[Newspaper]
Publication: The Muncie Daily News
Muncie, IN, United States
vol. 12, no. 238, p. 1, col. 1-2
A Number of Witnesses
Testify in the Ballot-Box Forgery
Investifation.
JOHN MCLEAN ON THE STAND.
He Did Not Know Wood or Had Never
Seen the Ballot-Box Paper — Col. T. C.
Campbell Says There Was "No
Original Paper," and Lays the Whole
Blame of the Forgery on Hadden.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 8. — Col. James E. Neal was the first witness before the ballot-box committee yesterday. He testified to the conversation between Governor Campbell and Wood at Hamilton. His statement developed nothing new.
John R. McLean, the owner of The Cincinnati Enquirer, was sworn at the instance of Gen. Grosvenor. He even said that he did not know Wood and had not the slightest recollection of him. He was shown the ballot-box paper, and said that he had never seen it before.
Mr. McLean denied that Walter Wellman was his private secretary. He did not even know him. He had never been interested in any ballot-box scheme and never had in his safe any paper pertaining to such a scheme. He knew absolutely nothing about the ballot-box matter, and had never been in business relations with those whose names were signed to the paper.
Col T. C. Campbell at whose instance Governor Campbell introduced the ballot-box bill took the stand and testified that he made Wood's acquaintance about fifteen years ago, in Cincinnati.
At that time he defended Wood in a police court case. Col. Campbell had been Wood's attorney in the ballot-box company. He read a list of stockholders of the company. None of the names of the senators and representatives whose names had been signed to the forged paper were on the list.
Mr. Campbell, while a member of congress, had never been called on to help the ballot-box company other than in introducing the bill.
The box had been found to be slightly imperfect, and experiments for its perfection were not begun until Mr. Campbell's term as representative had expired. Governor Campbell had not the slightest interest in the box.
The witness denied the testimony of Mr. Hadden, given before the committee, that the witness had asked Mr. Hadden to get Congressman Caldwell interested in the ballot-box bill. Hadden had come to him in relation to the ballot-box matter but once. On this occasion Hadden had spoken of the good thing the witness and others were going to make on the ballot-box bill, and had been informed by the witness that the bill was dead.
In regard to Hadden’s testimony that Gov. Campbell had shown him a list of names of congressmen attached to a ballot-box contract, the witness said it was wholly untrue. He had never even spoken of such a paper to Hadden. There was no such paper.
The witness went on to say that Mr. Hadden had become chairman of the Republican campaign committee in Ohio after George Topp had been retired from that position.
After the Halstead retraction of the ballot-box paper in The Commercial Gazette, it became a question in Ohio whether Governor Foraker had connived to procure the forgery of the paper. Mr. Hadden could have cleared up the matter and freed Governor Foraker from all suspicion, but he did not do so. He had gone to Governor Foraker and told him what was not the truth (that there was a ballot-box contract), and he knew that if this fact came out his political career would be ended.
Col. Campbell sketched his connection with Wood in an interesting manner. He said that Wood could not tell two truths consecutively.
"If you told an untruth," said Col. Campbell to Governor Foraker, "you would be guilty of an offense, because you know better. When Wood told an untruth he couldn't help it: he didn't know how to tell the truth."
Judge Turner asked the witness what he meant by stating that when he found that Wood was the instigator of the ballot-box paper, he suspected that a person of higher intelligence than Wood was behind the forgery. The witness said he would confess that he suspected that Govornor Foraker was that superior mind. He was now largely convinced that it was not so; he now believed that Hadden was the prime mover and engineer in the affair.
Governor Foraker wanted the witness to state why he used the word "largely."
"Do you think I had anything to do with the matter?" asked the governor.
"No, sir," replied the witness, "but do think that you were remiss in not coming to me when you received this ballot-box paper in order to ascertain its genuineness."
The witness denied that any of the persons whose names were signed to the forged paper had any connection, direct or indirect, in congress or elsewhere, with the ballot-box company.
Lewis Houser, of Cincinnati, a justice of the peace, said that he had a talk with Lewis M. Hadden about the ballot-box paper on the day that Mr. Halstead made his retraction. Hadden told him that he didn't want the paper to be published so soon. This was all the conversation they had on the matter.
The next witness was Smith L. Johnson, of Columbus, who said he was on a train on Sept. 27 last going to Columbus, and he overheard a conversation between Governor Foraker and some others, in which the governor said that he had some knowledge of a business transaction in which McKinley and Butterworth were interested. The governor had said nothing unkind about these gentlemen.
J. B. Thompson, of Riverside, O., said he knew Lewis M. Hadden. He had a conversation with Hadden just after the facsimile of the forged letter had been published in The Commercial Gazette. Hadden said that he thought James F. Campbell had signed the paper. In other conversation Hadden said the all right, but that "Halstead had fired it off too soon."
Governor Foraker placed before the committee a telegram that he received yesterday morning from Mr. Hadden. The telegram is as follows: "George Campbell's testimony false from beginning to end. Cross-examine."
It was agreed not to recall George Campbell until after Hadden, who is on his way to Washington, had testified. George Campbell testified on Wednesday that Hadden had told him that he had given false testimony before the investigation committee, in stating that Col. T. C. Campbell had shown him an original ballot-box contract. The committee then took a recess.
After recess Represenatives Breckinridge, of Kentucky, McAdoo and Butterworth appeared before the committee and testified that their signatures to the ballot-box were forgeries. They knew nothing about any ballot-box contract, and were not interested in any way in the ballot-box bill.
C. A. Lehman, manufacturer of the Hall & Wood patent ballot-box, testified that the present cost of manufacture for each box was $16.80.
H. C. Megrew, formerly of Richmond, Ind., but now of Washington, was sworn and testified that he had given $50 to Mr. Walters after the campaign to pay to Wood for his expenses while in Washington. He presumed that he paid the money for Governor Forakrer. The governor's private secretary authorized him to pay the money. He had been instructed to keep his eye on Wood, but not to detain him in Washington or prevent him going to New York. If Wood had left Washington would not have followed. Wood was not concealed while in Washington.
Gen. Grosvenor pressed the witness to give his idea as to why he had been commissioned to watch Wood. The witness answered that he believed that an imposition had been practiced on Governor Foraker, and he thought the latter wanted to know something about Wood's haunts and with whom he communicated.
Congressman McKinley testified that his signature to the paper was a forgery.
James R. Foraker, brother of the ex-governor, denied that he had told Wood to apply for the smoke inspectorship, as stated by Wood before the committee.
T. Kates, of Cincinnati, who had been an applicant for the smoke inspectorship, stated that Wood had told him that he and Hadden were getting up a paper for the benefit of the Republican party, and that Mayor Mosby was with them.
The committee adjourned until Monday.
