the Senator overlooks the point that Mayfield does contest his relations with Morrison. Senator NEELY. Does he deny having received the contribution of money which his attorney says was made? Mr. NICKELS. Yes, sir. Mr. ZUMBRUNN. The point is that we do not deny that he made the contribution. We deny that we ever got the money. That is the distinction. This may be competent with regard to some other issue in the case which the committee is not hearing this afternoon, but not to this issue. I want to protest. Senator KING. If there is any more of this, I shall hold it irrelevant and immaterial. Mr. NICKELS. If it is the wish of the Senator and those who vote with him, I will not pursue that particular subject any further now, but will come back to it possibly later. Senator KING. Counsel say he thinks it is material, and if it is not taking too long The CHAIRMAN. The committee has no desire to unnecessarily curtail the examination of counsel, especially at the beginning of his case when we can not know the relevancy of testimony because we do not know what is to follow; and counsel are entitled to a certain freedom, at the beginning of their case more than at any other time, until the committtee gets a line on what is in the case, and the committee does not want to unnecessarily curtail whatever counsel thinks is material, especially at the beginning of the case. You may proceed. Mr. McLEAN. All right. Mr. NICKELS. I understood you to say that Morrison and yourself finally got back to the hotel with Mayfield; but whether you said it or not, was that the fact? Mr. MCNAMARA. No, sir; Mr. Morrison came up later. Mr. NICKELS. Was there anybody with him? Mr. MCNAMARA. No, sir. Mr. NICKELS. Was anybody present with Mayfield when Morrison got there? Mr. MCNAMARA. Yes, sir; there was Mr. Mayfield, Mr. Charlie Triplet, Mr. M. D. Brown, and Mrs. M. Barnes, the proprietress of the hotel, and myself, sitting in the lobby, and Mr. A. A. Morrison came upstairs with this corn in his hand. Mr. NICKELS. What happened, if anything, after the banquet that night? Mr. MCNAMARA. The banquet broke up about 12 o'clock. Mr. Mayfield, Mr. Andy Barrett, and Mr. A. A. Morrison and myself came on up the square about two blocks from where the banquet was held. They stood there a minute and talked and we came on down to the hotel. Mr. NICKELS. Did you have any conversation with Mr. Mayfield on a subsequent day? Mr. MCNAMARA. On that day? Mr. NICKELS. And the next day? Mr. MCNAMARA. Yes. Mr. NICKELS. What were the conditions and circumstances of the conversations, and what was said in those conversations? Mr. MCNAMARA. Mr. Mayfield requested me to get busy and get this money that he had been asking me for some little bit to raise for him, and he said they were very badly in need of funds; and to be very careful and send it to him, because the laws were very strict in such matters. Mr. NICKELS. Did he or not tell you to send it to him if you got any money? Mr. MCNAMARA. Yes: he told me not to send it by check or money order, to send it in currency. Mr. NICKELS. Did he or not indicate to you in that conversation the amount of money that he needed then? Mr. MCNAMARA. Yes; he wanted me to get him $5,000 by the next Saturday. Mr. NICKELS. Where was this conversation? Mr. MCNAMARA. After we had left Grabam on our way to Breckenridge, Tex. Mr. NICKELS. You were going with Mr. Mayfield from Graham to Breckenridge? Mr. MCNAMARA. Yes. Mr. NICKELS. In a railroad commission car? Mr. MCNAMARA. Yes. Mr. NICKELS. What, if anything, did Mr. Mayfield state as to what he had already spent in his campaign? Mr. MCNAMARA. He told me that they had spent better than $80,000, and the campaign had hardly started. Mr. NICKELS. Did he or not mention anybody else in that particular oil district who had been active in soliciting campaign funds? Mr. MCNAMARA. Yes, sir. Mr. NICKELS. Who was it? Mr. MCNAMARA. He said that the boys at Wichita had been pretty well-taking care of things there. Mr. NICKELS. Did he mention anybody at Breckenridge or Eastman? Mr. MCNAMARA. Yes; he said that Mr. Charlie Brooks was looking after that at Breckenridge, and Mr. Cliff, C. M. Caldwell, and Breck Walker were looking after it at Breckenridge. Mr. NICKELS. Who, if anybody, did he mention as being active in soliciting campaign funds at