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Mr. NICKELS. None other?

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Senator NEELY. What was the grand total of the amounts you received?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. Oh, about $625, I think, that I collected there in Fort Worth.

Senator KING. How large a place is Fort Worth?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. I suppose about 165,000 people there.

Senator KING. Were you connected with the Democratic Party! Mr. STRAUGHAN. No more than just being a voter and supporting Mr. Mayfield and some of my other friends that were running for office.

Senator KING. Were there other candidates voted for in the primaries?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. Yes; there were several local people I was interested in.

Senator NEELY. Was this money you received, the sum of $625, used to promote the interests of all these persons that you were particularly interested in or just in the interest of Senator Mayfield? Mr. STRAUGHAN. It was just as must in their interest as it was in his, because we were having this speaking there in the interest of all of them.

Senator NEELY. Was any part of this sum of $625 delivered to Senator Mayfield, directly or indirectly?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. No, sir.

Senator NEELY. Did you raise it at his suggestion or request?
Mr. STRAUGHAN. No, sir.

Senator NEELY. Do you know whether he knew at that time that you were raising it?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. If he did, I do not know it.

Mr. NICKELS. I do not recall just how much you said you got from Clay, Simmons, and Smith.

Mr. STRAUGHAN. $250.

Mr. NICKELS. Did you or not spend any of your own money, Mr. Straughan, in connection with the campaign?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. Oh, I guess I spent some of my own money. know I did.

Mr. NICKELS. Approximately, how much?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. I don't know. I testified at Corsicana, I think, that it was possibly in the neighborhood of $1,500.

Mr. NICKELS. I did not recall that you testified on that point there. Mr. STRAUGHAN. I think I did; I am not sure about it.

Mr. NICKELS. That is your best recollection of what it was?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. I do not know. It might have been more and it might have been less. I spent all that I thought was necessary. The CHAIRMAN. Is that approximately correct? Was it as much as $2,500?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. I do not know, Senator.

Mr. CHAIRMAN. Was it as much as $5,000?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. No, sir; it was not that much.

The CHAIRMAN. Was that spent for Senator Mayfield alone or for the other candidates as well as for Mayfield?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. It was spent for the other candidates as well.

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Senator KING. In your county?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. Yes.

Senator NEELY. Do you mean, by that, that it was a general campaign promotion fund?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. Yes, sir.

Mr. NICKELS. What other candidates do you refer to in that connection?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. Robert Hanger, and in the sheriff's race, I was active in that, and in the Williams' campaign-all of those county officers.

Mr. NICKELS. Local officers there in Tarrant County?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. Yes.

Senator KING. It was a county election, was it?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. Yes.

Senator KING. A county primary?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. Yes.

Senator KING. Judges?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. It was the general election. No; there were no judges elected that year, I don't think. Maybe one.

Senator KING. Members of the legislature?
Mr. STRAUGHAN. I think some were elected.
Senator KING. And various State officers?
Mr. STRAUGHAN. Yes; some State officers.

Senator KING. Do you know whether there were any persons living in your county who were on the general State ticket-auditors, and the treasurer or▬▬

Mr. STRAUGHAN. I do not believe there was anybody there on the State ticket.

Senator KING. The district attorney?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. The district attorney was. His election was there-Hanger's election.

Senator KING. In those primary elections where county officers and municipal officers are to be selected, in former years state what the fact is as to whether there was a good deal of activity, and meetings were held.

Mr. STRAUGHAN. Always.

Senator KING. And any rivalry?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. Oh, yes; always a rivalry.

Senator KING. A sheriff's fight excites more interest there, does it not, than anything else?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. Sometimes.

Senator KING. Was the Ku-Klux question acute in your county? Mr. STRAUGHAN. Yes.

Senator KING. The Ku-Klux and anti?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. They had an opposition ticket what they called the Citizens' League of Liberty, I believe.

Senator KING. And did those various factions develop a good deal of activity in the primary election?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. Oh, yes.

Senator KING. Were there a great many meetings held-public meetings?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. Yes; quite a few.

Senator KING. Bands out?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. Yes.

Senator KING. Advertising?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. A great deal of it.

Senator KING. Have you any idea as to the number of candidates, county and State and all, who were involved in the election that year?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. Every political office was involved.

Senator KING. All the election expense had to do with the primary election, did it not?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. Yes.

Senator King. Only in the two primary elections?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. Yes.

Senator KING. The other never had-the general election?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. The first one was the most heated one.

Senator KING. But it had nothing to do with the general election

in November?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. No, sir.

Senator WATSON. Do you belong to the Ku-Klux?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. Yes.

Senator WATSON. Did you support Earle Mayfield's candidacy? Mr. STRAUGHAN. Yes, sir.

Senator WATSON. Were you asked by the Ku-Klux to support him?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. No, sir.

Senator WATSON. Did he himself at the head of it, in his official capacity, ask you to support him because he was a Ku-Klux? Mr. STRAUGHAN. No, sir.

Senator WATSON. Did you raise this money for him because he was a Ku-Klux?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. No, sir.

Senator WATSON. Did you get it from people who were Ku-Klux? Mr. STRAUGHAN. No; I think they were opposed to the Ku-Klux; some of them-most of them.

Senator WATSON. You are a pretty good solicitor, then?

