at DuBois, paid the witness now called a State and county tax within time to entitle him to vote November 5, 1878.

Upon which counsel for contestee objects for the reason that Elliot McCracken swore that he did not pay the witness now called such tax and his vote cannot be sustained by contradicting him.)

Question. Were you collector of the State and county taxes in Huston Township, in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania? and, if so, state for what years.-Answer. Ever since 1875 up to 1878 I have the duplicates : they are not all collected up yet.

Q. State whether or not Elliot McCracken paid you a State and county tax within two years preceding November 5, 1878; and, if so, state the time as nearly as you can fix it.-A. To the best of my knowledge, it was in June, 1877.

Cross-examined:

Counsel for contestee, reserving all rights and objections, proceeds to cross-examine:

Q. How do you fix the time that he paid you?—A. I asked my son if he ever recollected of Mr. McCracken ever paying me the tax he said he did; he said he came to him first and inquired for me; he told him I was at the lower end of the cornfield, hoeing corn.

Q. Hve you, yourself personally, any recollection of his having paid you any State or county tax in the year 1877 A. Yes.

Q. Do you not rely entirely upon your son's statement, and his recol· lection?-A. No; I am pretty positive I was husking corn or hoeing corn.

Q. So far as your own recollection goes, may it not have been during the year 1876-A. No; I am pretty positive it was not. I had seen him several times in 1876, and I told I would not come again for it; if I did, I would levy and sell.

Q. Where are your duplicates-A. I have one with me. (Witness produces duplicate for 1876.)

Q. How much State and county tax did Elliot McCracken pay you!! --A. Twenty-one cents. (21c.)

Q. Is not that the only State or county tax he ever paid you?—A. Yes, sir.

Q. Who collected all the State or county tax which was collected is your township of Houston during the two years immediately preceding the election of November 5, 1878?-A. Myself and Jacob Hoffman; but he never had my duplicate.

Q. Did a man named C. H. Farner pay you any State or county tax during the two years immediately preceding November 5, 1878?

(Objected to by counsel for contestant for the reason that it is not proper cross-examination, the witness having only been examined iuchief only as regards the taxes of Elliot McCracken.)

A. I could not say.

Q. Have you any recollection of him paying you any, or any one for him, during those two years?—A. I have not.

Q. Do you recollect the circumstance of McCracken paying you his tax?-A. I recollect what he said when he came to pay it, that it was too small an amount to have his things sold for; he did not want to make me any more trouble about it.

Q. Was not your first recollection as to McCracken's payment of taxes that it was paid in 1876?—A. I did not recollect positively oue way or the other.

1

Redirect:

Q. Were these State and county taxes which McCracken paid you in 1877, not the taxes of 1876?—A. Yes, sir. And further saith not.

Attest:

SYLVESTER HUNT.

ABRAHAM OGDEN,
Associate Judge.

J. D. SONES sworn.

(The same request, same reply, and same objections as to other witnesses from Morris, Pike, and Brady Townships.)

Question. Did you vote at the election of November 5, 1878, in Morris Township, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, for Congress?-Auswer. No, sir; I did not vote for Congress.

Cross-examined:

(Counsel for contestee, reserving rights and objections, proceeds to cross-examine.)

Q. Why did you not vote for any one for Congress?-A. Because I did not want to; did not like the man.

Q. Which one of the two men did you dislike most?-A. Not much difference; I disliked Curtin the most.

Q. Did any one ask you to vote for Curtin ?-A. I don't know as they did.

Q. Had you paid any State or county tax within two years preceding that election?-A. No; I did not pay any tax.

Q. Did any one offer to pay your taxes for you if you would vote the Democratic ticket?

(Objected to as not cross-examination, immaterial, irrelevant, impertinent to the witness.)

A. No, sir.

Q. If you had to vote again, would you vote for either of them or would you just vote as you did ?—A. I would just vote as I did.

Q. If you had to vote for either one, which of the two evils would you elect -A. I would neither one of them.

And further saith not.

Attest:

J. D. SONES.

ABRAHAM OGDEN.
Associate Judge.

