The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-02-17
STORY OF PACKERS
GIVE EVIDENCE IN OWN BEHALF
 IN CHICAGO.
J. Ogden Armour, President of Armour 4 O., Among Those Who Tes-
 ttfy--AlIeged Alteration
 'fa4 of Efrurrs

company, took the stand late in the l day but his evidence was not import
 ant. Hc simply declared that the books of Armour & Co. were given to the | Government officials for inspection on 1 hts order and said that he acted In pursuance of leeai advice when he di- l rected that the Government be allowed l to inspect them. The other witnesses I were Arthur Meeker. General Superin-
 tendent of the company. and T. J. Con department of the business. Their tes- l timony was much ir the line of that | given by Mir. Armour
 District Attorney Morrison tried to | prove by MT. Meeker that he had all 1 tered some figures which had been giv- ena by Armour Go to the Gavern- ment agents. but did not succeed in establishing the fact. He deciarad that
 He would do 1t at a later time how ever. N Arthur Meeker. general spperin- | tendent of Armour and Company re- l sumed his testimony in the packers case today. He declared that Special Agent Burand had given his men in- structions to show Mir Meekef the ta- ble of statistics before they were taken From the Armour office.
 As far as know that was fully carried out" said the witness. He also declared that Commissioner Garfield | was published he would permit the packers to iok over it and see wheth- CT anything 1t contained was injurious to the packers. He assured us of his good fpith," said the witness, and explained that the Martin resolution called for re- suits and that was all that he would publish.'
 Mir Meeker was then excused. his cross-examination being postponed in | order to allow Charles W. Armour, President of the Armour Packing l Company and Vice President of Ar | mour and Company to take the stand. | The story of the investigation as de- | tailed by Mir Armour was similar to | that of MT. Meeker and other witness es,
 The examination Vf MT Armour was brief and Mir. Meeker was recalled for cross examination The first question | asked by District Attorney Morrison [ was, whether or not the witness had l. caused any changes to be made in the assn showa repisa pl SSy the had not caused any alternations
 The attorney engaged in squabble oyer the answers of the witness and | Attorney Miller who represents Ar- rour and Company. accused the dis trict attorney of "lecturing'' the witt E ness The district attorney denied It but the court finally interrupted them both by saying;
 This witness is intelligent He does [ not need iHstructions 70 make a re- sponsive answer. tio on with the case"
 District Attorney Morrison then ask cd MT Meeker:
 Was there anything in your records which, in your opinion, might intend to criminate you?' |
 T cannot answer that. I am law yer"
 Does 1t take a lawyer to tell wheth, E CT man had committed a crime?"
 T object to that" said Attorney Mil | Ter.
 T only ask it because the side re. marks of the witness" said the Dis- trict Attorney. a. |
 Mir. Morris then asked If MT. Mceker knew, If the Swift interests had any arbitrary costs for beef products and the question called forth a storm of objections from the attorneys of the packers. After a long legal wrangie, Il the court decided that the witness might answer, and he replied, T don't know
 The District Attorney then produced a table of beef figures, showing an erasure under the heading of hide moneys He attempted to show by the witness that the witness had work ed combination of figures so that the Government agents could not take thel figures from the officers The District Attorney said he wished to show 1t ns a sample of the "cutting out. method of the packers MT. Meeker said he could not remember having marked out the figures.
 District Attorney Morrison then de- e1ared that he will attempt to show that after the Government agents had com- piled the figures under the hide money" the table was submitted to theI of7n nf ha A TRD4Nsp they refused to allow them to leave the office, but did not object to their inspec- t1on by the officers of the Government. He contended that the figures were linked out and never reached Com missioner Garfield at Washington.
 MT Meeker was excused and Thomas J, Connor. who is in charge of the pro visions and of the Armour interests, was called. He told of his trip to Washington to see Commissioner Gar field concerning the questions that had been asked by the Government agents regarding. the profits and losses of AT; him that the figures need not be given out.
 Mir. Conneres was followed on the stand by o. J. ogden Armour President of Armour & Co
 MT. Corners was followed on the person who directed that the books of Armour & Co. should be turned over to the Government for inspection. Att this point District Attorney Morrison took up the cross examination.
 How long did those men examine those books?'
 Not over thirty minutes"
 The witness said that the books ! produced showed the profits and losses of Armour and Company for stated periods. He had consulted his attorney about producing them before handing them over to the government officials. He had been advised to produce them and did SO
 You acted then upon the advice you recelved2"
 .'Yes l did"
 Thfs concluded the examination of Armour and he left the stand
 MT. Meeker was recalled to the stand late in the day for renewed cross ex- I { animation, but 1t developed nothing of importance. Court then adjourned until l Monday ,
 SwIndIe From the Start. 1 I
 Peoria. H.. Feb. I6.--John Wilton, re- ceiver of the Peoples Savings Bank, [ the private bank run by the late Rev. Simmons and Rey. Kelley. tonight made the first official statements of the banks condition. placing the Liabilities c