. ,46 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE THE M „ „ A board, with a painting upon it, had not been hung outside the committee- room, and Mr. D. Meagher, hoard n p bfe./ ior a short time; are you aware of anything that would ,87^^ 38. excite any portion of the community having been discovered on the person of parties in the court- house, on the opening day ot the last election ?- I do. 3893. Are you aware of such things as concealed daggers r— I am. 0801 And of their being found upon the persons of any people in court?— Yes; I saw them taken from them in the presence ot the sheriff, and in open court disarmed. 2 „ , . , , 5895. Was not that likely to excite the public feelingr— Very much indeed; bludgeons loaded with lead; I myself had one taken, and I gave it to the com- mander of the police; a short stick filled with lead at the top ; a murderous instru- ment ; and cane- swords and daggers. They were disarmed in court before my face on the last day of the election. 3896. And that was calculated to lead to excitement among the people at ] ar„ e?— It was very much. It was considered a great outrage. 3897. Was not it considered a very doubtful point whether the sheriff and the public officers would be able to keep the peace upon that day?— It was considered very doubtful. 3898. From what party did that come?— The Conservative party were the armed party; they fancied themselves a privileged order. 3899. It has been stated that the voters were divided into different booths, for the purpose of polling according to the letters of the alphabet with which their • names commenced, and that letter M. contained the greatest number of voters ?—• The greatest number of any letter. 3900. And by Act of Parliament the letters cannot be divided so as to form two booths for polling?— They cannot be divided. 3901. Are you aware whether any difficulty occurred in polling the men appear- ing upon the register in that letter?— That letter contains a greater number of voters than any other letter in the alphabet, and it polled a lesser number of men, by reason of a stratagem and trick of the opposing parties. 3902. Then had there been a second polling booth for that letter, would there have been a greater number of men polled out of that letter than appeared ?— There would have been more than 250 men polled more in the election before last. 3903. In your own opinion, was it next to impossible to poll out the men, by reason of the obstructions raised in that particular booth ?— It was quite impossi- ble, from the obstructions wantonly raised. 3904. Are the Committee to understand that you would recommend that all those letters should have additional booths where the number exceeds 400 or 500? — It is impossible to do justice if you confine it to one booth ; particularly in the letter M., there are so many beginning with that letter. 3905. Mr. Serjeant Jackson.] What was the nature of the obstructions in that booth ; were they by physical force ?— Stratagems ; such as stealing the Prayer- book, and keeping the man from swearing ; and keeping up a fictitious argument to kill time. We were deprived of the opportunity of bringing in 100 men that were there every day. 3906. How many times was the Prayer- book stolen ?— Once ; and that wasted nearly two hours of our time. 3907. Could not you find a second Prayer- book in the city of Cork 1— So we could ; but the question was raised as to who took it, and so there was a squabble got up to kill time; it was a ruse of the enemy. 3908. Who was it that did it?— A man of the name of Fitzsimons, an attorney, lie was brother- in- law to the sheriff, and between them they managed it nicely. 3909. What other obstructions were there in that booth ?— A varietv. There was the word " municipal," the poor people could not say " municipal;"" and they would keep them for an hour before they could pronounce " municipal" properly. 3910. You mean in the oath as to paying the municipal taxes?— Yes; that was the finest aid they could possibly have, that word " municipal " What 75 thie § reat6St , ength of time k took any man to pronounce the word municipal ? — 1 saw a countryman 25 minutes trying to pronounce the to kill limT11 ' 6 * W0 all° W him 10 V° te- 11 "' aS a11 evidentl>' to 39! 2- Could that man speak English ?— He could. 3913. And