Q. Were they distributed throughout the State generally?-A. Yes, sir. Q. How many resided in Boston?-A. Eight. Q. How many in the county of Worcester?-A. Five. Q. Give the names of the latter? A. Adin Thayer, Arthur G. Biscoe, Chester C. Corbin, George Whitney, David H. Merriam. Q. Give the names of those resident in Boston ?—A. Samuel P. Tenney, Eugene L. Norton, Alfred A. Clatur, William E. Perkins, George H. Bond, Calvin M. Winch, Christopher J. Spenceley, George R. Fowler. Q. Was there an executive committee of the State committee, and, if so, of how many members did it consist?-A. There was. It consisted of the chairman, ex officio, the treasurer, and twelve other members. Q. Give their names?-A. The chairman was Adin Thayer; the treasurer, S. B. Stebbins. The other members were William E. Perkins, Lewis N. Tappan, A. D. Fessenden, George Whitney, Frank A. Hobart, Charles T. Bonney, Samuel Snow, John D. Long, Charles R. Ladd, Richard Kingman, Richard Goodman, L. J. Gunn. Q. Were any of the gentlemen, either of the general committee or of the executive committee, connected with official place under the Federal government?-A. No, I think not. Q. Can you give me generally, without details, the powers of the executive committee?-A. They have full power to act in the absence of the general committee, and would call the general committee together for any special matter that required their consideration. Q. And generally to conduct and control the campaign?-A. Yes. Q. Do you know how many meetings of the executive committee there were after the organization ?-A. No; I do not remember. There was a meeting at least once a week after the convention, and sometimes oftener than that. Q. Was there any general delegation of power to the chairman and treasurer?-A. I think not. Q. Who conducted the campaign practically?—A. The executive committee. Q. Who was in charge of the headquarters?-A. The chairman and secretary and their agents. Q. Mr. Thayer and yourself, and his and your agents?-A. Yes, sir. The assistant secretary was there. Q. Do you know of any meetings of the executive committee which were called in other sections of the State than Boston?-A. No. Q. Do you know of any meetings called in other sections of the State, of leading citizens, at which Mr. Thayer was present?-A. I do not. Q. Have you no record of any such ?-A. No. Q. Have you no order for any such meetings?-A. No. Of course the convention at Worcester. Q. I do not speak of that. I speak of the conduct of the campaign, whether there was or not any delegation of power to Mr. Thayer and whether in pursuance of such delegation of power, there were meetings held of leading citizens at different points throughout the State during the campaign?-A. I never heard of any in connection with the Republican State committee. Q. What is your knowledge of them with reference to conducting the canvass, whether there were or were not such meetings?-A. There were meetings all over the State, of course, but no meetings in connec tion with the Republican State committee. Of course there were meetings called in all the towns, and they were called by Republicans. Q. Certainly, I do not speak of the general campaign; I speak of private meetings with leading individuals throughout the State in different sections of the State. Have you no record of any such or no knowledge of any such ?-A. No. Q. Do you know whether the fund in that campaign, any part of it, was raised by contributions from Federal officials?-A. I think not. I know there was a very decided feeling in the committee that it should be raised outside, and I believe that it was entirely raised outside. Q. Was no contribution made by either the custom house, the postoffice, the United States officers, or the collectors of internal revenue, and so forth, in Boston, in aid of the conduct of the campaign?-A. I cannot say that there was not, because I did not receive the money. I never heard of it. Q. What is the name of the treasurer of the committee ?-A. Mr. Solomon B. Stebbins. Q. Have you a record or copy of the circulars issued by the committee during the campaign?-A. Yes; I instructed one of the clerks in the office to paste in a book a copy of every circular that was issued by the Republican State committee. Q. Can you present them to the committee?-A. They are in the book which I hold in my hand. Q. We do not wish to inspect the contents of your book as to any private matter it may contain?-A. I do not think that there is any private matter in this book, or anything to which it refers in the whole campaign that we should not be willing to make public. Q. You may, then, refer the stenographer to the circulars that were is sned and he will take copies of them?