W
V
THE
UrlLLy 1
Tim dnrlccu page In the polltlril
history of tin slate of Nobr skA In
tlio story of the Infamous recount ileal
which was engineered during the leg
islative session of ISt7 The iitteniit
was made liy a crowd innile up of iilnto
ollleluls ami disreputable iiolltlclami to
no change the ballots cuHt by the peo
ple that two additional Judges of till
supremo court could ho counted In
Thi details of the plan were arranged
at the limine of Silas A llolromh on
A Htieel In ho city of Lincoln Tlio
purpose wart to placo on the supremo
lioiteh William Neville who la now
the fusion candidate Tor congress In
the Sixth district and 1 S Klrlcat
rlrk the relative anil law partner of
llnversnr Holcoinh
According to sworn evidence Ilia
In too well fortllled and corroborated
to ho questioned the plan to deliber
ately change the ImllolH waa carerully
arranged Menihera of the legislature
tniiHt liave been taken Into every a
erot of the scheme us the most high
handed proceedlugH took placo In Urn
legislative halla to furtlioi the ends
of tho conspirators
RECORD IS OlKN
The record In thla matter can be In
spected by everybody The houae and
senate JourtialH or 1807 will allow the
date of tho Introduction of the llrat
recount bill thoy will bIidw how this
wan railroaded through In order that
tho conaplrntorn might get at their
world they will allow how the seats
of tho republican membera from Doug
Iiih county were atolen In order to In
crease the majority of the party that
was behind tho scheme they will ahow
how tho court h wore dolled and how
tho work of changing the Imllota wim
begun In Rlar chamber sessions part
of tho time at tho dead of night ami
part of the time In daylight but behind
locked doors in tho oftleo of a state of
ficial
When the recount of J ho ballots wni
first publicly proposed a delegation
composed of C M Lnmbortson ieorgo
W Post and others called upon tho
Kovornor and urged that the ballots
bo publicly counted and that none but
tho most reputable citizens of the state
bo selected to do the work They
pledged tho moral support of all good
cltlzons In case tho business was thus
transacted
Rut Sllns A Holcomb paid no at
tention to their suggestions lie had
other plans and the proof Is now plain
that tho men who were to perform tho
work wero selected long before the
recount law was passed
HAD CHARACTER OK THIS MEN
It la 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
u case ho wanted reversed by the su
premo court and who had openly
threatened to kill one of tho judges If
tho right kind of a decision was not
rendered One was a roustabout who
had a sou 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 ipiestionahle 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 tho 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 passed a recount
hill which contained no penalty fur
fraudulent counting All this is down
In black and white in tlio public rec
ords and Is an open page In the minds
of tlio people of Nebraska
When the public Indignation became
so strong that the conspirators wore
compelled to do the balance of the
work in the light of day the plan to
count in tho judges failed and an at
tempt was made to destroy the proof
of the fraud The secretary of stale
the Ink upon whose certificate and oath
of ollleo wns hardly dry made way
with the original tally sheets and has
never since dared to make them public
All this was done to protect Silas A
Holcoinh and his law partner and bin
political partner and the chairman of
Ills state committee
Of the men who participated in th
recount fraud all received future re
wards except one and he turned states
evidence on the others Ho first con
fessed to his attorney who was a man
high up in tho counsels of the populist
party and then to a populist news
paper man who gave the story to tho
public Chairman Edinisten of the
stato committee at once confessed his
own guilt by making an attempt to
kidnap the informer and hustle him
out of the country before he could tes
tify to a gra ml jury
THE 1NK0RMER CORROBORATED
The man Simons who gave away the
story was not a reputable man and j
he was known to be absolutely without i
character when Holcomb appointed
him to handle the peoples ballots In 1
der ordinary circumstances his testi
mony would be viewed with much sus
picion Rut ho has told a straight
story both to tlio newspapers and on
tho witness stand and step by step
Ills story has been corroborated by oth
ers until it must be accepted as the
truth Every opportunity has been
given for tho conspirators to deny or
