Rensselaer Union, Volume 11, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 January 1879 — THE INVESTIGATION BY THE POTTER COMMITTEE. [ARTICLE]

THE INVESTIGATION BY THE POTTER COMMITTEE.

The Potter Committee reassembled, on the 2.3 d. Mr. Butler denied the truthfulness of the report scut out the previous day, iu substance, that the cipher dispatches were in his possession all last summer. If her made any such statement, he was drunk or insane. Mr. Hi-cock said he liiid good reason to WBovo-llmil Him dlsiiwlrliwi were copied before they came into Mr. Butler's hands. Zebina Moses, formerly Private Secretary to Vice-President Ferry, remembered the burlesque certificate from Louisiana. It was suppressed without objection; dkl not know what became of it. The committee went into executive session, after which Air. Butler offered thefollowing resolution, which was unanimously ngreud to: Resolved, That the commitiee receive from Mr. Butler the cipher dispatches which he shall present to them, and that the clerk be directed, in connection with some person whom Mr. Butler shall designate, to make a complete inventory of the dispatches so received in duplicate and certify to the same, one copy to be preserved for the use of the committee and one given to Mr. Butler; that all cipher dispatches so received shall be printed for the committee; that unless hereafter otherwise ordered before any originals or copies are given out for publication they shall be submitted to an expert to be chosen by tbc committeo who shall be sworn to make a faithful transcription of aud decipher the same according to his best knowledge, skill and ability, and that he will not allow any cipher dispatches given him to be given to any person or given out for publication, nor any of the dispatches or any supposed translation without a previous agreement obtained from the committee so to do, and he will Feturu to the committee all printed sheets and telegrams committed to him with such translations us he shall make, receiving from ihe committee such reasonable sum for his work as Ike committee may judge proper. Mr. Reed offered a resolution, which was tabled, reciting that Mr. Hewitt had, in the House, demanded that Mr. Tilden have an opportunity to face his accusers charging him with a knowledge of the cipher dispatches and directing that Mr. Tilden be notified of the investigation ordered by the House, and that he be allowed to be represented by counsel in the same manner and under the same limitations as persons arraigned under ihe ordinary resolution constituting the committee. The Chairman called St. Martins, who was examined at some length regarding the affidavit already published. Witness said it was not Stenger, but Maddox, who instructed him to report “ not found,” when he (witness) had subpeenas to serve on Republican witnesses; if was a Mistake, aud he (witness) altered it ns soon as lie saw it in the paper; this affidavit was made on the 2d of Decemiffib until ihej/ub jv* 'aigivv that Stenger s name occurred w here it should read Maddox. The witness then stated how, when acting Sergeant-at-Arms of the committee, he had returned twclie or thirteen eubpoennswiththere£ort '• not found;” he did soon instructions from taddox; in all these cases they were witnesses who were Republicans, or witnesses whom he was unable to “ fix up” to testify as Maddox desired. Ou further examination upon his affidavit, witness denied that he ever intended to refer to Btcnger’s conduct, and said that the charges therein made against that gentleman were untrue; other portions of his affidavit he confirmed; Mr. Bolter then cross-examined him upon the 'evidence tendered by the witness at New Orleans, taking the questions aImWST seriatim as they stood, and requesting the witness to point out those that were true; a great pari of his former evidence was declared by St. Martins to be entirely filled and given at the instigation of Stenger and Maddox. This part of the investigation was not eoucluded when Mr. Butler suggested that the examination he adjourned. The remainder of the sitting was secret.

The cross-examination of St. Martins was resumed by Mr. Potter, on the morning of the 24th. Witness said he had never heard that his discharge from his position as Deputy Ser-goant-at-Arms of tho.committee was due to the action taken by Mr. Cox, because thy affidavits were improperly served. 'Mr. Cox must have known that the witnesses were being tampered with, because they were all kept in one room hy Gibson. Weber and Curter, and not allowed to leave except to go On the stand to testify. These witnesses had Been promised various sums, from S2OO to S3OO, for contradicting their evidence given before tho Returning Board. They were paid SSO or SOO before testifying. They never got the rest. Nobody was paid. When the wituess first informed Weber that he should expose them, Weber replied, “They have not falfilled their promise to -me, and I don't care a curse what you do.” The witness admitted that he had been thrice indicted, once for shooting a man and twice for cutting. Yet he averred that he had as clear a record as any man in Louisiana. Maddox told witness they wanted certain witnesses to recant, and they wanted to make a case against Sherman or something of that kind, and if witness thought he could get these witnesses to recant by making them certain promisee he was to do so. “We had the witnesses there and told them what to sav. We told them first what questions would be asked and then what must be their answers. The witness Slayse wanted $1,500 for his evidence, and I remember I spoke to Stenger about that, but he never took any notice of it. W fiber had already told Slayse that he would not give him $1,500. but would give hint SSOO- Stenger must have known all abontft." The affidavits of witnesa was then, on vote, made part of the record. The cross examination was continued by Mr. Cox. In answer to the question how he came to go to New Orleans at the time the sub-committee was sitting there, witness said: “I was taken hy Weber. He asked me to go with him to see some members of the committee and some outside agents doing business for TUden." The witness said whqn he arrived in Washington he saw Maddox and had a long talk with him. “ Maddox fold me he knew ■ about mv affidavit, and that the best thing I could do would be to withdraw It. If so, nothing should be published againßt me. Shellabarger, he said; was his lawyer, and Pitkin and he were close friends. He said tbe best thing you can do is to write me a letter to authorize me to go to the Republican members of the cominittee and withdraw your affidavit. If yon will do this 1 Will give you SI,OOO, payull yourex- ' penses here and send you home, and I will show yon all around the city before you leave. I told him it was no use to try anything of tbe kind on me, because I Could not'accept anything they could offer. After awhile Acklin came in aid stayed a short time. Then Gibson was announced, and, as 1 did not want them to pot up any job on mo, I left, meeting Gibson on the ataira. At this point tbe committee adjourned. * —A workman selected the top of the Brooklyn bridge tow'er as the place to have a lit. -