SENATOR FROM TEXAS

WEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 1924

UNITED STATES SENATE,

SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON

PRIVILEGES AND ELECTIONS,

Washington, D. C.

The subcommittee met, pursuant to adjournment, at 10 o'clock a. m., Senator Selden P. Spencer presiding.

Present: Senators Spencer (chairman), Watson, King, and Neely. Present also: Luther Nickels, Esq., and Scott Woodward, Esq., counsel for contestant, and W. F. Zumbrunn, Esq., W. P. McLean, jr., Esq., counsel for the contestee.

The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order.

Mr. ZUMBRUNN. Mr. Chairman, I would like to make an announcement here before you take any testimony. This morning there called at my room in the hotel a number of officers in the order of the Ku-Klux Klan, and asked me to say to the committee that in view of the fact that charges had been made here that $200,000, or any other sum, had been expended by the klan in relation to Mr. Mayfield's candidacy for the United States Senate, either in the general election or in any other campaign, they wanted me to say that a subpoena is out for the cashier of the order, and the cashier at this time is at the bedside of his wife, who is very ill and has just undergone an operation at Mayo Bros. Institute, but that the assistant cashier has come here with the records, and they have brought here the treasurer and the chairman of the finance committee and the grand dragon of the State of Texas, who handled. their funds; and they also wanted to say that the bringing of these people here would be without any expense to the Government; and that any other records that you wanted they would produce, or any witnesses that you wanted they would produce any evidence that is germane to the invesigation they would produce-at their own expense, because they want this question settled conclusively and for all time now; and I want to say that in addition to the assistant cashier and his records, the treasurer and the chairman of the finance committee and the grand dragon in charge of the State of Texas during the year 1922 will be produced here, and if they want to use them they are here; and we will bring Mr. Furney here by Monday, because, as I understand, the operation on his wife is successful, and he will leave and come here at once; and any other testimony that the chairman will indicate will be produced here at no expense whatever to the Government.

The CHAIRMAN. Very well. Proceed with the witness.

TESTIMONY OF W. H. GRAY

(The witness was sworn by the chairman.)
Mr. NICKELS. Your name is W. H. Gray?
Mr. GRAY. My name is W. H. Gray; yes, sir.
Mr. NICKELS. Where do you live?

Mr. GRAY. I live in Oklahoma. That is near enough.

Mr. NICKELS. Tulsa?

Mr. GRAY. Well, I make my headquarters there.

Mr. NICKELS. You formerly lived in Texas?

Mr. GRAY. I was born and raised in Texas, and lived there for

many years.

Mr. NICKELS. Have you known Mr. Earle B. Mayfield practically all of your life or his life?,

Mr. GRAY. He and I were born within a few hundred feet of each other, and I led him by his hand to his mother's grave, and both of us cried there together as children. I have known him ever since. Mr. NICKELS. Did you see Mr. Earle B. Mayfield during the primary election campaign in Texas in 1922?

Mr. GRAY. Occasionally I did; yes, sir.

Mr. NICKELS. Do you now recall at what places you saw him in

Texas?

Mr. GRAY. Well, at that time I maintained an office in Houston and one in Tulsa, and usually on my visits to my eastern office 1 would see him at Dallas, perhaps. I do not think I ever saw him at Houston. That is away at the other end of the State.

Mr. NICKELS. Yes,

Mr. GRAY. You will bear in mind it is almost as far from Tulsa to the other end of Texas as it is from here to Tulsa; about the distance. It is a long way across that State, and I do not think I saw him in Houston during the first primary at all. I might have done so. But I saw him occasionally on my visits there.

Mr. NICKELS. Did you or not see him at Dallas during the first primary?

Mr. GRAY. Occasionally I did; yes, sir; probably two or three times.

Mr. NICKELS. What is your occupation, Mr. Gray?

Mr. GRAY. I am a lawyer by profession, and have practised law for a number of years. I am engaged in the oil business, and am now president of the National Association of Independent Oil Producers, and have been for some three years, and have presented the questions involved in that industry to the various committees of the Senate. I made the fight here for a tariff on oil before the Finance Committee.