refute tho story and nono of them hn
had the hardihood to appear
Last July when tho legislative inves
tigating committee was in session E
L Simons and Silas A Holcomb were
both called as witnesses to testify as
to the counting of tho ballots Holcomb
denied the authority of tho committee
i
A Plan Concocted by Silas A Holcomb and
His Political Lieutenants to Steal Two
Seats on the Supreme Bench
and hurriedly look the train for
llroken How Minions appeared and re
told under oath the story which
bail already been inailo public The
appearance of the ballots and the evi
dence of a dozen witnesses from Un
coil and from i oik corrohoiated the
testimony of the Informer and not a
one of IIdIcouiIih cohorts dared to
come forward to deny the story The
IcFtluiouy of the man Simons lit which
bo gave tho details of tho fraud and
told of llolcomha connection with it
Is given In part below and will bear
tho close reading of thoughtful people
SIMONS TESTIMONY
IM ward L Slinor being
duly
sworn testified as follows
liy Mr Pound
Mr Simons stato your residence
and occupation
A -I live In Lincoln Lancaster coun
ty and a brick layer by occupation
J I low long have you lived there
A- Fifteen yeiis
Vou lived here the winter of ISU7
when the legislature was In session V
A Yes sir
J Were you employed In any ca
pacity by either of the recount com
mission about the uallots Wist for the
constitutional amendment in the elec
tion of ISMi
A I was employed as a guard to
watch the ballots In the vault of the
secretary of slates ollleo at tho time
Hint the legislature took the ballots
trom the recount commission
You were guard also in tho sec
ond recount
A I was guard over tho ballots
during the Intermediate time of the
two sessions
J Prior to the time tho second
committee was appointed did yon have
anything to do with the ballots or any
of them
A Not In the olllclal capacity
Did you In any other
J I did
Did you have any special Inter
est In tlio matter of the result of that
recount t
A--1 did
0- -State what that Was
A- I had bad n law suit with a
party for Kit acres of land and the
rent of It for ll years 200 acres of
laud and the rent of It for Lt years
IJ Where was that suit pending at
that time
A At this time It bad been settled
by compromise but I was tlguiing on
having the heirs Interest taken to the
supreme court
Q Did you think- that gave yon any
Interest in the result of this recount
A I think It did or would have
In what way
A l thought If l would steal the
Judges In they would help the hoy oiu
ARRANGED KOU A STEAL
Did you approach any one in
aulhorily or ollleo with reforoneo to
this particularly about the time these
ballots were to be recounted
A I spoke with the parties manipu
lating the recount
Who did you speak to
A Mr lMinisten
lj 5lve his Initials
A James II lMinisten he was stato
oil Inspector and chairman of the Stato
Central Committee
When did you speak about this
A Itefore the legislature convened
J What did you tell him
A 1 told him how 1 was situated
and 1 wanted to help steal those judges
in
Q How many times did you speak
to him about that
A After the legislature convened
I was there every day
Did he have an ollleo In the cap
ltol building
A Yes air
IJ Statu where it wa ssltuatod
A It was situated where Ciouorul
Parrys of lice Is now
CJ lu pursuance with your talk with
him was there anything done and if
so what was it and when
A There was a bill passed by the
legislature for a recount commission
and the commission was appointed by
the governor and when tuey was ap
pointed that organized tno noU day
and Hie next night we
J Who wero we
A -That Is Edinisten Rlako
myself and several other parties
Q That was the night after
commission was appointed ami
and
the
O I-
ganlzed
A Night after the organization
Q Where did you meet
A In Ednilstens private office
0 Who procured you to meet
there
A We knew where to go
Q Wlio told you where to go
A It was mutually understood
among all of us
Q What preparation did you make
I there
EDMISTEN SWIPES THE BALLOTS
A Why we had a talk and Edinis
ten went into tho secretary of states
oflico and got the first bunch of ballots
Q The secretary of states ollleo is
on the same floor
A Yes sir he occupied tho corner
opposite Edniistens
Where wero these ballots at that
time
A in tho secretary of states ollleo
Q In what manner
A They were lu packages as re
ceived by the secretary
0 Was thero a guard over them
A Yes sir
Q Who was it
A Kelsey
Q Whon Edmisten got tho ballots
what did he do with them
A Opened the envelopes nud got
them out
Q What was done with them In tho
