An Account of the Proceedings on the Trial of Susan B. Anthony Part 20

Objected to.

THE COURT: I don't think that is competent, what Warner said:

MR. VAN VOORHIS: The district attorney has gone into what occurred at that time, and I ask to be permitted to show _all_ that occurred at the time of the registry; this offense was committed there; it is a part of the _Res Gesta_; all that occurred at the moment Miss Anthony presented herself and had her name put upon the registry.

THE COURT: I don't think that is competent.

MR. VAN VOORHIS: I ask to show what occurred at the time of registry.

THE COURT: I don't think it is competent to state what Warner or Wagner advised.

MR. VAN VOORHIS: So that the question may appear squarely in the case I offer to show what was said and done at the time Miss Anthony and the other ladies registered, by them, the inspectors, and the federal Supervisors, Warner and Wagner, in their presence, in regard to that subject.

THE COURT: I exclude it.

MR. VAN VOORHIS: Does that exclude all conversations that occurred there with any persons?

THE COURT: It excludes anything of that character on the subject of advising them. Your case is just as good without it as with it.

MR. VAN VOORHIS: I didn't offer it in view of the advice, but to show precisely what the operation of the minds of these inspectors was at that time, and what the facts are.

THE COURT: It is not competent.

By MR. VAN VOORHIS:

Q. Were you present on the day of election?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. Did you receive the votes of these persons?

A. I did.

Q. How many ballot boxes were there there?

A. Six.

Q. What position did you occupy during the day?

A. Chairman of the Board.

Q. Did you stand at the window and receive the votes?

A. Most of the time I did.

Q. Were those ballots which you received from them folded?

A. They were.

Q. Did you or any of the inspectors see or know the contents of any of the ballots?

MR. CROWLEY: If your Honor please, I submit it is entirely immaterial whether these inspectors saw the names upon the ballots.

THE COURT: I have excluded that already. It is not competent. It is proved that they put in votes, and it is proved by one of the ladies that she did vote for a candidate for Congress.

MR. VAN VOORHIS: I propose to show by the witness that he didn't know the contents of any ballot, and didn't see it.

THE COURT: That will be a.s.sumed. He could not do it with any propriety.

By MR. VAN VOORHIS:

Q. Did either one of the inspectors object to receiving the votes of the women at the polls?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. Which one?

A. William B. Hall.

Q. Did he take any part in receiving votes, and, if so, state what part?

A. I believe that he took the ballot of one lady, and placed it in the box. I stepped out, I believe, for a few moments.

Q. Did it to accommodate you while you stepped out?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. On the day of registry did the inspectors as a board decide unanimously to register these votes, all three of you consenting?

A. We did.

Q. When you came to receive the votes, Hall dissented?

A. He did, sir.

Q. But the other two were a majority, and he was overruled; was this the way it was, or wasn't there anything in form said about it?

A. He was overruled; I felt it my duty to take the ballots.

Q. In receiving those ballots did you act honestly in accordance with your sense of duty, and in accordance with your best judgment?

A. I did.

By MR. CROWLEY:

Q. All three of the inspectors agreed in receiving these names for registration, did they not?

A. Yes, sir.