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Senate Chamber, Madison, Wisconsin,
February 6, 1913, 10 o'clock A. M.

The Senate was called to order by the President. Upon mo

tion of Senator Randolph.

The senate resolved itself into a committee of the whole. Senator Scott in the Chair.

The Chairman: What is the pleasure of the committee? Senator Burke: Seeing that Mr. Wilbur is present, I would' like to ask him one question.

HARRY WILBUR, heretofore called as a witness and heretofore sworn, resumed the stand, and on oath testified as follows:

Examined by Senator Burke:

Q. Mr. Wilbur, in speaking of the different candidates for the speakership last evening the matter was not very clearly brought out. Did Governor McGovern have any particular choice for a candidate for speaker of the assembly?

A. No, sir.

The Chairman: The witness will consider himself under oath.

Mr. Wilbur: (to the Chairman) Yes, sir.

A. (continued) No, sir. The circumstances covering the Governor's position in that matter, Senator were briefly these: He stated that he wished the program of the party in power carried through, and he was opposed merely to the election of any speaker of the assembly whose candidacy was based first of all upon hostility to him. On those grounds he merely opposed the candidacy of Mr. Johnson and Dr. Goff. He advocated the candidacy of no man.

Q. Otherwise he had no personal choice?

A. No, sir.

Examined by Senator Randolph :

Q. Mr. Wilbur, is it not a fact that the candidacy of Mr. Nye was wholly run from the Governor's office?

A. That is not a fact.

Q. It is not a fact?

A. No, sir.

Q. And Mr. Nye was not commonly known as the Governor's candidate?

A. The newspapers stated that.

Q. Was it ever denied?

A. I don't know whether it was, in the newspapers, or not. Q. I mean was it ever denied by anyone from the Governor's office?

A. Oh, I denied it several times.

Q. That Nye was not the candidate?

A. Nye was not the Governor's candidate; not that Nye was not a candidate.

Q. Did the Governor deny that Nye was not his candidate? A. I cannot recall that again. He talked to many people. I do not know what he said on that. I know merely his in structions to me.

Q. It appears by the testimony that when the Governor has conferences with members of the legislature you are very apt to be present, and did you in any of those conferences hear the Governor say that Nye was not his candidate?

A. I did not hear him say that he was or was not his candidate. His statement in conferences was simply as I have outlined it to the Senator from Brown.

Q. Then the only knowledge you had that he was his candidate was simply from newspapers?

A. I had no knowledge Nye was his candidate at all.

Q. You had knowledge from the reports you read in the newspapers?

A. No, sir. I saw that statement in the newspapers. I had no knowledge of it at all.

Q. You did not believe Mr. Nye was the Governor's candidate?

A. I knew the newspapers were wrong.

Q. You did not believe Mr. Nye was the Governor's candidate?

A. No, sir. I have stated the Governor's position.

The Chairman: Any further questions by any members of the committee?

Senator Burke: I would like to know if Mr. L. A. Anderson is in the room. I would like to call Mr. Anderson to the witness stand.

Mr. Aylward: May I ask the witness just a question, Sena

tor, if you will?

Senator Burke: Yes.

Examined by Mr. Aylward:

Q. Are you the Governor's executive clerk?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. You were here all day yesterday?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. I notice in the Governor's message to the senate that he says: "Aside and apart from other considerations, proper attention to the duties of my office will not permit me or my executive clerk to engage in any such protracted trial or hearing as that contemplated." Has your duties lessened since the message was written?

A. No, sir.

So that you have an abundance of time and have had it, to take part in the proceedings if you see fit, haven't you? A. No, sir. I am here as a matter of courtesy to the senate, a co-ordinate branch of government.

Q. But you have time to be here?

A. I am here under subpoena of the senate.

Q. You stated just now, Mr. Wilbur, that the Governor was opposed to Mr. Goff and Mr. Johnson. That was true, was it?

A. Yes, sir, for the reason stated.

Q. Well, I didn't ask you-I asked you whether that was true or not?

A. It was true for the reasons stated.

Q. So that the Governor was taking an active part in the organization of the House then?

A. I have stated the Governor's position.

Q. Well, was he taking an active part in the matter of the organization of the House?

A. He was opposed to the candidacy of any man, to the election of any man whose candidacy was based upon opposition to him, and which tended to disrupt harmony between the Governor and the legislative branch.

Q. He was opposed, then, to two of the active candidates, was he?

A. For the reasons stated, yes, sir.

Q. Well, he was opposed to them?

A. Yes, sir, for the reasons stated.

Q. Were you present at a conversation that the Governor had with Assemblyman Jensen?

A. No, sir. I am not even acquainted with Assemblyman Jensen.

Q. You did not hear him ask Assemblyman Jensen not to support Goff or Johnson because they were opposed to him at Chicago?

A. No, sir.

Q. Or words to that effect?

A. No, sir.

Q. And in addition to remember and support his friend Nye?

A. I heard no such statement.

Q. In the conversation that you related, that you listened to between the Governor and Ekern on Monday evening, the 6th of January, did the Governor tell Ekern that he was going to control the election of speaker?

A. No, sir.

Mr. Aylward: That is all.

The Chairman: The witness may be excused.

Mr. Wilbur: Mr. Chairman, that dismisses me from the subpoena ?

The Chairman: Unless you might be called later.

Mr. Wilbur Well, I wish to state that there are matters that require my presence in the executive office, and, if it is satisfactory to the senate, I will be in reach any time by telephone call.

The Chairman: That is entirely satisfactory.

Mr. Anderson, L. A. Anderson.

LOUIS A. ANDERSON, being first duly sworn, on oath testified as follows:

Examined by Senator Burke:

Q. Mr. Anderson you are the gentleman who was appointed by the Governor to take the position of insurance commissioner in place of Mr. Ekern?

A. Yes, sir.

Q. I will ask you, Mr. Anderson, were you implicated, either directly or indirectly, in any of the proceedings or any of the matters leading up to the proceedings which culminated in the removal of Mr. Ekern?

A. I was not.

Q. Had you any knowledge that such proceedings were being initiated?

A. No, sir.

Q. Did you at any time solicit the appointment of the position from the Governor, or anybody in your behalf?

A. No, sir.

Q. Where were you at the time these proceedings were instituted?

A. At Rock Island, Illinois.

(Witness refers to a memorandum book).

Q. And how long previous to that time were you out of the city?

A. I left here on a sleeper that you can get into at ten o'clock in the evening. It is picked up, I believe, by a train that runs through at about three in the morning and reaches Chicago at seven-five on Tuesday morning.

Q. What day was that, date?

A. That was Monday evening I went into the sleeper and left Tuesday morning.

Q. What date of the mouth?

A. The 7th.

Q. Of January?

A. Yes.

Q. Then when did you return to the state again?

A. On Friday evening, January 10th.

Q. Did you have any communication from anybody, from the Governor's office, during that time?

A. No, sir.

Q. Did you communicate to the Governor, or anybody through you, of any connection which Mr. Ekern might have had with the candidacy of Mr. Johnson?

A. No, sir.

Senator Burke: I think that is all, Mr. Anderson.

Examined by Senator Bosshard:

Q. On what date, Mr. Anderson, was your proposed ap

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