room
A We took them In tho vault and
opancd the envelopes and marked up
all the blanks excepting three or four
lll rnrli precinct and chntigntl those that
were oppojcl to the amendment
Q State who was doing the mark
ing
A Ulake IMnilstcn myself and nu
mber parly
J What preparations for secrecy
ir any were made What did yon do
in the way of preventing Intrusion
A -Why we had the outside door
that hails from the hallway shut up
and the door that lends between the
private ollleo and the big room closed
and we had the vault door pretty near
shut and we put paper over the In
windows so you couldnt see any light
In I here
Was there a light In the outer
rooms Was the gas lighted
A -No sir
0 -Where did you get I he material
you used the Ink and so forth
A -We used Eilinlstens Ink after
that I here was about four bottles got
of black Ink
t -After the ballols wero marked as
you described what was dono vuh
them
A - Wrapped up and packed to the
secretarys olllce
J Would you go back and for
wards several limes during the evening
or only once
A- As soon as we got one hunch
llulshed we would go and gel some
more
J Describe how the ballots were
marked
A The blanks were marked for the
auiemlineiit and those voted against
amendment we would put a crura for
the amendment ut the top ami one
below
- -That would leave a mark for the
amendment and still another for the
Supreme Judge creating the Impression
hat the voter had voted for those two
and against the others
A No the commission had vessed
a resoletlon to give the benefit of all
tho doubtful votes for tho amendment
and wo would iiiake two crosses for the
one as against the other
J So the object wiis to change them
so as to create the Impression in fa
vor of tho amendment
A Yes sir
J How long were you engaged in
this work
A Wo worked until about niid
nlLht
J You say tho commission passed
a resolution to give the benefit of the
doubt In favor of the amendment how
do yon know Wero you present
A I wasnt present 1 was Informed
by the commission
Q Ry the commission themselves
A Yes sir
What number informed you
A Rlake
Ho was one of tho gentlemen
present altering the bailout
A Yes sir
Q Jeorge W Rlake
A Yes sir
KIUST NIC 1 ITS WORK
Q Did you have any counties
marked the first night
A The tlrst two counties wero
Rhino and Runner lMinisten carried
one and I carried the other
Q When the ballots were marked
how wero they returned
A They were put back in the en
velope and the package wrapped up
and taken back to the secrearys
olllce
J Restored to their former ap
pearance as near as possible
A Yes sir
Q In taking the ballots to and
from the secretarys olllce describe
the manner in which you did it
A The first two nights I had a
large overcoat that 1 threw over my
shoulders and I had the package un
der that
Q Did you go through the main
hall
A Yes sir
J Was there any secret way in
the way of knocking so the guard
would know who it was
A Yes sir we had a private rap
J Describe what that was
A Three single raps
J When you gave that rap he op
ened the door
A Yes sir
Q Did you make any change after
the tlrst night
A Yes sir
1 Describe that - -
A We were getting along to the
big packages 1 couldnt carry ISem
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 Edniistens otliee
which had a place leading to the up
stairs Ily opening a trap door we
could get through into the private
olllce
J Did you carry tlioin through tho
basement after the llrst night
A--Yes sir
AKRAID OK 0ETT1NC CAUCHT
Q Describe to the committee the
reasons that led you to do that Was
It in fear of any Interruption
A Well thero was A person was
liable to be caught with tho package
in Ills possesshi
Q Was there any sign of Inter
ruptions
A The second night we were there
Mr Norval was In the hall
Q Judge Norval of the Supremo
court
A Yes sir he was looking around
nud we wero afraid of being caught
His wife was down thero to a meet
ing of tlio ladles of some institution
and lie was waiting for her and
walking up and down the hall and
didnt know but somebody was watch
ing us
Q How many nights in all were
you engaged In this matter you de
scribed
A Konr nights
0 Tell about tlio date of this
A The llrst night of tlio day nflcr
the commission was organized It was
tho four nights following that
Q I wish you wild tell the man
ner in which the ballots were kept in
the secretarys olllce Were they in
a vault
A No sir they were in the big
room
Q Piled up wero they
A Yes sir on tho east side of the
room leading to thti main hall from
the secretarys otliee
Was that one of the rooms used
