HEARING BEFORE A COMMITTEE ON PRIVILEGES AND ELECTIONS -1 SEVENTY-SECOND CONGRESS FIRST SESSION PURSUANT TO S. Res. 60 A RESOLUTION TO HEAR AND DETERMINE THE CON- SENATE FROM THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA ᏢᎪᎡᎢ 1 JANUARY 16, 1932 Printed for the use of the Committee on Privileges and Elections COMMITTEE ON PRIVILEGES AND ELECTIONS SAMUEL M. SHORTRIDGE, California, Chairman JAMES E. WATSON, Indiana. CHARLES W. WATERMAN, Colorado. DANIEL O. HASTINGS, Delaware. JOHN J. BLAINE, Wisconsin. FELIX HEBERT, Rhode Island. WARREN R. AUSTIN, Vermont. MAY WILLIAM H. KING, Utah. SUBCOMMITTEE ON SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 60 SENATOR FROM NORTH CAROLINA SATURDAY, JANUARY 16, 1932 UNITED STATES SENATE, COMMITTEE ON PRIVILEGES AND ELECTIONS, Washington, D. C. The committee met, pursuant to call, at 10 o'clock a. m. in the committee room, Capitol, Senator Samuel M. Shortridge presiding. Present: Senators Shortridge (chairman), Moses, Hastings, Hebert, Austin, King, George, Smith, Bratton, Connally, Bulkley, Gore, and Logan. Also the following parties to the contest: George M. Pritchard, the contestant, and his attorney, Robert H. McNeill. Hon. Josiah W. Bailey, the contestee. (Senate Resolution No. 60 is here printed in full, as follows:) [Senate Resolution 60, Seventy-second Congress, first session] Whereas on the 3d day of March, 1931, the Senate referred to the Committee on Privileges and Elections the pending contest between George M. Pritchard and Josiah W. Bailey involving the question whether the said George W. Pritchard or the said Josiah W. Bailey, or either of them, is entitled to membership in the United States Senate as a Senator from the State of North Carolina: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Committee on Privileges and Elections is hereby authorized to hear and determine said contest and to take such evidence as it may deem proper in order to determine the questions involved, and certify its conclusions to the Senate. Said committee is authorized by itself or by any subcommittee to investigate the questions aforesaid, and shall have authority to act by or through such agents or representatives as it may see fit to designate. Said committee or any subcommittee thereof shall have power to issue subpœnas and require the production of all papers, books, documents, or other evidence pertinent to said investigation, and to impound ballot boxes and alf records and paraphernalia used in the election in question; and said committee or any subcommittee thereof may sit during the sessions of the Senate and during any recess of the Senate or of the Congress and hold its sessions at such places as it may deem proper. It shall have authority to employ clerks and other necessary assistance and to employ stenographers at a cost not to exceed 25 cents per 100 words, and to cause to be taken and recorded all evidence received by the committee, and to have said evidence printed for the information of the Senate. The Sergeant at Arms of the Senate and his deputies and assistants are hereby required to attend the said Committee on Privileges and Elections or any subcommittee thereof, and to execute its directions. The chairman of the committee and each and every member thereof is hereby empowered to administer oaths and generally have such powers and perform such duties as are necessary or incident to the exercise of the powers and duties imposed by this resolution. Said committee shall report to the Senate at the earliest practicable date. The cost of investigations and proceedings in pursuance of the foregoing to be paid out of the contingent fund of the Senate and not to exceed $10,000.. 1 (The committee thereupon proceeded to the consideration of the contest instituted by George M. Pritchard against Josiah W. Bailey). The CHAIRMAN. Gentlemen, this meeting of the committee is called for the purpose of considering the contest instituted by Mr. Pritchard as against Mr. Bailey, the point in issue being the election held in the State of North Carolina in November, 1930. Mr. Pritchard, whom we will speak of as the contestant, filed a petition concerning this subject matter. My recollection is, and I think the record will show, that this petition was lodged with the Senate on March 3, 1931; and manifestly the committee had no time. to consider it before the adjournment on March 4. The contestee, as we will term Mr. Bailey, has filed what he terms a demurrer to this contesting paper, accompanied by a motion to dismiss; following that, also, an answer. Senator MOSES. And a further motion for a bill of particulars, Mr. Chairman. The CHAIRMAN. Yes. I have not that document before me. Senator MOSES. I have those, if I may interrupt, which were filed with me as chairman of the subcommittee which had been appointed in