The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1889-02-20
Telling What He Knows About Gaining Posses.
sion of the Alleged Parnell Letters and
the Amount lie Paid for the Same.
The French Political Crisis Apparently
as Far from Settlement as Ever.
Premier Tisza Is Willing to Resign in Order to
Stop the Agitation at Pesth, but the Aus
trian Emperor Will Not Consent.
PARNELL'S LETTERS.
Important Testimony of Business Manage
Macdonald and Mr.. Houston.

Macdonald and Mr.. Houston.
LONDON, Feb. 19.-The courtroom was
crowded to-day when the Parnell commits
sion resumed its sitting. Messrs. Henry
Labouchere, John Morley, Rt. Hon. George
Shaw-Lefevre and other prominent persons
were present. Mr.. Macdonald, manager of
the Times, was the first witness. He was
cross-examined by counsel fer the Parnell-
ties. He declined to say whether he re-
garded the letters of the 9th of January
and the 18th of May as the only important
ones among the first FIVE which Mr.. Hous-
ton, secretary of the Irish Loyal and Patri-
otto Union, handed to him.
Presiding Justice Hannen sharply re-
buked the witness for his refusal.
Mr.. Macdonald, in reply to further ques-
tions, said the letters had to be taken as
whole, and that as a whole they were COM
promising.
The witness said he had forgotten
whether, when he submitted the Egan let
ters to the expert, he also submitted other
specimens of Egan's writing. He could not
be positive whether he then had
actual specimens of Egan's writing He
forgot what material he gave the expert to
enable him to ascertain whether the letters
were genuine. He was convinced that the
Egan and Parnell letters were genuine be-
fore the first article on "Parnellism and
Crime" was published by the Times. He
did not think that the body of the letter of
Jan. was in the writing of Mr.. Campbell,
| Ar. ParnelPs 8 secretary. He had not noticed
| any similarity between that and the Egan
letters. The witness paid Houston $3.50 for
| the Parnell letter, on the 10th of June, and
fnrL Lfrnrn Us LOTT f<l HbA fnl
ments made to Houston amounted to g, $50.
| The payments were made by Mr.. Walters
| check drawn in favor of Mr.. Soames, the
| Times solicitor. Houston did not bring the
| did not ask about them, assuming
| that they had been destroyed. He
| particularly avoided asking from
what source the letters were obtained, be-
| cause Houston said he was bound to secrecy
which he asked the witness to respect.
| The witness first knew that Piggott, a for
mer editor of the Irishman newspaper,
! supplied them at about the time the publi-
| cation Of the article on "ParnelliSm and
| Crime" was begun. He did not know that
| the letters had been shown TO the Marquis
| of Harrington, who, he asserted, had moth
ing to do, directly or indirectly, with theig
| publication. Houston showed the witneSst
| as tending to confirm the genuineness of
| the writing, a letter written by Mr.. Parnell
| to PiggOtt, which was not submitted to the
| experts. because 1T was private and conf
l Il.
statement that knives and firearms were
kept in the league. Office in London was
| based upon information supplied
| to the writer of the article,
dd Mhiea ndt he,v the statement was made
article. and he was not bound to tell if he
did know. The editor of the Times was re-
| sponsible for statements made In the paper,
and, therefore, the counsel was not en-
titled to demand, by force, the names of
| contributors
At this point in the proceedings Mr.. Par
nell, warmly enveloped in long cloak,
| though the weather was mild, entered the
courtroom and took seat at the solicitors
table.
Mr.. Asquith, of counsel for Parnell,
| urged that he was entitled to demand the
name of the author of the article because
he was bound to test the truth of such a
| grave statement.
Sir Charles Russell supported Mr.
Asqulth's argument that the question was
| relevant.
The court ruled that Mr.. Asquith was en-
titled to investigate this matter in order to
ascertain the foundation of the statement.
The witness said he could not name the
writer without. making inquiries. The
"Parnellism and Crime" series of articles
persons contributed. Mr. Soames was mis-
| informed when he stated that Mr.. Flanni-
gan wrote the series. If Mr.. Asquith's
question had been put within six months
|
ness said he might have been enabled to
| name the writer. 1t was doubtful whether
he could now, and as Mr.. Asquith had men
toned the date of the article as June 13
statement was based upon information sup
Piled to the writer. He never inquired
from what source the information was
obtained. The article accusing Mr.. Par
Hhi.h nell Of supplying Byrne wit with funds with
which Mr.. Russell had admitted was
authentic. The witness could not name
the writer of the article off hand. No per-
sons were specifically employed to write
about ''Parnellism and Crime" The arti-
cles were written in the ordinary course of
business. He could not mention a few of
the writer's. He considered t&e request to
| do so unreasonable.
Mr.. Asquith-Will you find out?
Presiding Justice Hannen-The witness
says he cannot tell you; don't know that
he is bound to inquire.
sr Mr.. 6haqr1ra 6AhsqIith pressed pressed the question
witness was bound to inquire.
Judge smith, one of the commission,
asked Sir Charles Russell to quote his au-
thOrity. Sir Charles contended that it was
every DAY practice to require witness to
Attorney general Webster said he could
not accede to the witness going out of court
to obtain information that was not within
his own knowledge.
Mr. Asquith asked the witness to obtain
the names CT the writer's of the articles in
the Times
Mr.. Macdonald appealed to the bench for
directions whether he was compelled to
answer.
Attorney general Webster objected gen.
orally to the question
Presiding Justice Hannen ruled that
counsel was not entitled to ask the witness
to make inquiries. but light question him
as to anything within his knowledge i'm con-
nectiOn with specific facts.
Mr.. Macdonald finally said that Mr..
Flanagan wrote the articles that appeared
on March and March 10, 1887. He had for
gotten who wrote the others.
Mr.. Parnelrs alleged letter to Piggott
was then produced
Presiding Justice Hannen asked whether
1T was admitted that the letter was genu-
ine:. and Sir Charles Russell replied, "Oh,
no."
Attorney general Webster then called
Mr. Inglis. the writing expert, to the
stand, whereupon there was a sharp en-
counter, Sir Charles Russell contending
that justice demanded that the source OF
the letters should be revealed before he
was called upon to cross-examine experts.
Presiding Judge Hannen thought that
inquiry should be made as to the source OF
the letters
Mr.. Houston, secretary of the LOYAL and
Patriotic League. was then sworn. He testi-
| fed that he first knew pippoft in the an