by tho secretary of stato in his or
dinary business
A Yes sir Well It wasnt used
at the tlmo of the recount nt all
There wasnt anybody else in there
excepting the recount commission
Whon the legislature meets they gen
erally use that for an Invcstignung
room or to give audience for tho com
mittees to work In
the same parties present
each of the four nights that you have
mentioned
A- Yes they were all there
J Do you know who occupied the
loom where those ballots wero kept
Isnt It a fact that Mr Starrlt of the
secretary of states olllcu occupied
that room
A No I wouldnt bo positive Ho
might have had a desk there to work
an hour a day or so
Ilo was not In thero In tho day
time
A No sir he had an ollleo at tin
other place
tlTho room that I was speaking
of You may state whether or not the
same persons wero present on all of
these occasions
A Yes sir
IJ Take Mr lMinisten for Instance
Was ho present tho whole length of
time
A No he used to go and open tho
door and start the work ami when
wo started he would leave
I -How long would he stay there
A About an hour or so
J Did hu take part In tho mark
ing
A Yes sir
0 Did you have anything to do
with the ballot boxes in any other
precinct
A Tho first night we opened the
poll books to see how many votes
were cast and wo found out It didnt
do any good anil we didnt have tho
ballots to mark up and we didnt open
the poll books any more
J Just describe what kind of mark
you would make and how
A--Well if the ballot was blank
entirely wo would just mark op
posite tho amendment
J Was there any effort made In
Die marking of the ballots to make
them appear differently as though
marked by different hands
A What I marked 1 changed tho
form of the mark and the other fel
lows as much as 1 took notice of Just
went right ahead and had tlio samu
cross all the way through
J How long on the average would
you ho engaged in tills on tlio four
nights you have mentioned
K1XHD YORK COUNTY
A Tho llrst three nights One
night wo worked until 2 oclock Tho
last night when wo fixed up tlio York
county ballots wo worked until half
past 1 oclock and then two of us
I got York county and two of us
stayed until morning
Can you nanie any of the aoun
tles the ballots of which were mark
ed lu this manner
A Yes sir
Q Name some of them
A Blaine Banner Chase Dodge
Brown Keya Paha Dawson tiosper
Keith Wayne Rox Butte McPhorson
Scotts Bluff Cherry
J How about Harlan county
A Harlan county
J How about Dundy county
A Yes sir
Q And Sioux
A Yos sir
0 And York county
A York county was the last
Q And Dodge county
A That was fixed afterwards
J You did fix Dodge county
A The way we fixed that we laid
one precinct on another and counted
them
Q Explain that again please
A After the legislative committee
took the ballots I got on lirst as one
of the clerks and it was my place to
open the packages of ballots and the
envelopes and then 1 would give the
counters the ballots and they would
hand them back to me and l would
lake half of those and lay them on
the next precinct and send them back
sis milch as 1 thought the package
would stand
Q In other words you would count
them over several times
A Yes sir
Q That was done during tlio ses
sion of the recount committee
A And Hie legislative committee
yes
Q The committee was all present
A They didnt know anything of
it
CJ Who did know of it besides
you
A The man we was counting for
Q Who was he
ORERKELTER A BALLOT KIXER
A I think it was Oborfelter
Q He was a member of the com
mittee
A He wns a member of tho gov
ernors commission and after the leg
islature started the count the com
mission was all employed as clerks
helping to count them except
lllllll
- Do you recognize any of thosj
exhibits lying before you on tho table
A Yes bir
Q If you were to look at any of
those could you identify them as th
ballots you nad marked
A This pukago of ballots were
blanks that hud not been used at th
polls and we got them down there and
we just marked them for the amend
ment and we put them in
Q Can you explain how they como
to bo separate in tills matter
A They were put In different
wards
J In other words you distributed
those iiueast ballots
A Yes sir They were distributed
and rejected l y the recount people
Q Was there anything dono by
way of trying to affect tho signature
of the judges on any of those ballots
A Thero was In one precinct
J What precinct
A At tho precinct in which McCooi
Junction Is in
Q Could you identify any of those
if you could fee them
A Yes sir
Q At tho time that you opened the
envelopes containing tho ballots on
this amendment in the several pre
