country, that started to build a new county road, and they brought these fellows there and voted them. We contested the election at a heavy expense, and filed our papers at the county court, and they refused to give us a hearing; this is the spring election. In the fall election, in the Tioga precinct, No. 30-it took in the Big Four mine and the Tioga mine. These two mines signed up with the union, and because they signed up with the union they had the precinct changed, and took the Tioga mine and the Big Four mine into the Badito precinct, and the poor devils had to go 18 miles to cast their vote.

In Oak Creek precinct four years ago we had two Democratic votes, and two years ago the Republicans had a majority of two votes-only that majority either way; but this fall it was going to go Democratic, and they changed it and the people had to travel 6 or 8 miles to vote.

Now, coming down to the town again, it has been the rule in Huerfano County, as well as all other counties in the State, that in each precinct they have two justices of the peace. This year, seeing that he could not elect Hunt justice of the peace in his own precinct, he connected three outside precincts to enable him to be elected justice of the peace.

Now, in 1913, the governor, by proclamation, declared it a city of the second class. They turned that down. I want to explain to you gentlemen how the power of politics goes in Huerfano County. In Walsenburg we have from 20 to 22 saloons; in the county we have from 20 to 22 saloons. These saloons are owned and controlled by Jefferson Farr and the Spanish Peaks Mercantile Co., of which he is president, and James B. Dick, our mayor. No one can get a license unless they buy their beer, cigars, and other things for their saloons from these parties, and that gives them a power in politics over all the saloons in this county, which is a great power in that county.

I heard Mr. Welborn testify there were no deputy sheriffs employed by him before the strike was called. From the 3d day of September to the 3d day of November I went down and took a list off, and I found 258.

Chairman WALSH. On the 3d day of what?

Mr. PATTERSON. Deputy sheriffs.

Chairman WALSH. What are the dates, I asked.

Mr. PATTERSON. From the 3d day of September to the 3d day of October. I think in all they deputized something like 600; between 500 and 600. Chairman WALSH. That is 1913?

Mr. PATTERSON. Yes.

Chairman WALSH. How many were deputized between September 3 and September 23?

Mr. PATTERSON. I took the list myself, and I am only talking of what I took myself to make it sure. I went to the clerk's office and took from the 3d day of September to the 3d day of October.

Chairman WALSH. Do you have any idea of the number deputized between September 3 and September 23?

Mr. PATTERSON. I think 250,

Chairman WALSH. Is there anything else?

Mr. PATTERSON. I have a great deal of stuff. I have a list from the 3d to the 3d.

Chairman WALSH. Leave that here, or if you will kindly take it with you and put the dates of the appointments on from the record. I want just the date of appointment; you have the name of the deputy. You will be excused, Mr. Patterson.

(See Patterson Exhibit No. 2.)

TESTIMONY OF MR. JEFFERSON B. FARR.

Commissioner LENNON. State your name, please.
Mr. FARR. Jefferson B. Farr.

Commissioner LENNON. Where do you live?

Mr. FARR. In Walsenburg, Huerfano County, Colo.

Commissioner LENNON. What position do you hold in that county?

Mr. FARR, Sheriff's office.

Commissioner LENNON. How long have you been sheriff?

Mr. FARR. Fifteen years--a little over fifteen years.

Commissioner LENNON. Is there any limitation under the laws of the State of Colorado as to the continuation of county officials in office?

Mr. FARR. Not to my knowledge.

Commissioner LENNON. What property interests have you in Walsenburg, or in that county?

Mr. FARR. I have numerous property interests.
Commissioner LENNON. Enumerate them.

Mr. FARR. My property interest is stock and farming. I also hold stock in the bank there, and am a director. I own some liquor interests. I own some real estate and city property; that is about the extent of it.

Commissioner LENNON. What business did you follow before you became

sheriff?

Mr. FARR. Stock business, cattle business, ranching, farming.

Commissioner LENNON. For how many years were you engaged in that busi

ness?

Mr. FARR. All my life.

Commissioner LENNON, How many deputy sheriffs were in commission in Huerfano County during the years 1905 to 1910; how many regular deputies did you have?

