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MR. F. H. DOMINACK ON WITNESS STAND TELLS OF WORK PONE BY BLEASE COMMISSION. r Sewberry Member jf Former Law Partner to Governor, Gives Testimony, r Columbia, April 4.?Mr. F. H. Dorninick, of Newberry, former law partner of Governor Blease and a member of the Blease winding-up commission, was the ^principal witness before jnT*o<Lh'p-aItinp' into the CJ-LC xu T _ acts and doings of everyone connected with the late State dispensary today. Mr. Dominick detailed at length the work which the Blease commission did during its tenure of office and "went into many matters minutely. He "was questioned by Chairman Carlisle and almost every member of the committee and was on the stand almost three hours. The only other witness was Mr. Thos. F. Brantley, of Orangeburg, likewise a member of the Blease commission, a: d he corroborated the testimony of Mr. Dominick. This com pletes the examination of the Blease commission with the exception of Mr. E. M. Thompson, the secretary, who is in a hospital in the North nnder treatment. He is expected to return next week, and will he examined at another meeting. F. H. Dominick on Stand. > Mr. Dominick stated that he attended practically all of the meetings of the commission. He told of the attorney general meeting with the commission on the evening of the day they organized; that the attorney general told of the judgment which had been found against the Richland Distilling company by the old commission and - ?1? ?c + l Trr"hi/VV> tne sciieme UL sctuciucm, H mvu been in progress of settlement. with, this company. He said that at that time the attorney general did not evade or refuse to give information. Could Get no Information. Witness told of the Blease commission organizing in the governor's of fice by the election of Mr. Stackhouse as chairman, and that the governor turned over to them the Felder contract, a letter from W. D. Roy written to John Black regarding the amount of purchases made by the dispensary while Black was on the board; said that the governor mentioned the Felder letters. Witness said there were some eight or ten claims still waiting settlement when their commission took charge, which were shown in correspondence with Felder, but the commission could gather no information, except that of the Richland Distilling! company. He said Dr. Murray was: willing to' co-operate except he would- j n't surrender their vouchers, which the ! . I commission consiaerea pudiic documents; that they were informed by Mr. W. F. Stevenson, one time when Dr. Murray was before them, that they had no right to investigate the acts and doings of the Murray commission, tout Mr. Dominick said he was of a different opinion. He stated that the governor gave them a copy of "Message No. 4," but they didn't investigate 'the charges of Sunday work and the Ansel commission. As to -tarnunrs line. Witness said h.3 had heard of the j rumors about Farnurn having paid! some $50,000 or 5560,000, and once he! told Farnurn he was thinking of hav- j ing him summoned before the com- i mission, but Farnurn said lie had set-! 1 tied everything and would not testify, and Farnum was never subpoenaed, j Witness said "Hub" Evans told him j of his meetings with Felder on differ ent occasions and of the one time when Attorney General Lyon was in Atlanta as testified to by Evans. He knew nothing of any conference between Felder, John Gary Evans, "Hub" Evans and the attorney general in At- j lanta. KJcmanu uisiiiinig t o. tiaim. Mr. Dominick told or the efforts of: the commission to settle the Richland! Distilling company's case; that the; commission looked on the matter as a bare judgment and transmitted a re-! quest to the attorney general; he told: of his opinion that the judgment j against the Richland Distilling com-; pany was out of reason in amount and that nothing approaching the amount of this judgment could be collected. TVio imrvrviic?i/\r> nf pyppcci'vp amount of judgment was borne out by Attorney General Lyon; that the commission finally employed Mr. Abney to settle the Richland Distilling company matter as told by the witness yester-' day. A copy of a letter from Mr. Ab- J nev and the resolution of the commis-' * sion constituting the-contract were | read by witness; Mr. Abney got ~0 per! ce-.t. of the amount collected and paid the expenses out of his commission., T -r* \ 1 T- ma-.amv.w1 4-1^ r?. : J1L. III LUS ICUCi, a vwvi V C?vX CilC ' right to employ Mr. W. F. Stevenson! or other such assistant counsel as he might wish. i "A Reasonable Contract." "I consider it to have been a rea-! sonable contract under the circum-1 stances," said the witness in reply to j a question by Mr. Carlisle. Witness told of the retaining of Mr. W. A. Holman in the Felder prosecution and other matters. "It was on the receipt of a letter from Thos. B. Folder styling himself the chairman of the antiBlease investigating committee that the prosecution of Felder ^as begun," ; said the witness; he declared the matter had been discussed before. "For Felder was generally discussed before ~ ~ i- K-*r />Arnmi(2- I We lUUh. t'lldl gy UJ <.iir I sions," said Mr. Dominick. }[r. Dominick's Expense Account Mr. Doniinick's testimony at thisi point concerning his charges for mile-j age and how he construed the matter when riding on a pass is taken frcm the official stenographer's notes as follows: Q. "Did you make any investigation ; 1? ?- ?' ?.U /v4-V?