Senator KING. Just limit your answers to the questions and we will get through sooner.

Mr. NICKELS. Where is the headquarters of the association located? Mr. GRAY. At Tulsa.

Mr. NICKELS. Did you or not have anything to do with arranging for Mr. Mayfield's headquarters in the Oriental Hotel in Dallas? Mr. GRAY. I did not; no, sir.

Mr. NICKELS. Did you or not have anything to do with the expense of that headquarters?

Mr. GRAY. Well, get down to the issue. You know what you want to prove by me.

Mr. NICKELS. Well, that is a plain question. Did you have anything to do with paying the expenses of those headquarters at the Oriental Hotel at Dallas, Tex.?

Mr. GRAY. I did not pay any part of the expenses.

Mr. NICKELS. Did you guarantee any part of them or otherwise become personally liable?

Mr. GRAY. Oh, yes; I did.

Mr. NICKELS. Can you approximate the time of the making of that guarantee for us?

Mr. GRAY. No; I will just give you the incidents that occurred there.

Mr. NICKELS. Yes.

Mr. GRAY. There was a young fellow named Will Ford, and there were several others who lived in Dallas, and they organized the Dallas County Mayfield Club, as I remember it. After years of experience, of course, I recall those various Dallas County clubs, Dallas County being one of the largest counties, most centrally located in the whole State of Texas. There has always, as a rule, been a Dallas County Club, for many, many campaigns. through many of them in that State.

The boys had some rooms there, and on one occasion when I was there they owed quite a lot of money; I do not know, probably $1,200. The price of oil was very low at that time and my estate was tied up in a divorce suit. I could not get at very much of it, but I had a fairly good credit at the hotel, having stopped there for years, and I went over to the Oriental Hotel, and under promise from those boys that they would get out there and raise that money to pay the expense of that club, I guaranteed the bill, and it was paid. I presume they paid it. I do not know who paid it, but I presume they did, because the hotel never did call on me to pay the money. The CHAIRMAN. Did you guarantee any special amount, or just what the bill would be?

Mr. GRAY. I just signed a guaranty on the rooms, I think it was maybe up to a certain period. I think the boys were in debt then about $1,200. I know that I told them that they must get out there among there friends and get that money up.

The CHAIRMAN. Was it your understanding that the limit of Your guaranty was about $1,200?

Mr. GRAY. About $1,500, I think, is what the limit was.
Mr. NICKELS. Do you recall what rooms that covered?

Mr. GRAY. I could not tell you. I was never there but twice in my life.

Mr. NICKELS. Was it the rooms that had a big sign of "Mayfield North Texas Headquarters" on it?

Mr. GRAY. I could not tell you whether there was any such sign or not. I will tell you, honestly, I was never in those rooms. I don't think, but twice.

Mr. NICKELS. Do you know Mr. Ben C. Richards, junior?

Mr. GRAY. I met him the two times I was there, and once afterwards.

Mr. NICKELS. State whether or not Richards was in charge of those rooms at the time you were there?

Mr. GRAY. I could not tell you.

Mr. NICKELS. Was he there

Mr. GRAY. Mr. Ford, who is a resident of Dallas County, and whom I have known many years, and some other boy-I have forgotten his name, but I think he worked for Sanders Bros. therepersuaded me to get that thing straightened out and guarantee it. Ben Richards did not have any influence on me, because I did not look to Ben Richards for the money. I looked to these boys in Dallas County to pay that bill. It was their club and it was their county organization, and I thought they ought to take care of it, and I so told them.

Mr. NICKELS. Where did you get the information that is was their club and their organization?

Mr. GRAY. From the people who guaranteed it originally-signed the guaranty and organized it and guaranteed it.

Mr. NICKELS. Who were those people, outside of Ford?

Mr. GRAY. I could not tell you. I met them there casually. As I say, I was not there but a few days.

Mr. NICKELS. You can not recall the names of any of them except Ford, at this time?

