Q. It might have been your opinion that that was the side that the butter was on.-A. I know that I did not make the remark.

Q. Still you entertained that opinion, that that was the buttered side of the bread?-A. I don't know.

Q. Didn't you think that it was very much to the interest of the country to elect Talbot and to defeat Butler?-A. Yes, I suppose so.

Q. Didn't you think that the prosperity of the manufacturing interest would be seriously affected if Butler was elected ?—A. I don't know that I looked at it in that light.

Q. Was not that your opinion?-A. It might have been.

Q. What do you think about it now? Did you entertain that opinion?—A. I did not look at it in that light. I thought that Talbot was the best man, and consequently I voted for him.

Q. You thought that he was the best man, and you thought his principles were the best?-A. I thought so, yes.

Q. Didn't you think that the success of those principles was quite necessary to the prosperity of the country, and that their defeat would entail still further depression in business?-A. Perhaps so.

Q. Especially in the particular interest in which you were concerned, the manufacturing interest? It had been considerably depressed for three or four years?-A. Yes, sir.

Q. Did you not feel that the election of General Butler would still further depress it?-A. It is possible that I might have thought so.

Q. So then you did think that the buttered side of his bread was the Talbot side?-A. I don't think I made any remark of that kind. Q. I am asking you for your belief on the subject.-A. I may have thought so.

Q. When these men came to pass in at the voting place, through the space between the railing and the two settees, they generally had tickets in their hands?-A. Yes, sir.

Q. Do you know where they got them?-A. From the ballot distributors, I suppose.

Q. Was not Mr. Knox out distributing tickets?—A.I think he was. He was not near me that I recollect of.

Q. But if he was not near you he was active on some other part of the ground?-A. I suppose so.

Q. So that the probability is that, if he came in front of the voting place, the tickets that were distributed out there were, many of them, distributed by him? Do you know whether they were in envelopes or not?-A. I do not. All had envelopes who wanted them. They were distributed.

Q. In short, the arrangement seems to have been about this: Mr. Knox was out somewhere in front distributing tickets; you stood by this settee where you could see the men as they passed in to vote; the chairman of the selectmen, who was a clerk in your office, was at the ballot-box, and the voters had to run that gauntlet in order to vote ?— A. Yes, sir.

By the CHAIRMAN:

Q. Did Stevens, the man who moved away, vote for Butler?—A. I do not know. I cannot tell how he voted.

Q. You voted for Talbot ?-A. I voted for Talbot.

ROBERT MCARTHUR Sworn and examined.

By Mr. PLATT:

Question. What position do you occupy in the Manchaug Manufacturing Company's works ?-Answer. I am the superintendent, the agent of the works.

Q. How lonk have you been such ?-A. Between five and six years, Q. What are your politics?-A. Republican.

Q. In all matters -A. No, sir.

Q. In State matters you are a Republican ?-A. Yes, sir. In local matters we choose the best men. I do not know that in local matters at our town meeting I have voted for all the names on the ticket, but have generally divided; I have always been much in favor of having it so.

Q. How extensive are the facilities of the establishment of the Manchaug Manufacturing Company?-A. We have something over 40,000 spindles, 1,100 looms, and employ about six hundred operatives.

Q. Of those operatives, how many are voters -A. About one hundred.

Q. Did you hold any office in the town?-A. No, sir.

Q What portion of the taxes of the town does the corporation pay? -A. A little over one-third of the whole taxes.

Q. Do you know of any general complaint with regard to the assessment of your property?-A. No, sir; not any general complaint. There are a few in the town who think that we ought to be taxed higher.

Q. By whom are the few led?-A. By a man named Jason Waters. Q. Do you know whether he is bitter toward your company or not?A. He is; very, indeed. On all occasions he speaks of us.

Q. And that, without reference to political or town matters, but in all matters-A. In all matters. He is not friendly toward us.

Q. How long has Mr. Chase been an assessor there?-A. About four years, if I remember.

Q. Have you heard any general complaint from Mr. Waters and his friends about Mr. Chase's conduct as an assessor?-A. I never heard the slightest complaint.

Q. Mr. Chase spoke of his having been nominated last year by both parties. Has that occurred more than once?-A. I think twice; I would not say positively, but I think it occurred more than once.

Q. The owners of the corporation are not residents of Massachusetts ? -A. No, sir.

Q. Do you know their politics?-A. I do not.

Q. Do they ever take any interest in Massachusetts politics?—A. Never, to my knowledge.

Q. Have you ever had any instructions from them in relation to the politics of the State with reference to the part that you or your hands should take ?-A. Not in the least.

