The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-02-23
NESTOR ON THE STAND
FALLS BACK ON LACK OF MEMORY
TO AVOID QUESTIONS.
Cannot Remember Why He Changed
the Fec Bill from the Right
Amount to a Wrong Amount.


the witness yesterday before the legislative
committee which is investigating the SUBJ
ject. Nestor is small iruit farmer in
Boonville where he formerly taught
school He is tall broad-shouldered
man, with dorid face and sandy
mustache. He complained of not feeling well
yesterday and said he had arrived the
night before, and on account of this indis-
position had retired at the Spencer House
as soon as he arrived. He did not put in
an appearance before the committee until
the middle of the afternoon. He was sworn
by Mr.. Robinson who, with Mr.. Cardwill
Mr.. Hanna and Mr.. Willis were present
He was put through course of questions.
first, as to whose handwriting the several
sections of the bill were in He identified
Sections &c to a. inclusive, as being in his
handwriting. Section SO is the one that
caused all the trouble He was asked If
he knew Joe Hart and answered that he
did, that Hart was under Charles Z. Craw-
ley, who was assistant clerk of the House
at that session. He said he would not
know Harris handwriting. He told what
he knew about Bill 275 reaching the en-
rolling ROOM He thought Beheimer, chief
of the force, had brought it there and had
distributed it in parts to the several copy
lists.
your handwriting occurs three times,
how did that come about?" asked the At
torney-general.
THAT was because when we had finished
one part, we had to hand it over TO the
proving clerks, and we were given another
to transcribe.''
when did you do the writing on this
bilI?"
'tAs well as remember it was about the
latter part of February, or the first of
March,"
What time of day was it?''
'We usually began at about o'clock in
the morning and sometimes worked up to
The witness said he was sick on the
Friday and Saturday of the last week of
the session and that he had not worked
when the breaking into the tables occurred
ne had a e lows so and uen et1er ,nas me
a restaurant Returning to his room on
Mississippi street, he had stopped in the
enrolling room TO meet the clerks who
made it practice to assemble there when
off duty. It was about 5 o'clock when he
said was Mr.. Crow. The witness said he
thought, though his memory was not clear
upon this that he had been able to work
on Thursday and that part of the fee and
salary bill had been enrolled by him on or
Where did you do this work." asked the
Attorney-general.
I'm Room "a on the SECOND o hoor the
there?
II am almost certain I did. copied
other bills the third floor some two
weeks previous. worked on the tax law
there, because 1t a long bill about
which it was necessary to be careful, and
quiet was needed. The only persons who
ard and the Representative who was the
author of the bill"
We're there many people asking about
None but these two spoke to me about
it, outside of the enrolling force
fee and snf salary a Pile ANXIOUS ao'a 'Hs
Nobody ever spoke to me about it;
of asking permission from Newkirk to take
work on the fee and salary law to the
room on the third floor 49,,
at Section 3d. Did you get that right?
Il don't know whether did not
MEMORY FAILED HIM.
This proved to be the witnesses answer
every time the Encouragement would lay
line of questions which led up to the
crucial testing the witnesses knowledge
of the error in the section. When the
Acknowledgement found the lead fall
ure he. would try another tack, and great
deal of the ground was necessarily travelled
over and over again. The witness said he did
remember going to the third floor to copy
the tax law, about which. the Attorney
general suggested. there was inquiry,
and did not remember leaving the enrolling
which there was more than usual anx-
iety on the part of many influential per-
sons who had access to the enrolling room.
The witness said he was not positive that
he did not leave the enrolling room to
work on this bill. Calling the witnesses at
tention again to Section 80, at the bottom
of the page, the Attorney general said:
Look at the bottom of the page. See
if in the first instance you had not copied
the bill 'twenty-three dollars'?'
The witness. inspecting the page II
can't tell; it looks like my own handwrit-
,'see if the two rs in the word dollar
II can't make the letters out
AS you wrote t. IL 4 vas originally
You see. there has been word scratched
out and the word and written over it.
There are indications of two rs, are there
..There might have BEEN
Now state to the committee If you did
II can't say. After we had written the
sections given to us we handed them over
to the provers, who sometimes made cor
But you know that the salary in the en-
crossed bill for the ne sheriff Of Shelby
and you here wrote twenty-three hundred
Il can't tell you about that
Look at the handwriting"
THE only way. that can explain that is
that ! copied the section verbatim from
whatever was before me-"
Now" continued , the AttoIne S.,s
assuming tnat the eDgrOSSeQ Dill reads
twenty-three hundred dollars, and you were
copying from this, as you must have done,
If things going right will you ex-
plain to the committee how you came to
scratch out the right salary and insert the
wrong one?
II believe that / copied verbatim. j don't
know how this state of things occurred"
The witness said he thought that when
he wrote this section he copying with
out assistance. He could not tell why. he
said. that the copy should be right and
he should write the enrolled bill wrong.
Tell the committee when you first heard
of this charge that the fee and salary bin
had been copied wrong
I'm 1898, when came here to make the
race for assistant clerk of the House. Then
j heard that Ncwkirk telling 1t against
me that ] had made bad biunder in copy
ing the fee and salary law. / was angry
that he should make such charge against
ME two years after the work had been
| done. I went to Dan Shields about it, and
Dan said that he did not believe Newkrk
had said such thing. But / did not get
| the place. / did not see the charge made
in the newspapers.
WHY HE REMAINED SILENT.
The witness further said that the reason
he did not investigate serious charge
against him. that the charge had been
made in a general way, and he did not
l Epoxx- that apy one Secfiou had ,saftSad the