-A. Would you like to have any of these circulars read? The CHAIRMAN (after referring to the book handed to the committee). Some of them are doubtless of such routine character that it would not be necessary for us to refer to them; our attention, however, having been called to the circulars, we will take the liberty of casually looking over the book to see what they are. The WITNESS (after informally directing the attention of the chairmau to the contents of particular pages, and being requested to read from page 68, 1ead a circular as follows, the form of the same being here given in full): REPUBLICAN STATE COMMITTEE OF MASSACHUSETTS, ADIN THAYER, Chairman. S. B. STEBBINS, Treasurer. DEAR SIR: A desperate attempt is being made, under a hypocritical pretense of State reform, to deliver Massachusetts over to the Repudiationists, Greenbackers, and Communists. This attempt should excite the alarm and indignation of every Christian citizen, and call forth the active, earnest, and persistent opposition of every lover of the fair fame of Massachusetts. It must be met defiantly and vigorously at once by private and public appeal to the intelligence, honor, and conscience of Massachusetts. The State ticket nominated by the Republican party stands for public and private honesty and national good faith. We earnestly invoke your active aid in securing its election, and thus saving the "old commonwealth" from the control of unscrupulous and self-seeking demagogues. Per order of the Republican State Committee. GEORGE G. CROCKER, Secretary. ADIN THAYER, Chairman. The WITNESS (turning to page 81 of the book). One week later, on September 26, as I find upon the page before me, a circular was issued as follows: REPUBLICAN STATE COMMITTEE OF MASSACHUSETTS, ADIN THAYER, Chairman. S. B. STEBBINS, Treasurer. DEAR SIR: In order to enable us to distribute documents effectively, will you kindly furnish us immediately with a list of the male members of your church and parish, and with such other names as you may deem expedient. By so doing you will aid us in saving the honor of our commonwealth. With esteem, yours, GEORGE G. CROCKER, Secretary. ADIN THAYER. Q. Was that circular sent to clergymen ?-A. Yes, sir. Chairman. Q. How generally?—A. We took the various religious monthlies, or some of them, where we got lists of clergymen throughout the State and mailed these to them. Q. To all the clergymen that you could reach from those lists ?—A. Yes. Q. Were there responses from them?-A. There was a large number of responses from them. Q. Did you furnish the names of the clergymen thus obtained with documents?-A. We did. Q. Has that been the practice, so far as you know, in Massachusetts ? -A. That was a new idea. Q. On what day was the election held ?-A. November 5. The CHAIRMAN (after turning over the pages of the book). I find on page 111 a ticket containing the names of Republican candidates voted for at the governor's election last year. On the back of the ticket appear red-tinted stripes. The WITNESS. That is the Republican ticket that was used in Boston by the ward and city committees. I put it in there only as a sample. It was not used by authority of the Republican State committee. Q. Not by its special authority?-A. No, sir. The WITNESS (by the chairman's direction, next turned to the page containing the circular of October 26, and read the following): REPUBLICAN STATE COMMITTEE OF MASSACHUSETTS. Boston, 26th October, 1878. ADIN THAYER, Chairman. S. B. STEBBINS, Treasurer. GEORGE G. CROCKER, Secretary. MY DEAR SIR: Your duty as a prominent and influential citizen demands that your efforts to make the defeat of Butler an overwhelming one should be absolutely unremitting. The reputation of our commonwealth for honor, honesty, and intelligence is at stake. That reputation has been won by the sturdy integrity and earnest and unfaltering perseverance of generations, and has been handed down to you as a sacred trust. The vast majority of the followers of Butler believe in REPUDIATION and COMMUNISM. If he should by any possibility succeed, THEY WOULD CONTROL. Do not allow yourself to underestimate the gravity of the responsibility which rests upon you by reason of your ability to do efficient work in such a crisis as this. We invoke your co-operation with your Republican committee. We invoke your careful thought and untiring zeal. We invoke your persistent, personal, and individual efforts to get out every possible vote for Thomas Talbot and John D. Long, both of them ideal champions of honest, intelligent, and economical government. Remember that the RESERVE VOTE IS HEAVY AND MUST BE BROUGHT OUT. The voice of Massachusetts on the fifth of November will once again thrill us with pride and joy. Sincerely, yours, GEORGE G. CROCKER, Secretary. Q. Was that circular lithographed ? The WITNESS. It is a heliotype circular. Q. Was it printed and distributed generally?-A. It was sent to prominent gentlemen in various cities and towns. How many were sent I do not remember. I should say some 200; perhaps more. Q. Have you any record that will show the names of those persons to whom it was sent ?-A. I do not know whether we have or not. Q. Can you not state from your recollection?—A. I think that we got those names in answer to a circular to the town committees requesting them to give us the names of influential gentlemen in their towns who ought to take an interest in political matters, and who had not been sufficiently stirred up; and we sent that circular to those persons. Q. Were the names that were solicited those of gentlemen employing labor?