach •gee* A In the large pa hag* I her a war a big rail of unoaad imitate q Nm signed by nny particular person* A They w*rw signed by nobody they w*rn hi rah q What waa da* with those* A We mat had them up with crows 11 and scattered them in Q.—Was the names of tho Judges purported to be signed or written on r.ny of them? A.—They was In one or two places. BALLOTS IDEVtifirix • - jflf' % »f--. .A (The envalope marked Exhibit “11" wasj opened by the committee and th.i C'HlioCs marked with tho initial letter “F" at the top and are counted by the committee and found to contain 202 ballots ) Q.—Handing you a hunch of ballots taken from the envelope containing the ballots cast for the constitutional amendment of McFadden township I will ask you If you can identify any of the ballots altered by you or those with i you and will ask you If you can Iden tify any of the ballots and ttie names of the Judges written by you on them I or uny of those with you? A.—I identify some of the ballots as ! ballots charged by myself and the. other man that was with me. I also Identify some of the ballots there that never went through the ballot box. tj.—Handing you this ballot exhibit 37 I will ask you to point out nny al terations you discover on them? A.—That ballot was voted no at the top of the page that was not for all the amendments and it was change 1 l»y putting one yes nt the head and one cross opposite the head for the judges and (die cross opposite the yci down below for another amendment. Q.—Was that your usual method? A.—That is the method that was adopted for the ballot that had a no voted In at the head of the ticket. <4,—What was your proceedure In case the ballot was blank? A.—In case the ballot was blank the cross wus put opposite the upper yes. IJ.—Suppose you found a ballot with the no, opposite the proposition for the supreme Judges, what did you do then? A.— W *• won 111 pill H CrOHH OPINIBI10 the yea and a eroaa opposite tlie upper yes. thut Is, voting two yeses for the amendment. I! Then how would you count It? A.—The commission gave tha amendment the benefit of the doubt. I Q.—The two yeses overcame the one j no? I A.—Yes sir. q.—And you were there to create a reasonable doubt for the committee? A.—Yes sir. Q.—In case of a ballot In which there was ji no cross, opposite each of the proposed amendments, what was your procedure In such a case? A.—Make a yes opposite the amend ment and a yes at the end of It. Q.—Handing you exhibit 38 I will ask you whether you recognize that as an altered ballot? A.—Yes sir. It Is. Q.—This ballot Identified as exhibit 1 38 shows a cross after the word no, i after each of the amendments, at the top it also shows a cross after the yes, and it shows a cross after the yes o i the amendment increasing the number of judges, how would a ballot of that kind be counted? A.—For the amendment. Q.—And wn3 that the rule you fol lowed light along? A.—Yes sir, we counted the yea for the amendment for the Judges and the no for all the balance. Q.—Do you remember how many ballots were changed or altered In any | wpy? A.—No sir, I do not, we Just altered them as we got to them, we kept no track of that, we had not time for that. Q.—Cun you make an estimate? A.—Why there was in the 21 coun ties I think there were something like seven thousand. Harlan county had something over a thousand. Q.—Do you remember how many York county had? A.—Twelve hundred. q.—Mr. Simons, when was It that Mr. Edmisten first spoke to you In re lation to those ballots? A.—Why, when Edmisten spoke to me it was about th** beginning of th> session, others spoke to me prior to that. Q.—Who had spoken to you before that? A.—Some of the rest that was help ing count. Q.—What was said? THE SCHEME OUTLINED. A.—They said they were going to have a recount of the judges and thev would find enough ballots to show that they were elected. q. - When did you first talk with Ed misten? A.—-That was prior to the beginning of the legislative session. q.—He told you did he that you would be one of the parties to help d > It? A.— l es sir. y And engaged you to, that Is told you what was to he done? A.—No Blr. ha didn't say we were to •lo any marking, only we would steal the judges In. y -Where were you when this con versation took pls.e? A.—In his office. y Dili you talk over your a (Taira oc operations? A Not uutll the ennnutaaton was appointed. y What was said when you started If anything Dive the universal Ion that waa had aa to what should he done ? A I don't know only to mark them that la all. Q lHd Kdmlsten mark spy? A Ym air y lla set the a sample for you, did he show you what ha wanted done* A Yes sir lls started off showing whars to rha&gs the ballots and whars lo mark an and to mark the yes and that would count I learned the nest day they had passed a resolution by the fiaamlaalou to glee the beaedt of the doubtful ballots to I he amend Biest, two yesea and one no was i ousted fur I he am*adateal at that waa the watt It waa carried ua alt Ike way tkrwugk y Wkal e«mp*aaatk<a or rewar I , were rw to receive * A I waaa't to recatva any egreit . tka rnnetdernttwn of my ewm kstfue« th« tMHh If Tkat wee tka wader staadtwg wav It yuur taae ekuuld be da> kled la you ■ fntroe* A Yea atr among Ike pvrtt-a inter •gted in tfce ballot* Q.