the Seventy-first Congress. All this took place after the adjournment of the Seventy-first Congress, and after the Senate had failed to provide the funds for the subcommittee's action; and on consultation with my colleagues on the subcommittee (Senator Watson is not here, but Senator Bulkley is) we received these papers and held them pending whatever action might be taken in the Seventy-first Congress. With the permission of the committee I will now file that document to which you have just referred and which you said was not in your possession; and with it goes that pamphlet of the election laws of North Carolina. The CHAIRMAN. So that the pleadings, if I may term all these documents such, before the committee now are the petition of the contestant, a demurrer and a motion to dismiss filed by the contestee, an answer filed by the contestee, and this document, which, as I gather, is in the nature of a motion for what we term a bill of particulars. Senator BRATTON. Mr. Chairman, may I ask that the petition be read? The CHAIRMAN. Yes, Senator. Before doing so I am speaking subject to the approval of the committee-questions having been raised to the sufficiency of the petition, and the demurrer and motion to dismiss being filed, followed by the answer and the other paper, it occurs to the chairman, the parties being present, that the sufficiency of the petition should be discussed, considered, and decided by the committee. To that end I would suggest that the parties in interest, the contestant and contestee, in person or by counsel, be heard as to the sufficiency of the document before us-the petition. If that is agreeable to the committee, we will call upon the parties in interest to present their views. Now, Senator Bratton, what is your observation? Senator BRATTON. My request was that the petition be read. I am anxious to know whether it charges violation of law or fraud specifically, or whether, in general terms, without specification. The CHAIRMAN. The petition could be read at the very outset, or perhaps read by counsel during argument. Senator BRATTON. Yes. The CHAIRMAN. What is the pleasure of the committee as to who shall open the discussion? Senator KING. Obviously, the contestant should open it. Senator Bailey is here seated with the certificate of a sovereign State. If Mr. Pritchard is contesting his right to a seat, the burden of course rests upon him. Senator HASTINGS. Before you came in it appeared here that there had been some paper filed in the nature of a demurrer. If that is true, if that raises the issue, the person who objects to the sufficiency of the petition might be heard first. Senator KING. Coming in late, I did not know that that was the fact. Obviously, then, we should have the petition read to see whether it is subject to demurrer. The CHAIRMAN. Truly; and the demurrant, of course, will read it and discuss it in supporting his demurrer to it. If agreeable to the committee, therefore, the committee will hear Senator Bailey in person or by counsel. Senator MOSES. What disposition has been made of these documents, Mr. Chairman? Have they gone into the record without reading? The CHAIRMAN. I shall consider them as part of the record. Senator KING. I should think they would go into the record. The CHAIRMAN. If agreeable to the committee, the record here this day will carry in the petition, the demurrer and motion to dismiss the demand for a bill of particulars, so-called, and, if desired, the answer. It is true that Senator Bailey files his answer without waiving in any degree the points of law raised by way of demurrer. We will carry into the record of this day all these documents, so that the committee and the Senate may have them easily accessible. (The documents above referred to are as follows:) PETITION OF GEORGE MOORE PRITCHARD To the Senate of the United States: Comes now George Moore Pritchard and files this, his contest, for a seat in the United States Senate as Senator from the State of North Carolina, and contests the seat claimed by Josiah W. Bailey for the term beginning March 4, 1931, and as grounds for this contest shows to this honorable body the following: That heretofore the said George Moore Pritchard was duly nominated as the Republican candidate for United States Senator from North Carolina for said term, and that the said Josiah W. Bailey was nominated for said office and term on the Democratic ticket. That there are in said State of North Carolina 100 counties, divided into 1,811 election precincts or districts; that the election for said office was held on the 4th day of November, 1930; that by the laws of the State of North Carolina the votes cast in the various precincts or districts are canvassed and counted by the judges, inspectors, and clerks of election in the districts in which cast; that said various |