cincts in York county or they weie
opened by you and others were there
any uncast ballots in any of the pack
ages
A In the large packago there was
a big roll of unused ballots
Q Not signed by any particular
pet son
A They wero signed by nobody
they wero blink
Q What was dono with those
A Wo marked them up with crosses
and scattered thorn lu
Q Was tho nnmes of tho Judges
purported to bo signed or written on
any of them
A They wns In one or two idaccs
BALLOTS 1DENTIK1ED
Tho cnvalopo marked Exhibit 11
was opened by the committee and tin
Imllota marked with tho initial lelti
K at tlio top and are counted by tho
committee and found to contain 202
ballots
J Handing you a bunch of ballots
taken from tho envelope containing
tho ballots cast for tho constitutional
amendment of McKadilen township I
will ask you If you can Identify any of
tlio ballots alteted by you or those with
you and will ask you If yon ran Iden
tify any of the ballols and tho names
of tho Judges written liy you on them
or any of those with yon
A I identify some of tho ballots as
ballots charged by myself and the
other man that was with me I also
Identify some of tlio ballots there that
never went through the ballot box
J Handing yon this ballot exhibit
37 1 will ask you to point out nny al
terations you discover on them
A That ballot was voted no at the
top of tho page that was not for all
the anieiulinents and it was change 1
by putting one yes at the head and
ono cross opposite the head for the
Judges and one cross opposite tlio yes
down below for another amendment
J Was that your usual method
A That Is the method that was
ntloptod for tho ballot that hail a no
voted in at tho head of tho ticket
J What was your procecditro In
case tho ballot was blank
A In case tho ballot was blank
the cross was put opposlto the upper
yes
Q Suppose you found n ballot with
tlio no opposite the proposition for tin
supremo judges what did you do
then
A Wo would put a cross opposite
tlio yes and a cross opposite tho upper
yes that Is voting two yeses for tho
amendment
J Then how would you count lt
A Tho commission gavo th j
amendment the benefit of tho doubt
J Tho two yeses overcame the one
no
A Yes sir
Q And you wero there to create a
reasonable doubt for the committee
A Yes sir
Q In case of a ballot in which
thero was a io cross opposite each of
tlio proposed amendments what was
your procedure In such a case
A Make a yes opposlto the amend
ment and a yes at tho end of it
Q Handing you exhibit 38 I will
ask you whether you recognize that us
an altered ballot
A Yes sir it is
Q This ballot identified ns exhibit
38 shows n cross after the word no
after each of tho amendments at the
top It also shows a cross after the yes
and it shows a cross after the yes oa
the amendment Increasing the number
of Judges how would a ballot of that
kind be conn led
A Kor tli9 amendment
Q And waa that the rule you fol
lowed right along
A Yes sir wo counted the yes for
tho amendment for the judges and the
no for all the balance
Q Do you remember how many
ballots wero changed or altered in any
wey
A No sir I do not we just altered
them iis wo got to them we kept no
track of that we had not time for that
J Can you make an estimate
A Why there was in tho 21 coun
ties I think there wore something like
seven thousand Harlan county had
something over a thousand
I Do you remember how mnny
York county had
A Twelve hundred
Q Mr Simons when was it that
Mr lMinisten first spoke to you -In re
lation to those ballots
A Why when Edmisten spoke to
mo it was about the beginning of tlio
session others spoke to mo prior to
that
J Who had spoken to you before
that
A Somo of the rest that was help
ing count
Q What was said
THE SCHEME OlTLIXKD
A They said they wore going to
have a recount of the judges and they
would find enough ballots to show that
they were elected
Q When did you fiist talk with Ed
misten
A That was prior to the beginning
of the legislative Eesslon
Q Ho told you did ho that you
would be one of the parties to help da
it
A Yes sir
J And engaged you to that is told
you what wns to be done
A No sir lie didnt say we wore to
do any marking only wo would steal
tlio judges hi
Q Where were you when this con
versation took place
A In his oflico
Q Did you talk over your affairs o
operations
A Not until tho commission was
appointed
Q What was said when you started
if anything Oivo the conversation
that was had as to what should be
done
A I dont know only to mark them
that is all
Q Did Edmisten mark any
A Yes sir
Q -Ho set tlio example for you did
he show you what he wanted done