A. M. BLOOM sworn.

(Counsel for contestee request counsel for contestant to state what is proposed to be proven by this witness and the purpose thereof.

The witness is called for the purpose of explaining the naturalization papers of one Patrick Ryan, a witness called in this contest.)

Question. Are you the same deputy prothonotary that you was two weeks ago?-Answer. I am, except about two weeks older.

Q. Are you familiar with the alien docket of the prothonotary's office of Clearfield County?-A. Yes, sir.

Q. Will you refer to it and give us the date at which one Patrick . Ryan was naturalized and received his certificate of citizenship?—A. I will. He was naturalized on the 6th of October, 1876. He received his certificate same day, and arrived in this country under eighteen years of age.

Q. Have you the papers relating to his naturalization and which are on file in your office before you?-A. I have.

Q. Will you state what they are?-A. The declaration of intention filed 6th of October, 1876, together with his petition of naturalization setting forth, among other things, that he came to this country under the age of eighteen years.

Q. State whether or not it is the practice in the court of Clearfield County when an alien presents his petition setting forth that he came into the United States under the age of eighteen years, to require him to file with his petition a separate declaration of his intention and at the same time.-A. It is.

Q. Were such papers filed in the case of Patrick Ryan ?-A. Yes, sir. Q. Would not then his certificate of citizenship with his petition for naturalization and the declaration of intention all bear date the 6th of October, 1876, and properly so?-A. Yes, sir. And further saith not.

Attest:

A. M. BLOOM.

ABRAHAM OGDEN,
Associate Judge.

Now 4 o'clock p. m. April 7, 1879, adjourned until 9 o'clock a. m. April 8, 1879.

And now, April 8, 1879, at 9 o'clock a. m., the taking of testimony resumed.

WILLIAM TRUMP affirmed.

(Counsel for contestee request counsel for contestant to state what is proposed to be proved by this witness and the purpose thereof.

Counsel for contestant replies that he proposes to examine this witness as to his qualification and right to vote at the election of November 5, 1878.

Upon which counsel for contestee objects to the testimony of the witness for the purpose stated or for any other purpose, for the reasons, first, that it is not in rebuttal or reply to anything offered by contestee, but if competent or legal evidence at any time is in its nature original testimony and a part of the contestant's case in chief, therefore cannot be offered at this or any future stage of the proceedings; secondly, because in the notice of contestant to contestee that he would contest his right to a seat in the Forty-sixth Congress there was no allegation of fraud or irregularity or illegality either in the conduct of the election or in the qualification of the electors at the general election of November 5, 1878, in the election district of Bradford Township, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania; neither was there any testimony taken on the part of contestant or contestee touching the validity of such an election or the qualiti cations of the electors that then and there voted.

For these reasons the contestee reserves the right to ask the committee to strike out the whole of the testimony of this witness.)

Qustion. When and where were you born?-Answer. 1857, 6 November, in Center County, Pennsylvania.

Q. Where do you reside?-A. Bradford Township, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania.

Q. Are you married?-A. No, sir.

Q. Had you resided in the State of Pennsylvania for one whole year and more, and in the election district of Bradford Township, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, for more than two months preceding November 5, 1878-A. Yes, sir.

Q. Will you state here and now when, where, to whom, and how you your last taxes, State and county, paid. I have omitted and should have said paid within two years, as to your best recollection it appears, and were they assessed two months and more, and paid at least one month before the 5th of November, 1878; otherwise it would have been too late.-A. I never paid any tax for myself. I paid some for the old

man.

Q. Did you yourself, or any one for you, at your request, ever pay a State or county tax?-A. No, sir; not for myself.

Q. Then, if you were born on the 6th day of November, A. D. 1857, as you have sworn, would you not have been twenty-one years old on the 6th of November, 1878?—A. I would suppose myself; but the elec»tion board made me twenty-one on the 5th.

Q. Did you vote at the election of November 5, 1878, in the election district of Bradford Township, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania ?-A. Yes, sir.

