Litchfield enquirer., 1869-03-25
Bribery mtnesath scongressionaf District.

Committee on Elections, at Falls Village on the 10th l6th and 17th of Oct. 1867, an,
 reported in the Hartford Cowunt:-k
 "On the opening of the session abou
 three o'clock this afternoon, (Oct 15. '67 {. Mir. Treat stated to the committee that T |. the investigation at Bridgeport it appeare,
 from witnesses that a man named Hnrl burt, of Lime Rock, would be a, im,,nr , tant witness in the case, and his name ba, been added to. the subpoena. Itnow an peared that he had left the town. and hi
 whereabouts are not known. He was teacher, and boarded in the family of " IL Barnunl. He left week ago, Saturday
 Daniel Presher, another important witness nad also left his home and could not nov oe found. IL. Deming, whose affidavit wa. attached to the original memorial, Jeff home just before the Bridgeport hearing
 and he was now again absent. A man named Dickinson, also an important wit ness, left home on Saturday morning, as is believed, Tn order to avoid the serving of a process upon him, which was subsequently left at his place of residence. It appeared that when 1t became known that Mir. Haynes, the assistant messenger, was in the vicinity to summon witnesses, the par ties wanted left to keep out of his way.''
 Eli Ensign, the book-keeper for Rich- ardson, Barnum & Co.,, was examined at length. He was questioned particularly in reference to two cheeks, one for $500 and ann one for g, 900, drawn by the firm and entered on the check book as drawn by ourselves" He, Ensign, drew the money on those cheeks on election day, but did not fill out the blanks in the check book corresponding to the cheeks drawn until nar la f1If uhx he did not make the entries until after the checks were used. Sometimes checks were drawn m North Canaan, and returned to the office by mail. No doubt he had many times filled the blanks in the check book the next day after tbe checks were drawn. He had no recollection of particular in- stances Being pressed by Mir. Treat to answer directly the question whether there was any book showing what the two checks m question were used for, the witness said there was not. He drew the money on the checks at the Iron Bank, but could not tell what use lIe made of it. He might have used some of 1t for his own benefit A ticket in the cash drawer showed an item of 20, which he supposed referred to money used on that day, and with other tickets balanced the cash account. He might have used some portion of the amount on election day, and he might not. If any of it had been used for his own private purposes 1t ought to appear on some book, but it does not Don't know how much | might have used for myself. Balance the cash-book every Saturday night m pencil, and often have tickets for various sums in drawers which are counted as cash. The book is balanced only once year. After the charges are made from the tickets, they are torn up. The atten- tlOn of the witness was called to the fact that on the ticket shown was the date April 10th. and he was asked if that was written at the same time the figures were. He said that he wrote the date Mis morn- iRg- He wrote that date he supposed be- cause he thought that it was about Mat lime that such amount was necessary to balance the cash. No one was with him when he wrote the date. Didn't know when the figures were put on the ticket Supposed 1t was about the time of the date, April 10th It was finally discovered that the figures on the ticket were originally $132. 2O, and the first figure had been changed to 7. This change was made by him his 1aOTRing. On being pressed to give req son for making the change the witness he's itated, finally said he didn't know any req son, and after Q little, said it might refer to $lOO sent back to MT. Barnum by MT. Brewster. Afterwards he said he supposed he changed it because he concluded he must have used more than $132 20 on elec- ton day. w. H. Barnum has personal account with Richardson, Barnum & Go. This S232- % does not appear in that ac- count. The witness was sharply question ed by Mir. Dawes concerning his reasons for entering the date on the ticket to-day and for altering the amount. but could give no satisfactory replies. Mir. Dawes also asked why, after stating at Bridgeport that he could tell by the books what had been done with the money drawn on the checks in question, and had been request cd by the committee to have the books be- fore the committee at their next meeting, he had failed to do so, and was now as much in the dark as ever? The witness only answered, T don't know or made lame excuses. He said in answer to sub sequent questions:-I think paid Henry Wetherell some small snm; it might have been $50 or S60. I don't know what tho money was used for, but think it was for the election. He testified that on Satur- day night previous to the election the sum of $fO was paid to each of twenty-five to thirty men in the employ of the firm as present. He afterward said that such amount was paid to fifteen men at one foundry, fifteen at another, making thirty
 five to forty men in all who were thus feed on tho eve of the election"
 "T The investigation was continued yes- terday. In the morning the committee visited Cornwall Bridge to take the testi
 mony of John McMurtry, who was too. ill to attend the investigation at this place. The substance of his testimony was that Rufus Owen came to see him anl told him w. H. Barnum wanted to see him. He went to see Mir B. who asked him how much money it would take to carry Corn wall. He answered that it would depend upon who had it. Barnum then offered to fill out n. check for any amount he would name, He declined to take the cheek; used no money, and did not know of any being used. ' Mir. McMurtry is well known as an active Republican; has been repre- sentative in the Legislature, and a select man."
 .'John W. Cummings said that James Loudon, a Republican, on Saturday ol Monday, offered him $lO0 to vote the Re
 publican ticket. Went to the polls at o'clock in the morning. Didn't vote til
 afternoon.n Fred. A. Walton asked him
 what was the matter. Told him wanted sIme money. Walton told him if he would