Mr. FARR. I could not tell you that. I have a list of deputies in my pocket that was called for on my subpoena when I was subpoenaed before you. My recollection does not run as to how many I had. I have brought here what I have.

Commissioner LENNON. What time does that list cover?

Mr. FARR. I will read the summons.

Commissioner LENNON. Do so.

Mr. FARR. It reads: "And bring with you a true and full copy of the list of all deputy sheriffs of Huerfano County, Colo., on and including the dates of January 1, 1913, September 1, 1913, and October 15, 1913." I have these lists prepared according to that.

Commissioner LENNON. Present the lists, if you will, please.

(See Farr exhibit.)

Commissioner LENNON. What number of deputy sheriffs have been in your employ since the date these lists were made out-since the dates to which this list refers?

Mr. FARR. Since October 15, 1913?

Commissioner LENNON. Yes.

Mr. FARR. Those names are all under appointment. I have not revoked them. Lots of them have left the country, but I have in actual service four men. When the Federal soldiers came in last spring they allowed me four men to discharge the duties of my office.

Commissioner LENNON. That is the number you have had since the incoming of the Federal soldiers?

Mr. FARR. Yes.

Commissioner LENNON, Were any of these deputies appointed without examination as to fitness in the way of character and competency and citizenship in this State?

Mr. FARR. I made no examination of any of them.

Commissioner LENNON. You made no examination of any of them?

Mr. FARR. No.

Commissioner LENNON. Were any of them employees of the coal companies? Mr. FARR. Not at the time they were appointed.

Commissioner LENNON. Well, did they become employees of the coal companies while they were acting as deputy sheriffs?

Mr. FARR. I don't know; I employed them and sent them to other places-to the mines and other places in the county to protect property and enforce the law.

Commissioner LENNON. AS sheriff, what was your attitude toward men who came into the community known generally as organizers-organizers of labor unions?

Mr. FARR. How is that?

Commissioner LENNON. Did you exercise any attitude toward those men in any way to prevent them from promoting their welfare in the community or seeing that they did not stay there?

Mr. FARR. It did not interest me one way or the other; I asked no questions. Commissioner LENNON. You took no action regarding any such men who came into the community?

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

Commissioner LENNON. Tell us regarding the arrest of Mr. John R. Lawson; do you remember that case at all?

Mr. FARR. I do, sir. He was arrested by the city marshal, Martine, and his assistant, for carrying concealed weapons one night. I was at home. I came down town the next morning and found out that he had been arrested. Martine notified me that he was in jail, and that he had gone before the justice of the place and that he had sworn out a warrant and that he was tried and sent to jail for 30 days.

Commissioner LENNON. What custom prevails in Huerfano County as to the carrying of weapons?

Mr. FARR. I don't understand.

Commissioner LENNON. Do the men generally, in Huerfano County, carry weapons?

Mr. FARR. No, sir; not any more than they do anywhere else, I don't believe. Commissioner LENNON. Mr. Lawson was tried and convicted; did he serve his sentence, or do you know as to that, Mr. Farr?

Mr. FARR. He appealed his case, is my recollection of it, and there was nothing ever done with it; it never came up in the county court. I think he employed Mr. Hendricks, an attorney from Trinidad; he came up in his interests, anyway.

Commissioner LENNON. What method is employed in your county for the selection of coroner's juries?

Mr. FARR. The coroner usually selects them.

Commissioner LENNON. The coroner selects the coroner's jury?

Mr. FARR. Yes, sir; he makes out the summons and hands it to the officer of the sheriff's office.

Commissioner LENNON. How are the juries selected for the trial of cases in the district court?

Mr. FARR. The regular panel is selected in this way: The county commissioners of the county select so many names-my recollection is that it is 300-from the tax rolls of that county. Those are placed in the hands of the clerk of the district court. Their names are written upon cards and placed in the jury box. A day is set and the clerk of the court draws the jury in my presence of 24

men.

Commissioner LENNON. Are any citizens eligible to service in the district court-jury service in the district court-that do not pay taxes?

Mr. FARR. Yes, sir; all citizens, as I understand, are eligible to jury duty. Commissioner LENNON. You said they were taken from the tax list?