Eastland? Mr. MCNAMARA. Mr. Frost. Mr. NICKELS. Which Frost was that? Mr. MCNAMARA. Cyrus Frost. Mr. NICKELS. What did he say about Frost's activity? Mr. MCNAMARA. He said that he had been very active, and when he would get to Eastland he would be able to get a little money. Senator KING. He would get what? Mr. MCNAMARA. That he would be able to get some money. Mr. NICKELS. Do you know what business Charlie Brooks was in at that time? Mr. MCNAMARA. He was an operator operating a casing head gas plant at Breckenridge, Tex. Mr. NICKELS. Casing head gas? Mr. MCNAMARA. Yes. Mr. NICKELS. Was he an oil producer? Mr. MCNAMARA. Yes, sir; he was drilling some wells in the Bunger district at that time. Mr. NICKELS. Do you know what Frost's interests were-business interests? Mr. MCNAMARA. No: I do not. Mr. NICKELS. After this trip from Graham to Breckenridge, you have just mentioned, was concluded: did you or not make any effort to collect any money at Graham for Mr. Mayfield? Mr. MCNAMARA. No, sir; I did not. Mr. NICKELS. Did you have any communication from him with reference to making an effort to collect it? Mr. MCNAMARA. The following Friday or Saturday he phoned me from Dallas and asked me if I had sent the money, and if not to hurry it up, as he was very badly in need of funds. Mr. NICKELS. Had he or not given you directions, in this conversation on the trip from Graham to Breckenridge, as to where to send the money if you got any? Mr. MCNAMARA. He did, sir. Mr. NICKELS. What did he say about that? Mr. MCNAMARA. At first he instructed me to send it to the Worth Hotel, at Fort Worth, Tex. Mr. NICKELS. To him? Mr. NICKELS. All right. Mr. MCNAMARA. But before we reached Breckenridge, he said, 66 Mac, send that to me at the Oriental Hotel, Dallas." Mr. NICKELS. Do you know whether or not Mr. Mayfield had a headquarters in the Oriental Hotel at that time? Mr. MCNAMARA. He told me that he had headquarters there. Mr. NICKELS. Did you send him any money? If so, state the circumstances connected with it? Mr. MCNAMARA. After he had phoned me that afternoon, I went over to Mr. A. A. Morrison's store and told Mr. Morrison that Mr. Mayfield had insisted that I get the money to him by next Saturday, at least. (At this point, at 3.30 o'clock p. m., the committee took a recess to answer a vote call in the Senate until 3.37 o'clock p. m., at which time the subcommittee resumed its session.) Mr. NICKELS. Did you or not receive any money from Mr. Morrison to be sent to Mr. Mayfield? Mr. MCNAMARA. Yes. Mr. NICKELS. How much was it? Mr. MCNAMARA. Two hundred dollars. Mr. NICKELS. What was it, currency? Mr. MCNAMARA. In currency, the same as I sent to Mr. Mayfield. Mr. NICKELS. Did you or not send it to Mr. Mayfield? Mr. MCNAMARA. Yes: I sat right down there and put it in a letter and sent it to Mr. Mayfield. Mr. NICKELS. Was there anybody present when you put it in the envelope? Mr. MCNAMARA. Mr. Morrison was in the office and Judge Walker of the chamber of commerce sitting in the same office. Mr. NICKELS. How did you send it in the envelope to Mr. Mayfield? Mr. MCNAMARA. I attached the money to a letter, placed the letter inside of the envelope, and carried it over to the post office and registered it and asked for a return receipt. Mr. NICKELS. Did you ever receive the return receipt? Mr. MCNAMARA. I did, sir. Mr. NICKELS. Now, Mr. Chairman, there is a copy of that letter in the Corsicana record. Perhaps it ought to be read at this point in order to get the connection. Mr. MCLEAN. Where is the original receipt; may I ask for that? Mr. NICKELS. I do not know where that original receipt is. I will try to get it. Mr. MCLEAN. Do you remember withdrawing it from the court trial? Mr. NICKELS. I remember it being attached to the deposition, and my withdrawing the deposition. The CHAIRMAN. Read the letter. I understand that counsel are both agreed that anything that is in the Corsicana record may be considered evidence in this case. Mr. HANGER. Absolutely. The CHAIRMAN. Is that your understanding, Mr. Nickels, that anything in the Corsicana record may be considered as in this case? Mr. NICKELS. Yes; if it is material. Mr. McLEAN. We have the explanation that that return post office receipt bears the name "Earle B. Mayfield," but I do not know whether they even contend that it is his