Q. Were you at the polls at the election in November, 1878 ?—A. Yes, sir.

Q. What did you do there?—A. I voted.

Q. What interest did you take in the matter other than to vote ?—A. I didn't take any special interest. I talked with my friends and those whom I saw there, and tried to use an influence in a legitimate way in favor of the candidates for whom I voted.

Q. Did you give any directions as to what part Mr. Chase and Mr. Knox should take in that election ?-A. No, sir.

Q. Was there any concert between you as to what they should do?— A. No, sir.

Q. Can you tell the politics of the voters in your mill?-A. I cannot. I don't know that I have ever mentioned the subject of politics to any of my operatives, unless, it might have been, in conversation with some of our overseers.

Q. Do you know which of your overseers are Republicans and which are Democrats?—A. I am not certain that I do, but I think I do.

Q. Some are Republicans and some are Democrats?-A. Yes, sir; I know that some are Democrats.

Q. Have you ever suggested to them that they should turn in and help Mr. Talbot, or anything of that sort?-A. Never; but, on the contrary, I have told them repeatedly that they should, of course, vote their sentiments.

Q. Who is Mr. Knox?-A. Mr. Knox was an overseer, and in our employ.

Q. What are his politics?-A. Republican, I should think.

Q. Where is he now ?-A. He is in Canada, I presume. I saw him in Worcester the other day, yesterday or the day before, and he said tath he was going to Canada then.

Q. When did he leave your employment?-A. About four weeks ago. Q. Did he leave voluntarily or was he discharged, or was there a little of both -A. He resigned.

Q. I suppose that, as agent, you have almost the entire control of matters at the mill?-A. Yes, sir.

Q. Have you in any way, personally or through your subordinates, attempted to coerce or constrain the vote of any man in your employment?-A. Never, either directly or indirectly.

Q. So far as you know, has it ever been attempted by any subordinate in your employ-A. No, sir.

Q. How large is that town?-Your establishment is in one corner of it, is it not?-A. No, not in one corner; we are on one side.

Q. How far is the corporation's works from the center, where the town business is done?-A. Five miles.

Q. The public business is done about five miles away from where the corporation is located?-A. Yes, sir.

Q. How do the men from your corporation go to vote?-A. They go up in carriages and large wagons provided by me. I generally furnish them with conveyance to go.

Q. How long has that been your practice?-A. Ever since I have been there. No person has ever been denied the privilege of going free.

Q. Has there ever been any discrimination between Republicans and Democrats as to who should go to the polls in your teams?-A. Never; not the slightest.

Q. Has that been a discrimination that has been made use of to control the vote of the town when they got there?-A. No, sir.

Q. Is there any manufacturing going on in the town besides that of your own corporation?-A. Yes, sir; some cotton manufacturing is carried on by a manufacturing company in the east end of the town. The country there is made up principally of farming districts.

Q. It is said that you refused the use of the hall to a meeting at which Mr. Thayer, a member of and a candidate for Congress, was to speak. Will you explain about that?-A. The first intimation that I had that they wanted the hall was when Mr. Jason Waters called at our office. I was out at the time, and, when I returned, he seemed to have been awaiting my return. He made known his business; said that they would

like to have the ball to hold a Democratic meeting in it; that Mr. Thayer and one or two others would speak. Mr. Waters is a man who is very obnoxious to me, and I would not grant the man a favor if I could. That was the principal reason why we refused the hall. Some time after that, a party waited upon me and stated that they would like to have the hall to hold a Democratic meeting in it. I told them that they could have it, without their telling me who was to be one of the speakers. They wanted to know what the expense would be. I told them there would be no expense; that if the people in our village wished to hear them speak, I would light the hall, heat it, and give them the free use of it.

Q. The reason of your declining then to grant the use of the hall was that Mr. Waters, who had been an enemy of yours, had applied for it, and it was for that reason solely?-A. No, sir; not solely. That was the principal reason. If Mr. Thayer had made application for it, undoubtedly he would have got it.

Q. Do you know anything about Terrence Kennedy having been warned out of his house?-A. Yes, sir.

Q. By whose direction was it done?-A. By my direction.

Q. Had his political course anything whatever to do with that?—A. Nothing whatever.

Q. Did you know that he was in a sense Mr. Waters' right hand man in politics when you did it?-A. No, sir; I did not.

Q. If it had occurred to you at the time that an election was coming on, and that political use might be made of the fact, would you have done as you did?-A. Yes, sir; I would.