Senator KING. Was it for Mayfield or the general campaign? Mr. STRAUGHAN. It was to be used in the general campaign as well as for him, because they were all interested in it. Just any of my friends that I could help, I did it.

Senator KING. Did you pay any part of it for meetings and bands where the meetings were held when Mr. Mayfield was not there? Mr. STRAUGHAN. I contributed to it; yes, sir.

Senator WATSON. Did you buy any votes with it?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. No, sir.

Mr. NICKELS. Was this money given to you for the use in the Mayfield campaign or otherwise?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. Well, I don't know. They gave it to me, and I used it for his benefit as well as the others.

Mr. NICKELS. Did you tell these contributors or not that you were going to use some part of it for somebody else than Mayfield? Mr. STRAUGHAN. I did not tell them how I was going to use it. Mr. NICKELS. What representation did you make to the people that contributed?

Mr. STRANGHAN. The people that contributed, they did it, solicited it themselves. They asked me if I would take it. I do not think

there was a one of them that I went to. I told them that I owed some bills there. I told Foster that I owed some bills there, and I said: "If you would like to contribute to it, I would be glad to have you."

Mr. NICKELS. Do you recall about Clay, Simmons, and Smith? Mr. STRAUGHAN. I got that money away, early, in the campaign. and I think most of that was used in making a trip or two around to different places in Mr. Mayfield's interests.

Mr. NICKELS. None of that, then, would be spent for these local candidates named, or other State officers?

These local men that you have mentioned, since you have mention them, they were the nominees or the indorsees of the Fort Worth klan, were they not, for those county offices?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. I do not know whether they were indorsed by them or not, all of them. I know that I supported some of them that were not indorsed by the klan.

Mr. NICKELS. But those you have named were indorsed by the klan, within your knowledge, were they not?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. It is reported so.

Mr. NICKELS. Do you not know it, or do yuo know it, of your own knowledge?

Mr. STRAUGHAN, No, sir; I do not.

Mr. NICKELS. Who paid your expenses in making these trips around over the State?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. I paid them myself.

Mr. NICKELS. About what proportion of the $1,500 or $2.500, or whatever it was, that you spent out of your own money, was represented by your expenses on these trips?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. I do not know how much of it.

Mr. NICKELS. What period of time did you consume in traveling around over the State with Mr. Mayfield, or without him. but in his behalf?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. A great deal of my time I spent on it. I spent all that I thought was necessary to help him to be elected.

Mr. NICKELS. Give us your best idea as to how much time you used for that purpose.

Mr. STRAUGHAN. I could not tell. I would be at home for probably a week and then I would go away for three or four days of a week; and I made so many trips that I could not tell.

Mr. NICKELS. As to your own funds, you kept a record of that, did you not?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. No, sir.

Mr. NICKELS. Did you generally use checks or currency?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. Well, I would draw money wherever I needed it. Mr. NICKELS. What is your idea as to whether the bulk of it would be represented by check stubs having canceled checks. or not? Mr. STRAUGHAN. I guess it would.

Mr. NICKELS. Have you preserved those records?.

Mr. STRAUGHAN. No, sir.

Mr. NICKELS, Have you or not showed the records to anybody that you now recall?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. I do not remember having shown them to anybody.

Mr. NICKELS. You do not recall?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. No, sir.

Mr. NICKELS. Did you or not make a trip to Austin to Mayfield's headquarters there?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. I do not believe I ever was in Mayfield's headquarters in Austin.

Mr. NICKELS. Where were those headquarters located, if you recall! I withdraw that question.

You were in Mayfield's office in the capitol during the campaign, were you not?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. Yes, sir. Not in the first campaign.

Mr. NICKELS. Were you there during the second primary campaign?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. I made one visit to Austin during the whole campaign. I do not remember just whether it was in the second, but I think it was in the second primary.

Mr. NICKELS. Are you acquainted with Mr. D. C. Lyday, who appears to have been Mr. Mayfield's manager in the Austin headquarters?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. Yes, sir.

Mr. NICKELS. Did you see him on that trip?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. No, sir.

Mr. NICKELS. Did you ascertain where he kept his office in the management of the campaign?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. No; I did not.

Mr. NICKELS. Did you or not see and confer with Len Hunter on that trip?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. I think I met him there at that time.

Mr. NICKELS. In Mr. Mayfield's office?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. Yes; I saw him in Mr. Mayfield's office.

Senator WATSON. Did you collect any of this money for the second campaign that is, the run-off, as you call it?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. No, sir.

Senator WATSON. All the money you collected, then, was for the first campaign?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. Spent in the first primary.

Senator WATSON. And you collected no money and spent no money for the second primary?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. Well, I might have spent some of my own money, considerable, around.

Senator WATSON. But you collected no money?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. No, sir.

Senator WATSON. Was anybody voted on at that second election except the candidates for senator-that run-off?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. Yes; there was.

Senator WATSON. If county candidates are not nominated the first time, do they go on this second ticket, too?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. Yes, sir.

Mr. NICKELS. Are you acquainted with Mr. W. H. Gray?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. Yes, sir.

Mr. NICKELS. Do you know what relation he bears to Mr. Mayfield?

Mr. STRAUGHAN. He is a foster brother, I think. Mr. Mayfield's father was Mr. Gray's guardian.

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