The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-06-27
HOLMES TESTIFIES
MOTION TO DISMISS THE CASE IS
 OVERRULED.
Peckham VIII He Summoned as Witt ness-There Is a Probability
 That He WilI He Charged
 With Conspiracy,

I | Washington, June 26.--At the begin-
 ming of today's sitting of the Com
 mercial Court in the "cotton leak case against former Associate Statis- | tician Holmes, Judge Stanford an
 nounced his decision overrulihg tho
 motion made by Holiness counsel that
 the court direct the jury to bring in
 verdict of acquittal on the ground
 that there is no law covering the off, | fense charged. Judge Stafford based
 his decision on the ground that the | evidence tends to support the allega- l tions of the indictment and that the
 indictment Is in accordance with law. | Attorney Worthington then briefly
 outlined the case for the defense. say.
 ing. principally that 1t would be l shown that the testimony given by l witness Van Riper, the chief reliance of the government, had been "a tissue
 of lies," because MT Holmes had never
 entered into the conspiracy. Further
 more. 1t would be shown that even if
 he had given the information he would
 not have violated any law because he l had not given out any real informa- l tion, but only an opinion. N A number of Washington business | men were called and questioned as to
 the personal and business standing of l Holmes. Some of them said they had
 known him for twenty-five or thirty years, and all declared his reputation | to be good.
 Charles W. Steers, a notary public, | testified that he had known Holiness l acknowledgment of deed conveying | to Van Riper his interest in the Idaho mine
 Holmes was then called and inter- | rogated by MT. Worshington as to the | facts relative to the transactions lead | ing to Holiness discharge from the | position of associate statistician ana
 his subsequent arrest.
 He was first questioned concerning
 his relations with Cotton Broker T. H. I Price, of New York, whom he first
 met at the agricultural department in | 1903. In the first interview Holmes said Price had discussed the cotton crop. predicting a large yield. but nothing else had taken place. Later, i in March or April, 1905, Price had
 written letter to Hyde asking him l to recommend some one to take charge of his (Price's) statistical work. On the strength of this letter, Hyde, Holmes and White had entered into a tentative agreement to resign their re- spective office and go to New York and enter upon the publication of
 crop report, on condition they secure Prices backing. The witness and
 Hyde and Holmes severed their con-
 
 ment.
 crop report, on condition they secured
 show that brokers had made a strenu- ous effort to make the cotton report for December 1903, show large yield, whereas, Van Riper had said that
 Prices concern was to have 1t made
 small.
 The witness related the details of
 the sale of his Idaho mining interest
 to Van Riper in 1904, saying that he
 had been introduced by Peckham to
 Van Riper, as "a remarkably rich
 man." who was dealing in mining claims. He said that he had first gfv- en Van Riper an option on the prop erty, and when asked what had be- come of that option the witness re- piled that he had handed to 1t Peck ham. The prosecution there demand ed that sPeckham be summoned as a witness to produce the document and controversy arose as whether he could appear to give his testimony without rendering himself subject to arrest under, the indictment charging him with being a eo-conspiritor with Holmes. The point was not decided.
 Holmes said that he had received $73,0O0 for his interest in the Idaho mine. but that Van Riper requested that the amount had been fixed in the deed at $3O,000. He had refused to &C., cept an interest in Van Riper's broker' age business because of his discov- cry that the f!sm expected to deal in commodities affected by the crop re- port. He had then torn up the trans fer document and thrown the pieces In Van Riper's waste basket This was the witness explanation of the sustenance of the scraps Of paper which Van Riper fished from the waste basket and pasted together.
 Holmes exp1asued joint photograph of himself, Peckhem and Haas, taken at Atlantic City, Nin 1904, in which Holmes's head was missing and which was endorsed ."G. T. Q. C." He said the writing was by Peckham, who was quite a jollier, and the letters stood for the Get There Qui%1 Club" It | was explained that decapidation or | Holmes in the picture was meant to be symbolical of his fate as an ofnce holder.
 q neither signaled not attempted to signal to Haas nor to any one else at any time. the condition of the crop re- port," said Holmes in reply to ques- tion concerning Van Riper's testimony to the effect that he had agreed to do so and arrange the window shades as to indicate the situation. He also salo that the crop reports from the heid upon which the departments finals IS nredicated, was not opened until the day of the promulgation of the official statement, rendering 1t impossible to secure accurate information prior to that date He also said that newspa- pers reports and private estimates were allowed to have an office with the statistician in agreeing upon the final figures. He had always given his best judgment in the preparations or the reports, he declared. but never had any motive except to get the most ac- curate results. He added that there never had been time from September, 1904, to January, 1905, when he ad- vanced information concerning the State and special reports. Court then