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1876.] OF THE HOUSE OF DELEGATES. 1493
summoned at the instance of those whom the Chairman styled
the prosecution, and the remaining five meetings were given to
the Police Commissioners and their witnesses. The testimony
of the latter occupies 424 pages of the testimony, that of the
former 452 pages. In consequence of this primary loss
and subsequent misuse of the time of the Committee, the in-
vestigation was closed under protest, it being affirmed by the
counsel who had volunteered to assist, that they had many
witnesses yet, not summoned, and many others who had not
obeyed its call, and whom, they again, and for the last time,
asked the Committee to bring before it by compulsory process.
In the third place, there was an evident and strong bias
from the beginning, manifested in behalf of the Commission-
ers; the rulings of the Chair, most inconsistent, as they con-
stantly were with each other, had at least one element of con-
sistency and uniformity, and that was, that they always fol-
lowed the wishes and suggestions of the counsel for the Police
Commissioners. When their counsel wanted the investiga-
tion to be informal, and the Commissioners themselves to be
first examined, the Chair so ruled, put Police Commissioner
Fusselbaugh on the stand, and announced, (p. 30, Feb. 10,
'76;) "the Committee does not propose to observe any for-
mality in the order of examination; when their counsel
wanted this plan reversed, and the witnesses against the Com-
missioners to be first examined," the Chair so ruled, and
announced (p. 36, Feb. 29,) that "it was and is the design
of the Committee, not to put the Police Commissioners on the
stand, until the testimony against them is closed." When
the counsel for the Commissioners objected to the reception
of evidence, the strictest rules of evidence were stretched,
strained and broken, to exclude it, when he wished to put in
evidence utterly incompetent, the rules were totally disre-
garded to admit it. The Chair announced (pp. 71 and '2,
Feb. 10) that rumors and hearsay were not evidence, and
would not be received, and yet, immediately afterwards (pp.
78, 85) he allowed, under protest, Gen. Herbert to state what
his first cousin had told his brother, and what his brother
had told him. He refused to allow Mr. Pierce to read a
printed copy of a letter sent to the Police Commissioners, and
which the witness swore was a correct copy, on the ground,
that it was not the best evidence; (pp. 56, '7, Feb. 17,) and
yet, allowed Marshall Grey to give as part of the res gestae
of a riot, a statement made to him by Capt. Billups, two or
three days after the riot, (pp. 83, '3, Mch. 15.) The Chair
announced (on p. 8, Feb. 10) that the Committee was not a
prosecution; that was evident enough, and in fact, all the
responsibility of searching for and of suggesting evidence to
sustain the charges was thrown upon volunteers. Not only
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