Q. What time of day did you vote; was it before 12 o'clock, m., or afterward, of said day?-A. It was before 12 o'clock m.

Q. For whom did you vote at said election for Congress?

(Objected to because it is a question of privilege, which the counsel has no right to ask and which the witness is not bound to answer.) A. If I don't have to answer, I won't.

Q. For whom did you vote for Congress at the election of November 5, 1878?

(Objected to, for the same reason, to wit, that it is a question of privi lege, which the counsel has no right to ask, and which the witness is not bound to answer, it being in plain violation of the spirit, if not the letter, of the laws and constitutional guarantees thrown around the exercise of the elective franchise, preserving and protecting it, not only from every unlawful interference and every invasion, but also guarding it against every impertinent and inquisitorial attempt to break open the constitutional secrecy which enshrines that sacred right.)

A. I won't answer unless I have to. I cannot answer for whom I voted for Congress; that was given me. I was told it was a straight out Greenback ticket by the man that gave it to me.

Q. Who gave you that ticket?

(Objected to, because it is only another form of the same question which had been asked the witness already, and which is a question of privilege which the counsel should not ask, and which the witness is not bound to answer.)

A. Charles J. Redifer.

Q. What is the politics of Charles J. Redifer, if you know?-A. He is a Greenbacker, as far as I know.

Cross-examined:

(Counsel for contestee, reserving all rights and objections, for the reasons stated in the objections to the testimony of the witness, be stricken out by the committee as improper, illegal, and an abuse of the privileges and rights of examination of witnesses, proceeds to crossexamine.)

Q. How long had you lived in Bradford election district before the election of November 5, 1878?-A. I cannot tell exactly. Ten years,

any way.

Q. Had you ever been called on by the collector of taxes of that district for any taxes?-A. No, sir; not for myself.

Q. What property of your father's did you pay taxes on ?-A. I did

not pay taxes on any property of my father's. I paid taxes on my mother's property in Bigler.

Q. Who was using that property; you or your brother?-A. My father was using it. I was living with him.

Q. Were you well known to the election board of Bradford district on November 5, 1878 ?-A. I knew all of them. I don't know if they all knew me or not; that is, I knew all their faces.

Q. Is it because your birthday came on the 6th of November that you supposed you were not 21 until that day ?--A. Yes, sir.

Q. Do you pretend to decide whether you were legally of age on November 5 or on November 6, or do you mean simply to state the facts as they are and let some one else who is competent decide the law ?—A. No, sir; as I said before, I supposed I was 21 years of age on November 6. I merely mean to give the facts and let some one competent decide. Q. Was the matter discussed by the election board, and did they come to the conclusion that you were legally of age and entitled to vote?

(Objected to because there is no law which authorizes the election board to decide when men become of age, and for the reason that it is immaterial and irrelevant.)

A. I won't answer until I have to.

Q. Would you have voted at that election if you had not supposed that you were legally entitled to vote? --A. I did not know whether I could vote or not. I was told I could vote and went over. The man that took me over got me a vote.

And further saith not.

Attest:

W. A. TRUMP.

ABRAHAM OGDEN,
Associate Judge.

N. C. FARWELL affirmed.

(Counsel for contestee request that it be stated what is proposed to be proven and the purpose thereof.

It is proposed to be proven by the witness now on the stand that he was an officer or member of the election board which held the election for Pike Township on the 5th November, 1878, and that as such he was legally qualified.

Upon which counsel for contestee objects to the testimony of the witness for the purpose stated, or for any other purpose, for the reason that it is in its nature original evidence, and is not in rebuttal or reply to anything offered by contestee.)

Question. Where do you reside ?-Answer. Pike Township, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania.

Q. At the general election held in Pike Township on the 5th November, 1878, were you a judge of said election?--A. I was.

Q. By whom were you sworn or qualified for that position?—-A. By the minority inspector, John S. Holden.

Cross examined:

Counsel for contestee, reserving all rights and objections, proceeds to cross-examine:

Q. What proof, if any, did you as an election board require, of voters whose names were not on the registry-list of voters?

(Objected to for the reason it is not proper cross-examination as the