signature or not. Mr. NICKELS. The point about that is that Mr. Mayfield admitted receiving the letter at the Corsicana trial, and that is in this record. Senator NEELY. What was the limitation on campaign contributions at that time in the State of Texas? Mr. NICKELS. $8,000 for the first primary and $2,000 more for the second. [Reading from Corsicana case:| MY DEAR MR. MAYFIELD: Please find attached $200 as per our conversation toward your expense. I will send some more later as it is hard to get at this time. I trust that this will reach you in due time and that it will be of some help to you, and I am going to take care of this part of the country, if anything that you think I should do please let me know about it, for it shall be a pleasure to do anything in my power. I am going to organize a Mayfield Club real soon here. I am your friend. Mr. MCLEAN. What is the date of that letter? Mr. NICKELS. June 3, 1922. Mr. MCLEAN. Did you or not receive a letter from Mr. Mayfield about the next day after the date of the letter which has just been read? Mr. MCNAMARA. I received a letter from Mr. Earle B. Mayfield on June 5, after I had sent the money on June 3. Mr. McLEAN. Wait a minute. We ask that that be excluded. The letter is the best evidence, and it speaks for itself. The CHAIRMAN. Is there any dispute about what it contains? Mr. MCLEAN. We say that it does not contain anything of the kind. As to that part of his testimony in which he has acknowl edged the receipt of that money, we ask the committee to listen to the letter. Senator. Senator NEELY. Let us hear the letter, if anybody has it. Mr. NICKELS. The letter begins on page 50 of the record of the Corsicana case and reads as follows: Mr. MIKE MCNAMARA, DALLAS, TEX., June 4, 1922. Graham Chamber of Commerce, Graham, Ter. DEAR MIKE: I have just received your kind letter of June 3 and contents carefully noted and wish to assure you that I was delighted to hear from you. You may be assured, my good friend, that I deeply appreciate the interest that you are manifesting in my candidacy for the Senate. I am not worrying about Young County because I know that you are going to put that county in the Mayfield column when the votes are counted on the 22d day of July. I note what you have to say about organizing a Mayfield Club. That will be fine, and I hope you will get busy at once, and when you organize it, be sure to send in an account of the organization to all the daily newspapers. Let me suggest that you have your mayor made president of the club. I note what you have to say about desiring to make arrangements for me to speak at Elissville on July the 3d or 4th. How I wish I could be with you, but some time ago my manager accepted an invitation for me to speak at Timpson, way over in east Texas on July 4, and I must therefore deny myself the pleasure of being with you on the 4th. I am glad to be able to say that everything is moving along nicely with my candidacy for the Senate. The reports which we receive at headquarters indicate beyond doubt that I will be in the second primary, and then we hope to win a great victory. All that we have to do is to just keep steadily on the job for a few weeks longer, and when the votes are counted on the 22d day of July, I believe that I will be high man in the senatorial contest. With kindest regards and best wishes, I beg to remain, Sincerely your friend. Now, Mr. McNamara, state whether or not after the receipt of that letter of June 4, 1922, you ever had any conversation with Mr. Mayfield about whether or not he received the $200. Mr. ZIMBRUNN. Just a minute; you mean June 5? Mr. NICKELS. When was this? Mr. MCNAMARA. October. Mr. MCNAMARA. Yes. Mr. NICKELS. Was that after what is called the Corsicana injunetion suit had been filed? Mr. MCNAMARA. Well, they had some depositions out. Mr. NICKELS. What was the occasion of your going to Austin at that time! Mr. MCNAMARA. I received a telegram from J. W. Hassell. Mr. NICKELS. Have you got the telegram? Mr. MCNAMARA. Yes. Mr. NICKELS. Who was J. W. Hassell at that time? Mr. MCNAMARA. He was chief supervisor, oil and gas department of the railroad commission. Mr. NICKELS. Did he or not have authority over you? Mr. MCNAMARA. He did, sir. Mr. NICKELS. Have you the telegram you just referred to? Mr. NICKELS. Show it to counsel. |