A Yes sir Ho started off showing
where to change the ballots and whero
to mark no and to jark tho yes and
that would count I learned tho next
day they had passed n resolution by
tho commission to glvo tho benefit of
tho doubtful ballots to tho amend
ment two yeses and one no was
counted for the amendment so that
was tho way it was carried on nil tho
way through
Q What compensation or rewarl
wero you to receive
A I wasnt to receive any except
the consideration of my caso before the
courts
Q That wns tho understanding was
it your caso should be decided in your
favor
A Yes sir among the parties inter
ested in the ballols
Q Who gavo you tho assurauco
that would bo done
A Edmisten and Rlake
q Vas Rlako n member of tho leg
islature
A No sir ono of tho commission
q what connection If any did ho
have with tho democratic or populist
parly
VHp was treasurer of the btato
Central committee
And Edinisten wns chairman
A Yes sir
J How dirt you know you could
help yourself by helping them count
the ballots who told yoti or whero did
you get your Information from If any
body tod you
A Blake and Eilnilston know t had
a case ready for tlio supremo com t
and if we would steal those two Judges
in 1 had two of them favorable to me
HE WAS A REKORMER
0 At that time what partUular
party did you atllllato with
A I alllllated with the populists
0 Now with reference to thosu bal
lots before from those precincts In
York county icKadden precinct havo
you examined all those ballots to dmy
A Mostly
0 Did you find nny ballots thoro
that are ballots that were marked ky
yourself or anyone else for this recount
commission
A Yes sir
J While you were in tlio vault fho
llrst night you wero changing tlio bill
lots who did tlio marking llrst
A Edinisten got tho llrst county
and look lt in nnd when 1 came lu
with tho second county they wero
marking Edmisten and Blake and an
other party Edmisten got tke tlrst
package of ballots from the secretarys
room
J Where did ho get It
A Out of tlio secretarys room
J How did you get in tho Beero
tarys room
A There was a guurd there lot tia
In
Q About what time was that
A Eight oclock
Did you see anything when ho
camo In
A It was under his coat
Q How do you know If you
couldnt see It
A I did seo it
Q -Who told you to go to the sec
retarys olllce
A Edmisten
Q What for
A To get the ballots
Q And what did he say if anything
about what ho wanted with the bal
lots
A Wo understood what we wanted
Q You learned that in a prlvato
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 Edmis
ten salt tho commission would count
those for the amendment
Q Did he say that was tho way to
mark them
A Yes sir
Q Did you commence marking on
the package you took in
A I started to mark on tno packago
thoy had there
J 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 packago
again
Q And put a seal on them
A Yes sir
Q Couldnt anyone tell the seal
had been opened
A HANDY MAN
A Yes sir but the man that opened
them in the morning was helping ns
them at night
Q That man was whom
A Blake
Q Did you see tho commission at
work in tlio morning
A Yes sir I saw them there
J Who was opening tho packages
A Rlake
Q After thoy told you that this
marking ballots had to bo stopped did
Mr Rlako or Edmisten ever talk with
you about what had been dono Did
either of thom ever talk with you about
it Ever say anything to you about
secrecy
A Well at tho last election
Q No right nt this tnno after you
stopped marking ballots
A No they didnt say autlilng then
0 Did you know It was a erlmo
nnd there was a penalty attached to it
A I know there was a Inw to that
effect but I knew it wns no good
0 How did you know it was no
good
A We all knew it up there
Q How did you find It out you aro
not a lawyer
A I am no lawyer but I knew tho
way they passed tho bill it wasnt any
good
Did you get nny information
from any source
A Only what wo talked over there
Q Did you have any assuranco
from anybody that thoy would stand
by you If you would take the chances
A Nothing only that 1 wouldnt ho
Imprisoned long
0 Who told you that
A lMinisten
THE 10VEHN0R WOULD FIX
THINCS
Q What mil he tell you ho would
do if you were tried and convicted
A He said if they should catch 113
and send us up as long as we hnd tho
governor with us wo wouldnt stay in
prison long
Q Tho governor would pardon you
A Yes sir
Are you positive Edinisten told
yon that
A Yes sir
Q Did Rlako tell you that
ArVVe WPro n11 tl10 roo whlld
the talk was going on
Q Did you have any communica
tion with tho secretary of state
ANot until after it was all over
Hilt
ts