The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-05-10
NEW HAVEN MORNING JOURNAL AND COURIER
INSURANCE CASES.
ALTERING OF BALLOTS.
Witness Testides He Was Directed to Change De-
 fective Ones.

New York, May sc. F. Darlington, former ennpioye of the International policyholders' committee. testified on
 the witness stand in police court to- day that George R, scrugham, man. ager for the committee, instructed him and other employees to alter defective ballots sent to them in connection with the election of directors of the New York Life Insurance company. He de- clared, also, that Scrugham had not forwarded to the New York Life tel lers, so-called administration" ballots which fell into the hands of the policy holders committee. "Schugham told me that when any of the administra- ton ballots fell into my hands there was no need of sending them to the company" testified Darlington, land he added jocularly that I might send
 them up stairs to him, as he had some chloroform of them" Carrington's tes- timony was given aftor he had been promised by Assistant District Attor- ney Smyth that anything he testified to would not be used against him.
 The testimony of Darlington was given in police court when he, Scrug- ham and Charles Stirrup were ar raigned on charge of conspiracy in connection with the New York Life election. Stirrup also was an employe of the international policyholders' com mittee The three were arrested sew
 eral day ago and have been at liberty on bail. When they were arraigned to- day, Darlington waived examination, but the other men who were represent ed by counsel, declared themselves in readiness to proceed. Darlington toolq
 the stand for the prosecution after an assistant district attorney and a stem ographer from the district attorneys office had testified to several conversa- tions between Scrugham and Stirrup and a representative of the district at-
 torney. His testimony was given at very great length and covered in de-
 tail the time from his first employment
 by the committee down to the day when the ballots were deposited with the tellers. He said that when the first ballots began to come in they were ex-
 amined by clipping off a very small
 strip of the end of the envelope, afteu
 which the envelopes were carefully re- sealed. If defective ballots were found
 they were fixed up" He declared that this was done by Scrugham's order When there was plenty of time the defective ballots and envelopes
 were returned to the policy holders with request that he make the cor rection. But when only two or three days remained, he declared, the correc- tions were made by the office staff. He said that acting upon instructions from
 Scrugham he told the clerks to make
 as close a copy of the policyholdersi handwriting as possible. Later, when,
 the time was growing short, he was told to instruct the girls not to take any great care in this respect, He
 said the reason the altered and cor rect ballots were kept separate was so that if correct envelopes and ballots
 came in from policyholders they could be substituted for the altered ones.
 Darlington said that when he went to
 the polls as a policyholders' committee
 watcher, he had instructions from Ser
 ugham to challenge all administration
 ballots and to let all committee ballots pass.
 At the conclusion of Carington's
 direct testimony the hearing was Ad- | journed until next Tuesday.