—Who gave you the assurance that would be doue? A.—Edmlsten and Blake. Q.—Wag Blake a member of the leg islature? tjf A.—N9 sir, one of the commission. ty—What connection If any did he have with the democratic or populist party? A.—He was treasurer of the State Central committee. Q.—And Edmlsten was chairman? A.—Yes, sir. CJ—How did you know you could help yourself by helping them count the ballots, who told you or where did you get your information from If any body told you? A.—Blake and Edmlsten knew I had a case ready for the supreme court and If we would steal those two Judges In I had two of them favorable to me. HE WAS A REFORMER, Q— At that time what particular party did you affiliate with? A.—1 affiliated with the populists. Q.—Now with reference to those bal lots before from those precincts In York county, .ncFadden precinct, have you examined all those ballots to-day? A.—Mostly. CJ.—Did you find any ballots there that are ballots that were marked by yourself or anyone else for this recount commission ? A.—Yes, sir. Q.—While you were in the vault the first night you were changing the bal lots who did the marking first? A.—Edmlsten got the first county and took it In, and when I came in with the second county they were marking, Edmlsten, and Blake and an other party. Edmlsten got the first package of ballots from the secretary's room. Q.—Where did ha get it? A.—Out of the secretary's room. Q. -How did you get in the Secre tary's room? A.—There was a guard there let us I n IU. Q.—About what time was that? A.—Eight o'clock. 11.—-Did you see anything when ho came in? A.—It was under his coat. Q—How do you know If you couldn't see it? A.—I did see it. Q —Who told you to go to the sec retary's office? A.—Rdmlsten. Q. What for? --- A.—To get the ballots. Q.- And what did he say If anything about what he wanted with the bal lots? A.—We understood what we wanted. Q.—You learned that in a private conversation? A.—Yes, sir. Q.—How did you understand they were to mark two yesses to overcome a "no?” A.—They were doing it and Edmls ten saiu the commission would count those for the amendment. Q.—Did he say that was the way to mark them? A.—Yes, sir. Q.—Did you commence marking oa the package you took in; A.—I started to mark on tne package they had there. Q.—And continued to mark until they got through that package? A.—Yes, sir. Q.—How many were marking alto gether? A.—Seven. Q.—How long did you continue at It that night? A.—Until half past eleven or twelve. Q.—How did you get the ballots out of the package? A.—Untied the string and broke tho seal open. .Q—What did you do with the bal lots after you got through? A.—Wrapped them up in a package again. Q.—And put a seal on them? A.—Yes. sir. Q. -Couldn't anyone tell the seal had been opened? A HANDY MAN. A.—Yes, sir but the man that opened them In the morning was helping tlx them at night. Q.—That man was whom? A.—Blake. Q.—Did you see the commission at work In the morning? A.—Yes, sir; 1 saw them there. Q.—Who was opening the packages? A.—Blake. Q.—After they told you that this marking Imllots had to be Btopped did Mr. Blake or Rdmlsten ever talk with you about what had been done. Did either of them ever talk with you about It? Ever say anything to you about serrecy ? A.—Well, at the Inst election— y.— no, right at this time after you stopped marking ballots? A.— No, they didn't say nothing then, y. hiil you know It waa a crime and there was a penalty attached to It? A —I know there was a law to that effect but I knew it w»s no good, y —llow did you know It was no gotmI ? A-IVr all knew It up there, y How did you find It out, you aro not a lawyer? A.—I am no lawyer, but 1 knew tha way they passed the ullt it wasn t any good. y — Did you get any Information from any source? A Only wnat we talked over there, y— Did you have any assurance from anybody that they would stand by you If you would take the chances? A Nothing only that I wouldn't be Imprisoned tong, y Who told you that? A — Kdmlsteu. THK OOVKH&OH WOt l.D riX Till.NO* y What utd he tell you he would do if you were tried sad convicted* \ lie said If they should catch us and send m up as long as we had tha «• veraof with ua we wouldn't stay m prison long y fk« guvera«r would pardon you? A — V*n, sip. y — Are you poattl*# Kdimstea told you that t A - Vea. sir y - Did It labs tell you that? A We were alt la tha loom while the lath was guin« on y IHd you have nay commuutsAr lion with tha secret at r af state* A N»t until after It waa all oye* with.