The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1896-11-13

| "A
! 10 register white and coiored voters the
| former being placed on the books in one
| third the time that was taken for tho
| latter
| Mr.. Justis wished TO know whether the
| registrar could not have delayed mat
ters as much by taking a. long a time
/ with the whites as he did with the ne
| groes The witness replied that he could
| undoubtedly have done Sc. but that there
were 80 few whites i'm the line that all
of them were sure 10 be registered during
! the day
The defence closely questioned the wit
| ness. but he stuck closely to his text
! throughout He corToboratcd other testi-
! mouv 10 the eject that so far as he
| knew. Mos Jennings had never gotten
! close enough 20 the polls to register Oh
| the 2ith OF October
SYRCLE 4 DICTATOR.
| Mr.. John ". Camp was next examined.
| He dcposed that he was at Smitscr's pre-
| cinct on October 2ith from the time tho
| poll. opened until they were closed. Soon
| after the polls opened colored man made
| application for "a transfer. all Of the
! voters in lire giving away fer him. Syr-
| clc however declined 10 give him
| transfer. came ont OF the booth and
made the applicant go BACK To- the rear
Of the line.
Mr. c,mp was restricted 20 such hours
| OF the da- as Moss jennings was known
10 have been M the polls lie testified
! that the tactics were dilat0ry in the cX-
| trer,e during those hours: All scrfs Of
questions were asked the applicants. both
! los registrar and bis assistants and fifteen
| or twenty minutes were consumed I'm reg
isterins each man. lie gave the follow
ing samples Of the questons'
Where do you I'VE
"Who lives behind you''
"Do Won know a certain man who lives
across the street?" and others cf a like
nature.
Burruss he said a city man. who had
canvaesod the Smithcrs precinct district.
dclayrl matters hy looking up the name
Of each colorcd man who applied IN
little book he had. snd king questions.
Mr. Justis. on crCss-eyamination. tried
hard 10 make Mr. Camp admit that hc
was at Smithcr's precinct in the employ
of the National Democratic party. and
fCr tho purpose Of securing evidence TO
De used in contestns Captain Lamb
seat IN Congress.
The witness Indignantly denied that
he had ary such purpose. and Justice
Vincent promptly sat down upon the at
tempt 10 bring political matters into the
trial.
Mr.. Justis. i'm spite of the continued
admonitions Of Squire Vincent. again and
again tried - drag politics into the case.
and only dcsisted when he ceased 10
question the witness. The cross-evamina-
ton was long and tiros0mc. but made
no change in the material points or Mr.
Camps testimony. The witness said that
representatives OF al parties consumed
certain amount Of time but he did not
.rnf
of delaying the proceedings he thought.
however. that Mr William Mcseley had
done more in that line and Kept IL up
longer than anyone else except Syrcle.
The witness said he did not know Moss
Jennings. and could not swear that Syr-
Gle refused 10 register him. but that
young cOl0red man who said he was going
on twenty-five years cid was sent back
10 go. a note from his mother 10 the
effect that he WAS Of age The man got
the note. said the witness but sIrcle
still refused 10 register him.
Mr.. Boverldge then asked the witness
the following question. stating I'm adj
vance that his purpose I'm propoundins 1t
was 10 show that the witness had Ut
tered an untruth:
Did YOU not say yesterday morning
that but for having been summoned in
this case you would now be making Sl5 a
week collecting evidence TO unseat Cap
tain John Lamb?
CAPTAIN Guigon emphatcally objected
10 the question as most remarkable and
altogether without precedent in legal
proceedings.
Mr. Beveridge and Mr.. Justis strongly
urged their right 10 ask IL. the latter de-
clarinc that il was necessary I'm order
10 show tTc animus OF the witness.
Squire Vincent ruled that any state
ment made hy Mr.. Camp concerning Cap
tain lambs seat had nothing 10 do with
the case. and he added emphatically that
he did not propose 20 allow anything OF
the kind to De dragged in.
CONVINCING TESTIMONY.
Mr.. Camp then left the stand and Mr.
Randolph William Wa called. lie tcs-
thcd that he was at Smitncrs' precinct
on election day from about $3.50 until iuc
polls closed iie said 10 was his first eX-
periencc OF the Kind and hc was amazed
az the tardiness oi the prOccedings-thoy
were diiatory in the extreme. he had
particularly noted many cases where the
proceedings were extremely slow hc
especially recalled tnat OF Tom. Wallace.
who brought note from his lanIl1dy
dated '7lichmond Va certifying as TO
where hc lived. A long time was con.
sumcd iu arguing as 20 whether the date
on tho note d.d not debar the man from
registering in the county. althOuoh sove-
raj people testified that they knew whore
the man lived. which was not more than
two squares from the precinct. There
was also long discussion regarding the
spelling Of his name. the note giving II as
Wallis"
il was then suggested that coav of
the note be made. and Mr.. williams Of
F.raT O.. do fIa work for tho r.alt.fr.-
Mr. Svrcle. however. refused and settled
himself I'm his chair 10 COPY 10. first an
nouncing that be- must have perfect quiet
while doing so Meanwhile the people
who wanted 10 register waited patiently
while Mr.. syrce slowly copied the note.
every now and then getting. Mr.. Monta-
gtia TO deciDhcr words for him and help
him spell them. Fully five minutes. said
the witness. were consumed In doing
this copying. The note was then handed
back to Wallace and his certificate de-
manded. lie claimed that II had been
handed In earlier In the day. A search.
however failed 10 disclose IL, and wal
lace was turned away
The witness declared that It was bis
firm belief that these proceedings were
for the purpose OF delaying registration.
lie went on 70 testify that Wallace had
been asked four distinct times where he
lived. and another man was asked the
same question three times by Mr.. Syr-
Gle.
Another case. said Mr.. Williams. was
that OF n man with q transfer which was
not in legal form or something of the
kind. An appeal was made I'm his case.
and the registrar joyfully acceded to the
request
some one said continued the witness.