National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-05-06

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probably be called upon to testify, and the
COMMITTEES would want to know what disposf
| ton was made of those notes, and, doubtless,
| indeed, the whole of the matter. was anxious
to have him tell. He said he had used those
notes for his private purposes. asked him II
any member of the District government had in
any way received those notes, or any portion OF
them. He said they had not. I then told him
that It was already in testimony before the
committee, as supposed he knew that he had
negotiated these notes in Chicago with Mr.
Holmes, and ] endeayored TO get from
him the amount Of motley that
he had received from Mr.. Holmes
for the notes, but failed in doing SO,
except partially. He said he had two negotia-
tons with Mr.. Holmes. He negotiated with
him, in the first place, two notes, think OF
$40, 600 each, or a note of sec, 600, but forget
which; the amount was $40, 900, 1 think: that
Tor those notes he received SIS, 900 in cash.
then questioned him very slosely as TO the
amount he had received for the residue of the
notes, and got from him this: that he had
made trade with Mr.. Fumes fof the balance
Of TIE hotas, In which hg fsceiTed some Chicago
real estate, team of Mr.. Holmes-team IN
cluded horses, carriage and harness, and some
amount in money. could not get from him o
statement of what that amount was. asked
him whether this property that he got from
|
/ asked him If he knew it was mortgaged when
he took it. He said he did. / asked him to
whom it had been conveyed. He said the title
was in his wife. l asked him whether the
property was mortgaged to its full value or
not. He said at that time he thought he
could make something out OF 1t, but the
crisis came on; that 81 200 interest had
now accrued on the mortgage which he
had not paid, and he was doubtful whether he
would realize anything on the property or not.
asked him whether Mr.. Chittenden had re-
ceived or whether he had promised to give him
any of these notes or any portion Of them. He
assured me most positively that he had not. /
told him that it was evident to my mind that
the impression produced on the mind of the
committee by Mr.. Chittenden's testimony was
that he and Mr.. Chittenden had divided these
notes. He said it was not so; that Mr.. Chit
tenden had not received any portion of the
cash nor the notes, and that he had not prom
ised to pay him any portion. then asked him
what disposition he had made of the cash. He
did not seem disposed to talk about that mat
ter. 1t seemed to be q tender point with him.
I pressed it upon him in every conceivable way.
I asked him whether any member Of the Board
of Public Works, to his knowledge, had re-
ceived any portion of 1t. He said they had not;
that no person connected with the board and
no person in this city had received any portion
of it. / told him / did not see any objection to
his stating to me who had received it. He
said he could not tell me; that he had used it
for his private purposes. I asked him whether
he had expended it for his private purposes, or
whether he had given 1t to any parties to whom
be had previously promised any of it. He
said a portion Of it he had given to
parties to whom he had made
previous promises. asked him
who they were. He would not tell. He re-
peated that 1t was no person in this city. l
pressed him upon that point, and the only
name l succeeded in getting out of him was the
name of this man Brown, who has been re-
ferred to. this William Colvln Brown. He said
he had given him portion Of It. l asked him
how he came to give Mr.. Brown any portion
of the money. He said he had made previ-
Gus promise that, if he succeeded in getting
these notes, and realized on them, he would
pay him certain amount of money. pressed
him to ascertain from him why that was done.
All that ! got out of him was that he had
promised Mr.. Brown that money; and 1 in
ferred from the general tenor of his converse
ton that 1t was not for Browns own private
use, but was for some one else, through Mr..
Brown. tried to get out from him who it was
for, but could not succeed in doing so. i
told him in the commencement of the inter
view that he had placed me in a very embaT-
RAISING position that we had been endeavor-
ing to secure his attendance; that he had in
formation of our endeavoring to get him in
New York; that was very anxious to have
him testify, and saw no objection to his testify
ing. He was undetermined as to whether he
would testify or not. He said he would con-
slider the matter, and If he concluded to testify
he would come voluntarily before the commit
tee and would do so.
This is in substance the details OF the con-
Yersation, so far as remember.
By the Chairman: Q. Did he not ask you to
communicate with any one here as to his pres
ence; to send anybody to him? A. He told me
this; had been informed by Mr.. Moore of his
connection with Mr.. Kirkland, and 1 was anx-
ious to know whether he would say that Mr..
Moore had received any portion of this money.
asked him and put questions to him with
that view He told me that he (Moore) had
not; that he had declined accepting any of it.;
that he had promised to give him a portion of
either the notes or the proceeds of the notes, l
forget which; that he had offered 1t to him
and that he had declined to accept 1t. l asked
him what object he had in going to Mr.. Moore,
and he seemed very reluctant to talk about
Mr.. Moore. l finally put the question to him
whether It was owing to his knowledge of the
relation that existed between Mr.. Moore and
Mr.. Shepherd, he knowing that Moore was a
member of the firm Of Shepherd & Co., and
inferred more from his manner than from what
he said that that was the reason why he had
gone to Mr.. Moore; that he had known Mr..
Moore intimately before that; made his ac-
quaintance here some years ago, believe. He
told me that he had been obliged to keep very
close here; that he did not want his presence
known, and he would be very glad to see Mr.
Moore, and would be glad if would send him
to him. saw Mr.. Moore, gave him the num-
Der of the room, and told him to 90 and see
him.
Q. When was this; do you remember the
dayl A. 1t was on the same day.
Q. II was before We took our ride around
through the city? A. Yes, sir.
Q. Did he say to you whether or not he had
relied upon Mr.. Moore to help him about the
contract A. inferred from what he said that
his reason for going to Mr.. Moore was to secure
Mr.. Moore's influence with Mr.. Shepherd, if
possible.
Q. And that he had been in communication
with Mr.. Moore before the contract was awarded
A. Oh, he had known Mr. Moore intimately for
some years.
Q. Did he say anything about having used
Mr.. Moore in any way before the contract was
awarded A. He said that he had frequent in
terviews with Mr.. Moore, and that his hopes
were that Mr.. Moore would speak TO Mr.. Shep-
herd about it.
Q. He did not say that he had any under
standing with MIR. Moore as to division of the
money! A. Yes, sir; asked him whether he
had promised to give Mr.. Moore any portion of
these notes, or the proceeds Of them, and he
said he had.
O. But did not in fact do sol A. No, sir; he
said he offered them to Mr.. Moore, and he de-
clined to take them.
Q. Did he tell you the portion. A. had
then ascertained from Mr.. Moore his connec-
ton with Mr.. Kirkland, which was very much
surprised to learn. He had concealed II from
Mr.. Shepherd; that is, he had not informed Mr..
Shepherd anything of it.
Q. When did Mr.. Moore first tell YOU about
this matterl A. Only within few days pre-
vious to that.
By Mr.. Stewart: Q. How did that come up?
A. 1t came up in this way: 1 had already ex-
planned TO the committee before you came in,
Mr.. Stewart, that this man was here under an
assumed name, and was in considerable doubt
whether he was here or not, and that was
making inquiries to ascertain the description of
the man, so that would know him If l saw
him. Having ascertained that he had been to
Mr.. Shepherds store on the avenue frequently
to see Mr.. Moore, and had conversations with
Mr.. Moore in the Office, and that he knew him,
l went to Mr.. Moore TO get description of the
man, and he gave me pretty definite descrip-
ton. Mr.. Moore either at that time or after
ward told me all he knew about this thing.
By Mr.. Wilson: Q. How did you know that
he had had frequent communications with Mr..
Moorei A. Moore told me that he used to
bother the life out of him, and that he had
n