Mr. GRAY. At this time, no; but there are some of them on that guaranty. I do not know who they are. It is in writing. It was a casual proposition with me.

Mr. NICKELS. You do not happen to have a copy of that guaranty? Mr. GRAY. No; I paid no more attention to it.

Senator KING. You say the hotel never asked you to pay the amount; that it was paid by Ford and the others?

Mr. GRAY. The boys paid it, yes. I was not required to pay any portion of it. But they had known me for many years, and accepted my guaranty, and let the boys continue running, instead of closing them up.

Mr. NICKELS. I believe that is all.

The CHAIRMAN. Are both sides through with this witness? You can be excused, Mr. Gray.

TESTIMONY OF J. L. HUNTER

(The witness was sworn by the chairman.) Mr. NICKELS. Your name is J. L. Hunter?

Mr. HUNTER. Yes, sir.

Mr. NICKELS. You are generally known as Len Hunter among your friends.

Mr. HUNTER. Yes, sir.

Mr. NICKELS. Where do you live, Mr. Hunter?

Mr. HUNTER. I live at Austin.

Mr. NICKELS. You have lived there how long?

Mr. HUNTER. Practically all my life.

Mr. NICKELS. You are acquainted with Mr. Earle B. Mayfield?

Mr. HUNTER. Yes, sir.

Mr. NICKELS. How long have you known him?

Mr. HUNTER. I first met Mr. Mayfield when he was a member of

the State senate.

Mr. NICKELS. In 1908 or 1909?

Mr. HUNTER. Yes; I judge so. Possibly in 1908; yes sir.

Senator KING. Were you and he both members? Were you a member of the State senate?

Mr. HUNTER. No, sir; I was not. I was in the mercantile business there.

Mr. NICKELS. What was your business in 1922, and what is it at this time?

Mr. HUNTER. I am in the cotton brokerage business.

Mr. NICKELS. Cotton brokerage?

Mr. HUNTER. Yes, sir.

Mr. NICKELS. Did you or not, during the primary campaign in 1922, or in the latter part of 1921, leading up to the actual campaign, solicit funds from any persons in Texas?

Mr. HUNTER. Well, I do not know that I solicited funds. I had funds tendered me.

Mr. NICKELS. All right. Hunter?

Were you subpoenaed in this case, Mr.

Mr. HUNTER. There was a subpoena issued for me, but it never reached me. But I heard there was one out for me, and I came here. Mr. NICKELS. You did not see the subpoena ?

Mr. HUNTER. No, sir; I did not.

Mr. NICKELS. The subpoena calls for the production of certain records. Of course, if you did not see it

Mr. HUNTER. No: I did not see it.

Mr. NICKELS. Did you bring any records of the money you handled with you?

Mr. HUNTER. No; I did not have any records.

Mr. NICKELS. You did not make any records?

Mr. HUNTER. No, sir.

Mr. NICKELS. You are acquainted with John C. Townes, jr.?

Mr. HUNTER. Yes, sir.

Mr. NICKELS. Do you recall whether or not you received any moneys from Townes?

Mr. HUNTER. Yes; I received some money from Townes.

Mr. NICKELS. Can you approximate the date of the receipt of that money?

Mr. HUNTER. I do not remember the dates; no, sir.

Mr. NICKELS. Well, how much did you receive from Townes?

Mr. HUNTER. I received either $2,000 or $2,500. I think it was $2,000.

Mr. NICKELS. Was that $2,000 or $2,500 made up of Townes's own contribution, or was it a combination of contributions made by different people at Houston?

Mr. HUNTER. It was in two or three different documents. I do not remember.

Mr. NICKELS. Do you remember

Senator KING. You mean two or three different checks?

Mr. HUNTER. Two or three different checks; yes, sir.

Mr. NICKELS. Do you recall who the makers of the checks were? Mr. HUNTER. I do not.

Mr. NICKELS. Are you acquainted with Mr. Eldridge, of Sugar

lands, Tex.

Mr. HUNTER. Yes; I know him.

Mr. NICKELS. What business was Mr. Eldridge engaged in in 1922, if you know?