mentally unable to confer with anybody upon the subject which this committee is now considering. Doctor Kirby, his physician, is here, and can tell you technically just what his condition is.

I

When this letter was received-by the way, it was in the press before it was received, and I saw it in the newspapers-I went down to have a little talk with Mr. Vare. He could not talk to me. helped the man nurse attending him—a big, strong man-to lift him up on the mattress, and off he went to sleep. I went down the next day, and he was in that condition.

Mr. Vare's left side is paralyzed, his left leg, his left arm, and whilst his mind is for a few moments-a few minutes-acute, he has not the physical strength to talk for more than 3 or 4 or 5 minutes at a time, and then he is off again.

That is Mr. Vare's present condition.

I might say in the beginning that I am not here to present any legal argument in this matter, because I have not been in it, except as I will state a moment later, from the beginning with him. I have not been part and parcel of it, and I am not intimately familiar with the primary election expenses proposition; but I did come into it after May. I came down here at his request, and I think, Mr. Chairman, I read a telegram from him stating his indisposition. He had a stroke then, I think Doctor Kirby will tell you-I never had any opinion to the contrary-a slight stroke, and May 19 passed, and on May 26 the Senate adjourned.

Of course he assumed that the Senators would all be away during the recess of the Senate, and that nothing could be done here in the way of a hearing, or anything of that kind, until Congress assembled, but he went to Chicago, he went to Kansas City, against the advice of Doctor Kirby and against my advice. He had been elected a delegate. He had served in the other convention on the resolutions committee, and he felt that it was his duty to strain a point and go. He really was not in physical condition to go there then, and, as he wrote you, or Doctor Kirby has written to you, he is now paying the price.

Mr. Vare came back, and he was not himself thereafter until in August he had this terrible stroke, from which, in my judgment—I do not like to have this sent back to Pennsylvania, because it goes to his family and goes to others he may recover, but it is going to take some time for him to do it. As a friend, a life-long friend of the family and all, I feel that anything untoward to him now would not only be disastrous to his progress toward recovery, whatever progress that is, but would be fatal in its results.

Gentlemen, Mr. Vare is obsessed with the idea that he has been honestly elected, and that he is going to have an opportunity to stand

up in the presence of his fellow men and justify his position. That is his obsession; and he is looking forward and has been looking forward to the time when he would have that opportunity so to present himself. To-day, however, I think, of course, he is hoping against hope; and, as I say, you are in the midst of a tragedy to-day. His wife, nursing him, has lost 29 pounds. She never was a strong woman; she always has been the object of his solicitude; but right before his eyes she is going down, down, down until she is a physical wreck herself. As I say, she has lost 29 pounds nursing this man since this last illness.

Going back, sir, to the time when I was here, he expected to come here. He is full of the whole proposition, because he has been the chief actor in it. He believed that no one had ever accused him of wrong in his life, in his personal life or in any other capacity in which he has acted. No one has ever laid crime at his door in any way, shape, or form; and, to repeat, he is obsessed with the thought that, if given the opportunity, he could so present himself clean and clear to the body of which he has aspired to be a member.

Now we come along after the convention, as I say, to August 7, when this calamity struck him. I can not confer with him now. I have done all I can to help the Senate of the United States to get to a conclusion of this research.

You will recall, Mr. Chairman, that there had come an impasse in Pennsylvania as to getting ballot boxes. One or two of our courts, badly advised, thought that the proper processes were not being used to get the ballot boxes and the election paraphernalia. I took the position, you will remember, that there was a way to get it, to get them, and I thought I could guarantee this committee that they could be had. Thereupon I prepared a petition, if you will recall, saying that it was the request of the Senator. That petition was presented to the Federal courts of our State, and as soon as the judge read it without the slightest hesitation he authorized the Senate to get what it wanted, and made the order. As the result of that, the ballot boxes I think practically throughout the whole Commonwealth have been impounded in the offices of the prothonotaries of our several counties; and this has been done at large expense, many thousands of dollars, to Mr. Vare. He has been unremitting in his efforts to see to it that there was presented to the Senate and its several committees having to do with this matter all of the information that was possible to be presented to them. There has been no attempt to hinder or delay in that effort. The only trouble has been that the act of God, whatever that may be, has intervened with him, and has stricken the man.

I should like to answer any questions that may be propounded to I can not consult the client, if he is a client. I have been with him in a manner. He came down here with his campaign manager and presented to you gentlemen certain facts and figures which you have.

There is a human side, I take it, to the presentation of every man's case, and certainly an extraordinary one where the man himself is anxious to present his views, especially when it comes to the attainment of an office as high as that which you honorable gentlemen now оссиру.

This man is obsessed, gentlemen, with the belief that he has been promised an opportunity to appear. He wants to come here, but he can not come. There is no question about it, in my judgment. In my judgment, Nature-his Maker-will solve the problem for him before it will ever be solved here.

Senator KING. May I ask you a question, Mr. Brown.

Mr. BROWN. Yes, sir.

Senator KING. Do you know whether Mr. Vare desires to present to this committee any further testimony?

Mr. BROWN. Yes; he wishes to do this, Senator King

Senator KING. I do not mean now whether he desires to content himself with merely speaking as a witness or as a party, as a con

testee

Mr. BROWN. I understand.

