The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-02-21
THE STOLEN SHEET
HOUSE INaUIRING INTO THE FEE
AND SALARY BILL THEFT.
Says He Has POSI-
tive Evidence that George Ray In
duccd George Nestor 10 Steal 1t.

! ing at o'clock in the Announcements
! Office. The first witness called was Myron
| ID. King. now private secretary to Gov
| ernor Matthews, and in 1891 deputy to Mr..
| Matthews as Secretary of State He identi-
| fed the House journal lying open on the
/ table, with the ink-bespattered pages. as
/ the journal OF the House containing the
| proceedings of the session of 1891 and es-
| pecially the fee and salary bill which was
| tempered with He said the bill was sent
| to the printer from the engrossed bill OBJ
| tanned from the State Librarian, who is
| the custodian of these papers and who has
authority under the law to allow the SEC
| rotary of State to use the bills for the
| purpose of saving the copying of them.
| The printers proof, he said, always
| read from the enrolled bill. He said that
| in comparing the engrossed act with the
| enrolled act that there had been a change
| made in the offices of the recorder and the
| treasurer of Shelby county. An annota-
| ton had been made on a slip of paper to
this effect. This writing was identified by
| the private secretary.
| Mason J. Niblacl, Speaker of the House
| during this session, was next put upon the
| stand. He was asked by Encouragement
Ketcham what transpired on or about the
| night of March g. 1891. in reference to the
enrolment of House Bill 275 and what first
! attracted his attention to this bill. His
| story was as follows:
'The fee AMI salary bill had been sent
| to the enrolling room few days before this
| last Saturday night of the session. On this
| night there was night session for the
purpose of passing several bills which were
| the Governor on Saturday they would
| possible not be valid. We waiting
| from the enrolling room, among them be-
| ing this fee and salary bill. Late in the
| evening | was asked by Mr.. Mccullough,
of this county, Mr.. Nolan. of Vanderburg,
and Mr.. Beasley. of Sullivan. about the
| bill, and they said that something was
going wrong. The bin had not been enrolled
| to leave the chair as l was afraid the
| House might adjourn and so asked these
gentlemen to go to the enrolling room and
| find out what the trouble was. They came
| back saying that the clerks had gone and
| of the desks. 1 then called some one to
| the chair giving instructions under no con-
dition to allow the, House to adjourn, and
went to the enrolling room. There was
| some one in there then but cannot satisfy
myself that now remember who it was.
| there. MIR. Newkirk, clerk of the House,
| came in about that time and ! demanded
| to know where that fee and salary bin
the excitement of the moment / did not
/ wait for an answer but determined to
to do it myself We tried the different draw
ers and then Mr.. Mccullough and I broke
myself or Mr.. Mccullough and i did it
4 together. We found a part of the bill in
each, drawer and in forcing open one Of
4 the drawers upset a bottle of ink which
had been inside This accounts for the ink
| stains on the bill. We finally got the bill
| them to work to enroll it. We made ar
/ rangements with Governor Hovey that If
Pill as hm Been By ed on ne
i day. / myself waited in the Speakers room
rone TO Be finished e Il na
| to me by Mr.. Newkirlx and we took 1t TO
/ the room of the President OF the Senate,
| He had a room in the Statehouse and We
4 aroused him and had him sign the Dill Then
Nc eo9 private secretary, and it was re-
| turned to us on Monday with the Governors
| veto. 1t was passed over the veto. was
again signed and was sent to the Secretary
1 of States office l have no recollection of
| seeing the bill since then until five or six
weeks age when the oee Of tbe ses
] rotary of State"
/ IBID you know George Nestor?" asked
Mr. .vd ke ct
"Is the part of the bill in which this
| change occurs in his HANDWRITING
| II do not know"
"Did YOU know him while the session was
| going on?'
MEMORY FAILED ON FACES.
II am not certain that l did. Sometimes
| I think it was Nestor that / saw in the
| enrolling room and sometimes Beheimer.
Sometimes it seems to me that the impress
/ sion in my mind resembles Mr.. Grow.
| There was only one clerk in there as 1
| remember All the rest had gone. We
were all laboring under great excitement
| and I was intent upon getting that bill.
said that the clerks were angry because
| they had not been voted any extra money
and had him at The last hour " en-
age age rem to Mr. Newkirk, feeling angry
50 hard for weeks to devise a fee and
salary bill and then at the very last to have
bill enrolled. MY savage words distressed
Mr.. Newlxirk who was in tears and was up
sTTp to this time had you been advised
of delay in the enrolling of this bill?"
mo; If my recollections are right. / in
worry about the bin that it would be
''As matter OF fact then the bill could
not have n been passed # you had had not
| rolled, just at the last moment"
| ut could not have been passed after that
h other ebers w be bro
the drawers. I say this, on the belief thai
the clerks copyists had deserted him. and
that there was no one there to enroll the
| bill 1t was not that the clerks were not
numerous enough or. not skilled enough. but
what time Of the night was it when
you first heard about the delay in enrolling
the bill?'
! Between 9 and 10 O'clock"
| Mr.. Robinson asked how many different
drawers the several parts of the bill were
j
II think. there were four drawers. We
broke TWO of them open
lis there anything that could refresh
your memory as to who was in the room ~
| asked Mr. Robinson.
| II have repeatedly tried to refresh my
| memory, but ] cannot remember who the
| man in the room when / entered II
| can't believe IL was Crow for / know him
| very we'll but whether 1t was Behairnar or
! Nestor / cannot now tell. Ii seems to me
| the man had reddish mustache''
| BY Mr.. Ketchanl--.'Do YOU know George
| Ray?"
Was he about the Legislature on the
| night In question:"
"Now, which is George? I know several
There was one OF them that was i'm a
| county office that ! had seen previously
| about the Legislature great deal; but
| j do not remember seeing the one you in
quire about at this time"
J. f. MCrLLOUGH'S STORY.
]. e. Mccullough, Representative in that
session from Marion county and one Of the
Democratic leaders of the House was put
upon the stand. He recited that he had
bean in the enrolling rom once hafore the