The record-union., 1891-03-20


matter ofeXamining witnesses.
Mr. Wentworth seemed to be satisfied
| that there was nothing in the whole
| business" and he was in favor of simply
submitting the re-arranged scraps to the
| Assembly and Senate.
! MIR. Freeman, however, opposed this
| course vigorously. He said the commit
tee should go to the bottom of the matter
MI. wentworth explained that the
joint resolution only instructed the com
mlttee to; secure the scraps, arrange them
so as they would be legible, and ther
| submit them.
Attorney General Hart disputed this
he SAID the resolution had been amended
SO as to make it the duty of the commit.
tee 10 investigate thoroughly. He said
| ne agreed with Mr.. Freeman, that they
should go to the bottom of the matter
| The honor of the Legislature was al
| stake, and, besides, if there had been any
| corruption, the people had a right tC
know it. II there had been no Doodle
| used in the Senatorial fight, it may have
been on some other proposition, and, il
| so, it should all be shown
The committee members, with the ex.
ception OF Wentworth, agreed that Mr.,
Hart was right, and after calling the
| meeting to order they proceeded to bus
mess.
MIR. EsTEE TEsTIFIEs.
NJ. M. Estee, who had been subpenaed
| to attend, entered the room at this junc-
ture and was Immediately placed on the
witness stand.
examination, and began by showing Mr..
Estee the telegram addressed to him by a
man named Zollner, and found in frag-
mentary condition with the other scraps.
do you know anything about this
telegram?" asked Mr. Hart.
Yes, sir" replied the witness, after
looking at it. II received that telegram.
think | had it in my hand Tuesday
morning, but haven't the least idea how
it came to be among those other papers.
must have dropped it during the ex-
citement of finding the other papers. II
has no relation whatever to this busi-
ness.
Being asked to tell all he knew about
the finding of the now celebrated scraps,
MIR. Estee declared vehemently that his
connection with the matter was wholly
accidental. He had no idea that there
had been any improper conduct on the
part of anybody when he went into the
room. "Of course" he continued, "after
l saw what had been found L thought it
very peculiar, and consequently my
friends were sent for"
How did you happen to visit that
room, MIR. Estee ?'' asked Mr.. Hart.
"Well, now that the whole thing is
over-the Senatorial fight-I don't mind
telling all about this. 1t had been whis-
pered about, and told to me, that some
figuring had been going on in that room,
and my suspicious were aroused. I don't
mean to say that Mr.. Dibble or anybody
else was engaged in anything improper,
but when | saw those wrappers, checks S
and bands believed that deal had been
made, and that money had changed
hands.
DIBBLE's STORY.
After Mr.. Estee had finished, Mr..
Freeman suggested that Messrs Dibble
and Marion be sent for, and he also sug-
gested that they be examined separately.
This brought General SaIoman, Mr..
Dlbble's attorney, to his feet. He said he
would infer from Mr.. Freeman's request
that the gentlemen be examined sepa-
rateiy that they were treated by the COM
mlttee as culprlts or persons charged
with crime. He did not understand that
Mr.. Dibble had been accused of doing
anything wrong, and therefore should be
treated with respect.
Mr.. Freeman apologized by saying that
he did not mean the remark in that sense.
He only suggested separate examinations
for the purpose of facilitating the investi-
gation-and besides, there would then be
no misunderstanding.
Mr.. Dibble entered the room during
this talk, and settled the difficulty by
saying that Mr.. Marion was not in the
building, having gone to his hotel i'll,
and therefore the committee would be
gratified.
Mr.. Dibble was then sworn as a wit
ness.
Judge, did you ever see this paper be-
fore?'' asked Mr.. Hart, showing the wit
ness the rearranged yellow papar, bearing
the lead-pencil figures showing the '.city5
vote and the sum in arithmatlc which
produced as result 81 1855.
Yes, sir" replied Mr.. Dibble, 81 have
seen that before, and those figures are in
my handwriting; made them"
When did you write them?"
1.-The other morning, in the private
room Of the State Librarian
DIDN'T KNOW WHY.
He was also shown the second piece
of yellow paper bearing the names of
several legislators, and admitted that
he had also written them. He did not
know, however, what the crosses follow
ing some of the names meant
"Why were those names written there?n
asked Mr.. Hart
Well, don't really Know" was the
reply. Il was discussing several propo-
sltlons with Mr.. Marion, and was scrib-
bling all the time. We talked about our
friends and foes on several measures. He
had roll-call and as he called off certain
names l put them down. But in what
connection did it, do not now know"
Had the calling off of these names
anthing to do with the Senatorial con-
test2''
1T had not. Nothing whatever. I
don't think the Senatorial contest entered
into our conversation at all. Before go
ing into the room / met Mr.. Leake, and
asked him for the use of it. Since read
ir,rr fc tocfi - yHn% T
remember that he asked me If we were
going TO elect Senator. 1 think re-
piled, jocularly, that | would do a little
figuring on it.'
Until that day you had been a sup
porter of Mr.. De Young for Senator had
you not?" asked Mr.. Hart.
"Yes.'
And when Mr.. De Young withdrew
you turned your support to Mr.. Felton?''
Yes. / had met Mr.. De Young the
night before and he told me to withdraw
his name in favor of Felton, The con-
versation l had in the room with Mr..
Marion had nothing to do with Mr.. De
Young's withdrawal. l and my friends
intended to support Mr.. De Young as
long as he was candidate, and Mr. Fell
ton was our second choice. We would
have been for Mr.. FELTON, from the first if
Mr.. De Young had not been in the fight,
THE RoLL-CALL REPUDIATED.
Mr.. Dibble was next shown the cele-
brated Assembly roll-call and its myste-
rious crosses and check marks He de-
clared, after examining it carefully, that
he had never seen it before, to the best of
his knowledge. He was confident that
he had never made the marks opposite
the various names, and had no idea what
they meant. Sometimes he used blue
pencil, he said, but he did not remember
whether OF not he ha3 one with him that
day.
Mr.. Dibble was next shown the paper
which bore the names of ''Sturtevant,u
Murphy" and 'sShanahan.' He said he
thought the names were in his hand