Q. What was the occasion for doing it?-A. We were very short of tenements at that time, as we arc occasionally. I have repeatedly talked with our people about their building more tenements. We are very

much troubled for the need of them. Parties come there, large families, and hire in the mill quite often. A very valuable family may make application, and, in such a case, we need tenements for them. When they get work in the mills I refer them to Mr. Chase (to whom I gave charge of the tenements), so that he may provide them with tenements. It quite often happens that we cannot provide the family with a tene ment, and that in consequence we lose the family. In some cases, people occupy our tenements who have perhaps only one at work in the mill, when we might have, from the same number of other occupants of a tenement, a half dozen or more in the mill; and in those cases we have repeatedly warned people out.

Q. It was for that reason Mr. Kennedy was warned out ?-A. It was. Q. Was there any other reason?-A. No other reason.

Q. How many would his tenement accommodate?-A. There are as many as ten or twelve in a tenement of the class of tenement that he occupied. It was one of our best.

Q. There was but one person from that tenement at work in the mill at that time, as you remember?-A. Only one. It was so reported to me, and I am the overseer. Before warning him out, Mr. Chase told me there was only one from there in the mill, and I went in the mill and talked with the overseer for whom that one (the boy) worked. I asked the overseer what kind of a hand the boy was, and he replied: "He is a kind of a worthless fellow-a poor spinner." I inquired, "Do you want him?" He replied that he did not. I told him that I wanted the tenement. "Well," he said, "it won't interfere with me at all."

Q. Your object, then, was to get the tenement for the use of persons employed by you who were in want of such a tenement ?-A. Certainly; that is what we have tenements for.

Q. Had Mr. Kennedy been occupying it for some years?-A. I believe he had.

Q. He had left your employment some two years before, but you had allowed him to occupy the tenement ?-A. Yes, sir; two or three years before.

Q. Was there any public hall connected with this barn that is spoken of ?-A. I understand so, and that they had held meetings there for a number of years. It is a public hall; it is the only public hall that there is there.

Q. And it is connected with the barn?-A. Yes, sir.

By the CHAIRMAN:

Q. You thought it was perfectly right to keep the Democratic party out of the hall because Waters came after it? A. No, sir; not exactly. Q. Was not that the effect of your refusal ?—A. As I have stated, I would not grant Waters a favor if I could.

Q. Was he not asking it not for his own use, but for the use of a political party for the use of a number of the people there?—A. I would not recognize the man; I would not talk with him on that subject.

Q. Did the Frenchman speak there to the employés ?-A. I have been informed that he did.

Q. Did he speak in your hall?—A. No, sir.

Q. Was there an application to you to allow him to use your hall?— A. Not to my knowledge.

Q. Had you ever before refused your hall to the Democratic party to hear speeches in, or have a meeting in ?—A. Yes, sir.

Q. When?-A. Some two years previous.

Q. In the fall of 1876-A. Yes, sir.

Q. Who wanted it then?-A. I don't remember; but one of the parties was named Mellen. It was reported to me that they had said they were going to give us a dressing down, and Mellen has given us a great many dressings down; he did in 1876, and has since then.

Q. Then you refused it because Mellen came after it ?-A. Yes, sir. Q. And in 1878 you refused it because Waters came after it ?—A. Yes, sir.

Q. Did you want your employés to hear all sides?—A. I didn't object to it.

Q. If you could conveniently have kept them away, you would not have objected to so doing?—-A. I would not do such a thing.

Q. I do not say that you would do it intentionally, but you would not inconvenience yourself about it?-A. I wouldn't say that I would not use my influence in a proper manner to help the Republican party.

Q. You used whatever influence you could use legitimately for the interests of Mr. Talbot, last year, did you not?-A. Yes, sir.

Q. You didn't talk with your employés?—A. I did not.

Q. Did you ride in the wagons in which the men went to and from the polls last year?—A. Yes, sir; quite often.

Q. How many would be in those wagons when you went up?-A. Perhaps there would be four. I generally got in, and whoever was ready to go would jump in.

Q. You accompanied the hands and allowed your teams to be used for that purpose?-A. Yes, sir.

Q. When they were through at the polls were the hands brought back in these wagons?-A. Yes, sir. Quite often these stragglers would not all get in. I have passed them myself when taking the men down.

Q. What family had you hired to work in the mill and arranged to