Mr. FARR. They are, the original jury; I did not get through. In the trial of a case where the regular panel is exhausted a special venire is usually placed in the hands of some officer, either the sheriff or some of his deputies, to fill that venire.

Commissioner LENNON. Is the statement that has been made before the congressional investigating committee and before this committee warranted in fact that in the selection of coroner's juries the superintendent of the mine where the accident occurred is consulted as to the personnel of that jury?

Mr. FARR. Not to my knowledge, sir. I do not think-I am trying to refresh my memory-but I do not believe I ever served a coroner's jury in Huerfano County myself. Not to my recollection; I don't remember a superintendent dictating a coroner's jury.

Commissioner LENNON. What, generally, are the qualifications you require of a deputy sheriff?

Mr. FARR. Well, I have what is called a complimentary appointment. Men who are merchants will come in and ask me for an appointment. Under our law we are not permitted to secure assistance without having a deputy sheriff's appointment. I have a number of that kind, but do not consider them active deputy sheriffs. The men I expect to do the work, I usually use all the precaution necessary to pick out a satisfactory fellow.

Commissioner LENNON. After the strike was inaugurated, did you appoint as deputy sheriffs any so-called gunmen, or the detectives of the Felts agency, or strike breakers, that were brought in from the outside?

Mr. FARR. I think maybe I appointed two or three of Felts's men—a man by the name of Walter Belt, who now holds my deputy sheriff appointment, and maybe one or two other men. There might be a number of Baldwin-Felts men; to be plain with you, I don't really know who are Baldwin-Felts men. Commissioner LENNON. Did you make any inquiry at the time that they were appointed as to whether they were working for this agency?

Mr. FARR. I did not, sir.

Commissioner LENNON. What kind of duty were they appointed to?

Mr. FARR. They were appointed to duties to guard property around the mines and around the railroad depot and wherever I thought they were needed at.

Commissioner LENNON, Can you recall or make a statement regarding the first act of violence committed in your county as the result or outgrowth of this contest that is being investigated?

Mr. FARR. Of the strike?

Commissioner LENNON. Yes, sir.

Mr. FARR. I believe I can.

Commissioner LENNON. Just make a statement in regard to it.

Mr. FARR. If my memory bears me out, the first occurrence was about October 16. It was what we call the Oakview mine, 25 miles west of Walsenburg. One morning about daylight that mine was attacked from about half a mile away or distant on a hill. Somewhere from 300 to 500 shots were fired into the mine. I was notified of it, and I immediately notified the governorwired him and sent him a letter-stating to him that from the conditions that then existed and what I thought a few days would bring about that I would not be unable to control the situation, I had no response from him.

Commissioner LENNON. What power has the sheriff to summon citizens to maintain the peace in a county?

Mr. FARR. I don't know.

Commissioner LENNON, Hasn't the sheriff the power to summon every citizen in the county and swear them in as special officers in order to maintain the peace?

Mr. FARR. Not to my knowledge. I never looked it up.

Commissioner LENNON. Well, I don't know as to Colorado; I know as to some other States.

Mr. FARR. I don't know, sir.

If he has, my attention has never been called to it. I have never thought to look it up. I have consulted my attorney on those points, and he has never so advised me.

Commissioner LENNON. Was this disorder of which you speak now at this mine-it was prior to the arrival of the militia?

Mr. FARR. Oh, yes.

Commissioner LENNON. How long afterwards was it before the militia

arrived?

Mr. FARR. The militia arrived in Walsenburg on the 29th of October, is my recollection, in the morning.

Commissioner LENNON. After the militia arrived, was there further violence immediately following the arrival of the militia?

Mr. FARR. Yes, sir.

Commissioner LENNON. You say yes?
Mr. FARR. Yes.

Commissioner LENNON, What was it?

Mr. FARR. There was a murder committed at La Veta; four men were killed in an automobile by a bunch of strikers from behind a railroad bank.

Commissioner LENNON. Did you see the men that did the killing?

Mr. FARR. I seen the men that were supposed to do the killing; that is, charged with the killing.

Commissioner LENNON. Have they been convicted?

Mr. FARR. They have not. They have been in my charge for about a year, in jail. They are now in Pueblo County.

