The record-union., 1893-02-21

lected on all suits then pending, if they
had been collected from suits brought
against the State Board of Harbor Com
mlssioners, be turned over to him before
he made his returns for the fiscal year
ending June 30, 1892. He read the letter,
and the same was admitted in evidence.
The witness read a reply from General
hart, which stated that he contended that
the money when paid should be paid into
the general fund of the State, but that
others contended it should be paid to the
State Board of Harbor Commissioners,
and that he proposed to have the matter
settled by the courts before he paid it
over. The letter was admitted in evil
dence.
The witness stated that he had made a
demand for the money arising from the
cases in question on February s, 1893, but
that 1t was not paid upon demand. A
copy OF the demand was produced, read
and admitted in evidence. It was based
upon the statement received from. the
law firm of Langhorne & Miller.
The witness further stated that he had
no knowledge of the money being in the
hands Of the Attorney General prior to
February lst OF the present year, when
his attention was called to the matter by
a bill introduced for attorney fees in the
cases in question. Immediately after
ward he made the demand for the
amount.
On ncross-examinatio the witness stated
that he knew the Attorney General had
been authorized to compromise the cases,
but had received no intelligence that a
compromise had been effected.
Mr.. Colgan said the demand for a state
ment in the letter written May 81, 1892,
did not refer particularly to the cases
against the State Harbor Commissioners,
but that they were included in the aggre-
gate Of cases that We're at that time pend
ing. He further stated that the certified
check of the Attorney-Generalh had been
turned over to the clerk of Judge Levy's
court in San Francisco, and that the same
had been turned over to the State Board
of Harbor Commissioners.
Continuing, Mr.. Colgan said that other
money arising from cases prosecuted by
General Hart. to the amount of several
thousand dollars, had been paid into the
State Treasury, among which were sums
collected in the sugar refinery case and
the case of the People against Curran,
and that those cases were pending when
the letter of May 81, 1892, was written.
A LITTLE TILT.
Mr.. Devlin called Attorney General
Hart as the next witness, to which pro-
ceeding General Barnes promptly OBJ
jected.
''We do not propose" said the General,
''to allow General Hart to be placed upon
the stand until the prosecution has put n
all their evidence. 1t is our right, and we
demand that his testimony be reserved
until the proper time, when he will tes-
tify and make any explanation required.
We object to his being placed upon the
stand and questioned by counsel en-
ployed for the express purpose of roast
ing him"
''The committee only wish" explained
Chairman Mathews, ''to have General
Hart explain away matters as they come
up, in accordance with the manner of in
vestigation agreed upon, of taking up and
exhausting a single subject at time"
Eve contend" replied General Barnes,
that the Attorney General be confronted
by all the facts obtainable in the case be-
fore he is subjected to any examination
whatever"
Every WE'LL" returned Mr.. Mathews:
81 give notice that this investigation will
be pushed to a conclusion as fast as possi-
BILE, and tha. the evidence on the first
proposition is not yet all in"
II wish to explain" interjected Mr..
Devlin, "that am not here for the pur-
pose of roasting General Hart or any one
else, but merely to assist the committee
in their work of Investigation"
Nothing PERSONAL observed General
Barnes.
81 understand" assented Mr.. Devlin.
"If 1 was in your place 1 would roast
him, if could" continued General
Barnes, ''but we do not deem it expedi-
ent to place him on the stand until the
line ofinquiry is completed"
1t was lilo o'clock and the committee
took recess of forty-five minutes.
ANOTHER LETTER.
After recess General Barnes read a letter
from General Hart to Controller Colgan.
dated February Z, 1898, in which the
former stated that he could not comply
with the demand made by the latter to
turn over the money from the Harbor
Commissioner cases, owing to the fact
that the matter as to which fund the
money properly belonged was then be-
fore the courts, but would be decided, he
thought, in a short time.
Controller Colgan testified to having
received the reply the same day it was
written.
NJ. r. Higgins, Private Secretary to the
Governor, was the next witness. He
produced petition signed by every State
officer except the Attorney General,
which was to have been presented to Gem
eral Hart.
The petition disclaimed against the
system of State officers being obliged to
call in private attorneys to attend to
State business, there being no funds to
pay their fees, and requested that a Dep
uty Attorney General be appointed for
the Capitol, of good education and good
common sense with a thorough knowl-
edge of law.
Mr.. Higgins said he did not present the
petition to General Hart, but had con-
versation with him and told him he was
in possession of the same. General Hart
did not refuse the request asked in the
petition but talked as ii he would refuse
it.
Mr. Devlin offered the document as
evidence, but General Barnes desired to
more fully investigate the petition which
he termed ''round robin"
Being cross-examined witness said that
there was tacit understanding among
the State officials that Deputy Attorney