National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-04-20

LIE Ma kk&<N ILL xtx1I
q the persons WHO composed thss fingf 4.
have never. believed myself With reference o z
understood to exist. That there have nsei
parties associated In various wsys. for their
own purposes never ertsrtainsd q doubA and
do mob now; butt do not believe there 4
any ring. y ~ 81
Give what they sad or DID, A.Weli, STR, am
telling you what my opinion b, from such evi-
dsnces ssIhsse had in my Possession. Itii
very dimcaK to give names. 80 IA
O.. Give the names Of any whom you sup
pose 10 be connected with that -rag, OF with
these combinations. A. Welt, sir, refer &c
the public rumors; and It has turned out
some facts about them, more than ! supposed
was the ease-thAt the contractors met for the
purpose Of making MISUNDERSTANDING them
selves, and then 70 proceed With the comhina-
ton TO cempelor influence or obtain contracts
In their own behalf, driving other people out
"a. You dodge smg question. sfYoa have
stated that you were under the Impression thai
Mr.. Huntington and Mr.. Page were IN some
sort of combinationby which they had influence
with other parties. A.. That u what theJ
claimed TO have. '.r-s7et .g 49,
30: Give the names Of other parties. "A. Id
not know them. ~ :, ---, -s
your tnPression. A. I should :hink-tske Mt
Huntington as Q specimen. should thini
that Mr.. Huntington was introduced to Mr.
Huntington. He was the cashier Of the Ffrsl
National Bank-a man who was not only Z
shrewd and an able man, but was man at tht
head Of jobbing In this city; and, any part,
coming here
Q. That does not ansver the question. Al
prefer not to speak Of Mr.. Huntington, becsuss
he Il dead.
o. You have named Mr.. Huntington, and
said you had reason or the impression wa
created on your mind, that Mr.. Huntington and
Mr.. Page were here combining with othel
parties. Now, was there any impression giyer
to you as to who those parties werei A. No
sir; neither Of them gave me any names; but
on the contrary, they talked to me IN way as
though they did intend to give me names, u
they had them.
o. Did You form any idea In your own mind
as to who they werel A. No, sir. no distinct
idea.
Tho Chairman. think the committee are In
accord, and in thorough accord, with reference
to the question prepouaded by Mr.. Wilson
The first charge made by these memorialistt
is that there was conspiracy In this city fol
procuring contracts, and engaging. In othel
operations. Now, II this witness can state the
rumor or otherwise, the committee desires tc
know-whether It came nom Mr.. Page, Mr.
Jones, or anybody else-they desire 20 know, sc
far as he has any knowledge. he Is con
tractor, and has watched these contracts from
the beginning. We want to know the names
Of these conspirstors, or these men, who have
controlled this Board of Public Works.
Mr.. Mattingly. That we have no objection
to, but earnestly desire that the witness may
hao lad 60 inf, he
have of that character.
By the Chairman: Q. Now, just give the
namesi A. told you two or three times that
no names were given, and don't assume
By Mr.. Bass: Q. You were asked by Mr.
Wilson what Mr.. Page told you the names
were. Answer that question. A. stated dis
tinctly that Mr.. Page cautiously and pur-
posely avoided telling me.
Q. He did not give you the namesi A. No
sir. =
By Mr. Wilson: Q. / was trying to get from
you the names Mr.. Page gave as being the par
ties connected with this ring. A. Mr.. Page
was too sharp q negotiator to give names, foi
he was negotiating for himself These people
are very cautious about giving names. Nine
tenths Of them have not got any to give, is the
reason why.
Q. Is that your knowledge, or conjec.urei
A. It is my knowledge. My experience among
them has been that they attempt to hlmbue
you by trying to make you believe that they
have some great influence, when they do moi
possess any Of all. "
Q. Have you any knowledge as to why II was
Mr.. Page could net get contractsi A. No, SIR;
cannot say why 1t was. He told me he was
unable to get Q contract. He kept putting the
question off until the arrangement had made
for their disposition had passed, and conse-
quently had no object In pursuing the thing
further. 1 do not think Mr.. Page got any con-
tract.
By Mr.. Msttingly: Q. Do you know whether
the Board of Public Works, or any member OF
the Board of Public Works, has, in giving out
any contracts, been Influenced or controlled
by anybody, either corruptly or incorruptly-
in any manner A. No, sir; do not believe
they have been controlled by anybody.
BY Mr.. Harrington: Q. They have generally
been pretty hard to manage, have they notf
A. Well, yes.
Q. Was right in understanding you to use
the term curbstone brokeri A. have used
that term, sir; do not Know what you under
stood.
Q. Are you able now to refere 70 any Of these
curbstone brokers, or did You include that
shyster, I did not apply them TO lawyers neces-
sarily. meant to state hangers-on, whether
they were originally lawyers and broken down,
or otherwise, that are hanging about the streets
and hotels. A man cannot 90 and take q square
drink unless he has half dozen at his elbow.
Wherever you 90 you meet them, and they
have all got influence; they all expect some
thing; they sometimes get 1t. sometimes give
them drink and that Is about ALL;
By Mr.. Wilson: Q. More likely to be at your
elbowwhen you took square drink than at
any other timei A. found them rather thicker
at that time than at any other. You find them
everywhere. do not mean lawyers, neces-
sarily. mean the class Of men here without
any visible means Of support, who are endeavor-
ing to get something out Of somebody for some
thing that they do not possess and never can
obtain.
By Mr.. Christy: Q. You spoke of note to
which you were asked BY b. W. smith, A.
Yes, SIR. .g-
Q. Do you remember the date Of that appli-
cationi A. do not remember the date, but II
1t is important can give you the date within
two days.
OFT is only important for this reason: the
Impressions upon my mind that that had re
latlon 70 those arrangements already testified
because when this other SIS, 900 matter came
out I compared the thing and found Il was
another arrangement You are entirely mis-
taken; 1t is entirely distinct, and can bring
you dates to show that 1t Is. was disputed
when found that he got SIS 900 In one way
and then turned around and expected 4,0OC
for another, for what supposed he had moi
the influence or power TO obtain. 60 told
Mr.. Smith, that would not give him g cent
and that he had better abandon that kind o.
speculation. speak Of that class Of men. He
is clever gentleman when he stands by him
self
Q. Then this did not relate TO the arrange
ment between Jones as trustee? A. No, sir
It was afterwsrd, and II was entirely distinci
matter, and Smith gave his note that morning
Is he told me, for n, 900 for services that b,
was to render to keep him In his interest AMI
right side up in connection with his contract
and he said that inasmuch as he was paying m,
large amount for saving and treating lumber
that it was no more than Just that should pa
my pro rdta share. asked him about how
much, and he told me about 81 900, and I told
him would not pay o thousand cents to hin
or anybody else. denounced the whole sys
tenn with some severity, and 90 did to thi
man Quinby. There 10 one thing see on m,
note here. The question was asked me whethe
or not the price at which / sold this lumbe
was the market price, or was above or below
the market price. see BY reference 10 the re
port that said Il was below tho market price
or rather below. 1now wish to state distinctl,
what came under my own observation.
The Chairman. Well would not 60 into de
tan ABOUT that.
The Witness. It ia wrong impression tina
you got; Il Is below, sir.