Commissioner LENNON. It is not yet settled as to whether they did the killing or not?

Mr. FARR. No, sir.

Commissioner LENNON. What was the attitude of your office toward the strike as to sympathy with either side in this controversy down here?

Mr. FARR. My aim was to be neutral, to enforce the law, and to protect life and property. That is what I have done to the best of my ability. Commissioner LENNON. And you have maintained that attitude?

Mr. FARR. Yes, sir.

Commissioner LENNON. Did you ever have or express your views as to the merits of the strike?

Mr. FARR. I don't remember of ever doing that.

Commissioner LENNON, You don't remember of having given expression to anything of the kind?

Mr. FARR. No, sir.

Commissioner LENNON. What was your policy as to cooperating with the militia, or cooperating with the Baldwin-Felts people, in connection with difficulties that occurred in the county?

Mr. FARR. My policy was to cooperate with anybody that would help me enforce the law and do the duties prescribed for ine and laid down for me to transact.

Commissioner LENNON. Did you hear a statement by the last witness, that with a citizenship of 2,400 that 1,400 votes were cast in an election?

Mr. FARR. I could not hear him plain. I heard him say something along that line.

Commissioner LENNON. Well, have you any knowledge as to this matter-as to whether that statement is practically correct?

Mr. FARR. In which election did he refer to, and when?

Commissioner LENNON. My recollection is that it was last spring's election. Mr. FARR. At last spring's election the population of Walsenburg was over 4,000, of all classes of people. Strikers had come in there from the time the strike was called, and every house-room-some houses had as many as four families in a four-room house. Never was before or since as at the time of that election so many people in our town of Walsenburg as then.

Commissioner LENNON. Were the people comparatively new arrivals? Mr. FARR. Came in during the fall and winter for different reasons. Commissioner LENNON. Were they entitled to vote in that community? Mr. FARR. So held that way. I believe the laws of our State permit a person to vote where he has been à resident of the State a year, of the county 90 days, of the town 30 days, and of the precinct 10 days, and a naturalized citizen of the United States.

Commissioner LENNON. Do you know anything regarding the election, that it is claimed that the officers of the coal-mining companies conducted the nominations for county and town oflicers?

Mr. FARB. Not to my knowledge. I don't think-I have been in politics there, and been in office 15 years, as I have stated, and I have no recollection of any coal operator or superintendent or anybody connected with them ever controlling the nomination of anybody in our county.

Commissioner LENNON. Do you know whether the vote of the miners indicated, as to whether they had been in any way influenced as to how they should vote?

Mr. FARR. I don't know that.

Commissioner O'CONNELL. Is the sheriff of Huerfano County under an annual salary or is he paid by fees?

Mr. FARR. Paid by fees.

Commissioner O'CONNELL, What, for instance, for the year 1913, was the income of the sheriff's office in fees?

Mr. FARR. I do not carry that in my mind. We make our statements four times a year to the county clerk. I don't remember what the total income was or the emoluments of the office. I know what we draw

Commissioner O'CONNELL. For instance, what did you draw as sheriff?

Mr. FARR. I am entitled to $2,300 a year, and my undersheriff $1,500, and the jailer so much

Commissioner O'CONNELL. Then it is a salaried proposition?

Mr. FARR. It is a salaried proposition, but the salaries must be made to come out of the fees and emoluments of the office. If you don't make it, you can't draw it.

Commissioner O'CONNELL. Then, if the sheriff-if there was not a proper amount of business done during a certain year to bring your fees up to that, you would not get the $2,300?

Mr. FARR. No, sir; you could not. You could not collect it.

Commissioner O'CONNELL. Do you feed the prisoners in the jail?

Mr. FARR. I do not feed them directly. I have a jailer that feeds them. Commissioner O'CONNELL. Do you draw any compensation or emolument from the feeding of the prisoners?

Mr. FARR. Not a cent.

Commissioner O'CONNELL. You say you are interested in the liquor business in the city?

Mr. FARR. Yes, sir.

Commissioner O'CONNELL. Is that a wholesale business?

Mr. FARR. Mostly: yes, sir.

Commissioner O'CONNELL. Do the retailers go outside of your city to buy

liquors?