Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1928-11-28

small. there were two or three
guards.
T.. J. Buckow, presiding officer Mt
Weslaco, said he had taken the re-
turns to Edinburg accompanied by a
ranger, a deputy sheriff and one Of
the election clerks. he had not
noticed the flap Of the envelope was
unsaled. He admitted he had acted
as presiding officer of elections
while a deputy sheriff. but had not
been a deputy sheriff since Sep
TENDER so. he stated he had not
resigned. He also testified he mad
talked TO County Judge Cameron the
day the returns were delivered.
Il am not going to say they were
sealed" Buckow said in reply TO a
query BY Nelson relative to the
condition of h returns envelopes
at the time he left Weslaco.
Buckow said that one OF the cleo
tion officials, Y. b. Yarbrough, kept
reporting to the crowd and causing
disturbances. and that some persons
had put up a pole to climb up TO the
windows.
IF that envelope was ~unsealed
when handed TO the judge IL would
have been noted :" Lehlbach asked.
1T ought to-" Buckow replied.
Buckow said he had been an cleo
tion officer since 1890.
Says No Disturbance
y. h. larbrough testified there had
been no disturbance around the polls.
and added that IL there had been any
~boyeotting at Weslaco, Buckow IA
the only one he knew Of TO boycott a
business place. No announcement Of
results was made by Buckow, he said.
and when the state law was called to
his attention he said: Never mind.
I'm the law" Y~arbrough testified.
Yarbrough said that misspelling Of
a name was sufficient to throw out a
ballot, and when Buckov's attention
was called to the law on the subject
he said: Never mind that am
going by instructions"
Were there any voters without
tax certificates ?" he was asked.
"Yes, sir; all Mexicans, no Amer
leans" he replied.
Claims Baker Dominates
Perry W. Perkins Of Mercedes,
testified he had lived in Hidalgo
county 30 years, and that for the
past "a or 20 years A. y. Baker has
dominated the politics of the county.
He testified he had been friendly
with the dominating element up "a
1922. and had conducted the elections
1t Mercedes from 1916 to 1922. He
was not permitted to testify relative
to any elections other than that OF
the current year.
Perkins asserted that between so
and 30 aliens voted in the general
election at Mercedes: that he had
looked over the voting list and
checked them. He added that he had
personal knowledge Of 80 or 30 Sc
curing poll taxes by issuing a power
Of attorney. stating he had not been
requested 10 distribute poll tax re-
CENTS this year.
DO you mean so 10 30 aliens were
voted?' Congressman Nelson asked.
Yes"
why aren't such violations prose
cuted ?"
Those who dominate our entire
courts: it's for their benefit" was
the reply.
Perkins asserted that many nersons
WNN e. HVh balu ~ ppit lEA were per-
mitted 10 vote. There were approxi-
matelv 1,250 votes cast at the Mer-
cedes box. he said. and that he under
stood between 200 and 800 ballots
had been thrown out as "mutilated."
Every man in the box was for
the administration" he said.
Raps Grand Jury System
He was then called upon to testify
relative to grand juries in the
ty. stating that eve have about the
same bunch" on the grand juries
year after year. Changes are made
when they die off" he said.
why do the peoDle stand for
this" Congressman C~hindblom asked.
They're trying to get out" was
the reply.
At this iuncture Congressman
Black protested against the course
the evidence was taking. stating the
committee was there 20 investigate
campaign expnditures. not to investi-
gate grand juries. After n heated
discussion his objection was over
ruled bv Chairman Lehlbach.
Perkins closed his testimony rela-
tive to grand iuries with the state
ment: at Is common knowledge
they are selected bv one man
y. y. Witke Of Mercedes was called