/\m AmKAro nf I tO <LSCei Utiil Wnt?ULLtri uaic m^mu^Ao J that old board had charged against | the State expenses they had not real-j ly incurred?" asked Senator Carlisle, j A. "No, sir," replied Mr. Dominick. j "We were informed by Mr. Stevenson I at one of the -meetings that we had Dr. j Murray before us that h<? took the po- j sition that we had no right whatsoever under the act to investigate any of the acts and doing of what is com- j monly known as the Murray commis- j sion." Q. "The whole ^business, your com-1 mission, the former commission, seems { to be under investigation more or less, j Do you know of any sums charged by' your commission against the State, sums that were not actually paid out'/" j asked Senator Carlisle. A. "Xot that I know," replied the i witness. Q. "Any mileage charged up that; was not paid?" j A. "Xo mileage charged up. ExnftTif ac. Tvoro r>ha rjrpd " Q. "Any member of your committee j that didn't pay fare?" A. "I travelled on a pass on one road." Q. "Taat is from Newberry to Co- j lumbia?" A. "Yes, sir." Q. "Railroad fare charged on that road'/" A. "Yes." Q. "On the Columbia, Newberry and Laurens?" A. "Yes, sir." Q. "Was that fare actually incurred?" Rode on Pass A. "Here is the way of considering j that When I use mileage in a matter j of that kind and charging up expense j account I charge ac iua.l railroad fare, j because when I pay $20 for railroad I books that money is tied up for a year or more before it is entirely used.--At Newberry I am and have been for several years past the local counsel for j the Columbia and Newberry and Lau- j rens Railroad company. As a retain- j at- t a loral Dass. j "I am paid for actual work just in accordance with bar fees in Newberry. As a retainer I receive my railroad pass, which is not a free pass, and I consider that just as much my own private property as if Mr. Childs were to pay me a retainer fee for $100 or $500 per year." Q. "The only way you get any actual cash out of the railroad pass is when you are travelling for the State?" A. "When I travel for clients I charge up railroad fare, in coming here to argue cases in the supreme court or have any other business here." Q. "Were any other members of the commission similarly situated with reference to railroad mileage or fare?'' A. "I don't think so," replied the i witness. Witness took the ground that a great part of the expenses paid by the State should have been paid by Felder as set out in the report, of the Blease commission. His construction of this matter was similar to that of the witnesses yesterday. Lyon-Holinan Matter. Mr. Dominick told of the employment of Mr. Holman and of the attorney general's refusal to consent to the employment of Mr. Holman until the commission told him for what purpose the commission wanted to employ Mr. Holman; that the commission didn't ? ? -n? * n _T 1 ~ ~. r ~ 1 ieei mat uiey snoiuu uu uus, eeijeuiculy as they wanted Mr. Holman in the Felder matter and on account oI the close relations of Mr. Felcler and the attorney general they did not feel that it would be just to the attorney general or to 'Jie commission to ask the attorney general to undertake the prosecution of Felder. That they took the view that they could employ any counso they wished. Witness said they employed Mr. Abney, and he conr.idered Mm a fine lawyer. Did not know whether Mr. Abney used the r.~ sistanco of Folder or net in making the settlement in the Richland Distilling company crre; he (lid net think the commission intimated to M". Abney that they did not want Felder used in any litigation that might be necessary. Opinion of Ansel Commission Witness thought the Ansel commission lost some money to the State by their construction of the Felder con tradt in May, and tliat Felcier was overpaid some $50,000; would scarcely consider this construction by the Ansel commission incompetency, but rather an error, and. due to advice of attorneys. Attorney General-g Attitiie. Witness said that under the attitude of the attorney general he felt they were forced to employ an attorney. hut that they were not compelled to employ Mr. Abney; that they employed Mr. Abney because of his competency. Witness said the attitude of the attorney general officially towards the commission was cordial, and the first clash came when Mr. Holman was employed. After that time the attorney general was not consulted officially by the commission. Thought the deeds of cordiality mentioned by witness yesterday was due to person al attitude of attorney general. As to T. B. Felder. Mr. Dominick gave a brief resume of the work of the Blease commission; told its work in the Felder matter and of the oelief of the commission that Felder could have been convicted at an impartial trial; thought the apprehension of Felder would have been a service to the State; told of the settlement of the Richland Distlling company case; of consideration of other claims, by Scruggs, John Black, Blu thenthall & Bickett, C. E. Dunbar and others which the commission considered and refused. The Scruggs claim was for $4,000, which he claimed was due him by the Ansel commission under an understanding with the attorney general. Scruggs claimed he had G. H. Charles in charge and obtained some evidence for him. There had ! been some misunderstanding between the Ansel commission and Scruggs nvor what hp chnnld he naid. "Witness testified that most of these claims had been considered by the Ansel commission and turned down by them. Mr. Dominick made the statement of what the Blease commission had done as an answer to charges made that the commission had spent a year and done no work. Mr. Dominick stated that all of the letters tending to show Felder's alleged criminal connection with the * -?? ?"u: i."U . attempted "irajne up wmui me uumraission had were printed in the report. He had seen one or two other letters, one in tlie possession of John Bell Towill from Felder, which had been promised him as a member of the commission but which had never been turned over to him. 3Ir. T. F. Brantley on Stand. Mr. T. F. Brantley, of Orangeburg, 1'ie other member of the Blease commission, agreed with the statements of Mr. Domindck and corroborated his testimony. "Mr. Dominick has given you in detail the matter and I know of nothing I could add." said Mr. Brant! ley. 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