-A. No, sir. I find here the circular to which I reter. (Reading from another page of the book :) REPUBLICAN STATE COMMITTEE OF MASSACHUSETTS, Boston, October 18, 1878. Please send us word at once whether you have received such documents as you need and what you have found to be the best method of distribution. Please also send us the names of ten or more men who would do efficient work if they could be aroused. We shall send from headquarters to each of these men whose names we receive an urgent request that he should take an active part in the campaign. Sincerely, yours, GEORGE G. CROCKER, Secretary. The WITNESS. This circular was sent to those men who were named. Q. Do you know whether or not in any of the towns of the State Mr. Thayer had meetings with certain gentlemen connected with manufac turing corporations in the State in reference to the control of voters in such corporations?—A. I do not. I never heard of any. Q. Do you know anything, speaking generally, of amounts of money used in the Congressional campaign of 1878 by the Republican State committee?-A. I know generally about it. Of course, the particulars you can learn from the treasurer. I should think it would be better to get that information directly from him. By Mr. BLAIR: Q. Please examine the circular now shown you and state whether you know anything of its origin. [NOTE. The circular here examined by the witness is the first in order of the papers laid before the committee in the printed pamphlet, Part III, reading as follows: DEAR SIR: Your co-operation with the Massachusetts Republican State Central Committee is most earnestly requested. It is in your power, by the authority you can exercise over those employed by you, to maintain the honor of Massachusetts and keep it out of the hands of spoilers and political knaves who have selected General Butler as their candidate. His election would disgrace our State, and ruin our standing at home and abroad. A thorough canvass of those you employ and an early report to the secretary of the Republican State Central Committee will be thankfully received. A. The first that I heard of that circular it was in Benjamin Butler's bands at a Faneuil Hall meeting. [At the suggestion of Mr. Blair, the circular was here read aloud by the witness.] Q. You were saying that the first you knew of that circular it was in the hands of Benjamin F. Butler at a Faneuil Hall meeting?—A. A Faneuil Hall meeting, I think it was; about the 18th or 19th of October. He brought out this circular and intimated-did not say directly, but intimated-that it was used by the Republican State Committee, and then stated that they had been afraid to have it printed in Boston, and had had it printed in New York; that one of his men had kept sight of the original package of three thousand from the time it left New York until it arrived in Boston, and that he had secured a copy. Then he went on to make capital out of it. On the next day, the chairman, Mr. Thayer, and I sent to the newspapers a statement denying all connection with the circular, and not only denying all connection with it but also saying that the circular had not been issued with our consent, nor had we ever heard of it until we saw it in the papers as brought out by General Butler. Q. Is that statement which you had published to be found in the boɔk here?-A. I do not think it is. Q. You say you gave it to the papers of the city?-A. Yes. Q. Was that notification of repudiation of this circular generally cir culated throughout the State?-A. Yes. It was a matter of very great interest, and I saw it in a large number of the newspapers. Q. You gave it to the press generally, and it was generally circulated throughout the State?-A. Yes. Not only did we not know anything about the circular, but you will see that the circular, at the end of it, calls for a report to be made to the secretary of the Republican State Central Committee. If Mr. Butler's friends had circulated the circular, had sent it out, I should have supposed that some reports would have come to me from it; but no report was ever received by me connecting itself with the circular. Q. Have you ever been able to learn that such a document was actu ally circulated excepting as it reached the public through this statement of General Butler's at Faneuil Hall?—A. I think it could not have been. I was never able to see the document myself; never able to obtain a copy. Q. Have you any doubt that if any three thousand copies of it had been circulated throughout the State you would have been able to have found one of them?-A. Not at all. I tried hard to get a copy. Q. Have you any knowledge of the improper use of money by mem bers of the Republican party for the purpose of influencing votes in the election in 1878?—A. No. Q. Was any money appropriated or allowed to be used from the funds of the committee for that purpose?-A. Not that I know of. I believe not. Q. Have you knowledge of any means having been resorted to by any party for the purpose of intimidating or wrongfully influencing the |