Senator KING. But does he desire to have witnesses presented? Mr. BROWN. He believes now, in view of what has taken place, in view of the examination by the Privileges and Elections Committee, by the subcommittee, of which Senator Waterman has been chairman, that out of all this there has come information to him that can be helpful, if he can produce it, toward a proper consideration and determination of his case; but you can not talk to the man. You can not talk to a client who is paralyzed, and whose mind is not functioning as the mind of a client should. I appeal to you, is there a court in America to-day, gentlemen, that would bring a man into court under such circumstances?

Mr. Vare is not charged with crime. If he is, there has never been a word of evidence against him. But suppose he were, is there a court in America that would bring such a man to trial in his condition? I have no hesitation in saying, after 50 years at the bar of my State, that certainly not in Pennsylvania, and certainly not in any other State, should a man in his helpless condition be brought to trial in any way until he is fit and in proper condition to present his case, either by advising with those who can present it, or by presenting it himself in propria persona if he desires so to do.

This is the situation. Doctor Kirby is here, and he can tell you gentlemen what the situation of the man is. I say as the last word, except as I may answer questions which you may be pleased to put to me, which I am pleased to answer, Senator Reed and gentlemen, that the whole situation has worked a tragedy the like of which I have never witnessed. I was in Harrisburg two or three days ago, and I have talked with people from all over the State, and the heart of Pennsylvania goes out to this man. They are all hoping-men, women, and children that he may live to have the opportunity to present himself and in person present his case. I think I can say that without contradiction.

Senator MCNARY. Does he want to present himself before the committee, or on the floor of the Senate?

Mr. BROWN. He wants to come here, and he wants to come on the floor of the Senate.

Senator MCNARY. He desires to appear before the committee and on the floor of the Senate, both?

Mr. BROWN. Yes, sir. He wants to come here, and he wants to do what he can to supplement what has been presented before this committee, and he wants to appear before the Senate. He is obsessed with it. I repeat that I am satisfied-and I say this, gentlemen, in a prayerful spirit, not in the way of any intimation of any threat of what may happen-that if anything untoward is done, believe me, he goes to his death. I do not believe that man will survive. If this committee says to him, "You must come here; we are going to report on this now," he is done, just as surely as you five honorable Senators are listening to my voice at this minute. I say that with a full appreciation of my position both before you and in my own Com

monwealth.

If there is any doubt about the man's physical condition or mental condition, send a physician of your own selection there. I would rather pay the expense of that a hundred times over out of my own pocket than to have you honorable men think that anything was done as to him that was the slightest effort to delay action by you in his case; I would cheerfully pay the expense of any physician or board of physicians to go to Florida, where he is, and examine him, and report to you; and, by the way, Doctor Kirby will tell you that his car was obtained and he was booked to go to Florida, Senator Reed, before your notice to appear here was either served upon him or appeared in the public press.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Brown, speaking for myself and I hope I voice the sentiment of the committee-I think the committee is prepared to take your professional statement as to the condition of Mr. Vare. They may want to hear his physician later on, but that will not be in the nature of a challenge as to anything you have said. I do not know what the committee will think about that; but let us understand: We are not, in this particular phase of the case, undertaking to try Mr. Vare. We were appointed to investigate certain conditions existing in the State of Pennsylvania concerning the primary and concerning the election. We had practically concluded the hearings. The matter had been left open because it was thought there might be further evidence developed, when the claim was made in the Senate by friends of Mr. Vare that he ought to have an opportunity to be heard on the floor of the Senate, and then somebody made the claim that he might want to introduce further evidence. In the desire to do nothing that would deny Mr. Vare the amplest opportunity to be heard, I think I myself, after consultation with the committee, wrote the clause in the Norris resolution which had been introduced, directing the committee to hear such further evidence as it might deem proper in the premises, and also according to Mr. Vare the privileges of the floor of the Senate for the purpose of defending himself there or making such statements as he might desire to make. That was a good while ago. The dates are all shown in this letter that we wrote Mr. Vare.

A question arose as to the authority of the committee to sit during the vacations of the Senate. I think there was not a member of the committee but that was thoroughly convinced that the committee had that authority; but we also knew that the question had been raised, and we naurally expected that if there was the slightest doubt as to the authority of the committee to sit during the vacation, recalcitrant witnesses would raise that question, and that we would not be able to accomplish much if we had to have a contest of some kind with every witness who came before the committee. Accordingly, to save any question about that, a resolution was presented to the Senate affirming that the committee's authority should continue during the vacation.

If that resolution had been permitted to be voted upon, it would have passed by an overwhelming vote, as everybody knew; all doubt would have been resolved; and the committee, immediately after the adjournment of that session of Congress, could have proceeded with this case, closed it up, and reported at the next session of Congress. But a filibuster occurred; and I must say that no reasonable

man can doubt that it was carried on by the friends of Mr. Vare, and that the effort was to destroy the committee and its work.

That filibuster proceeded, and was carried to the length where important bills were forced over-among others, the urgency deficiency bill. Efforts were made to get an agreement to vote on this measure, and it was refused; so for days there the business of the Senate was tied up by those who were manifestly trying to prevent the committee from being able to proceed.

Accordingly, when the summer vacation came on, we did not consider it of any utility at all to undertake to go on with the investigation, knowing that our right had been challenged challenged in this formal way on the floor of the Senate, and challenged elsewhere. That is the thing that forced the matter over and forced the delay.

Then came the next session. The resolution was reintroduced, and the Senate declared that the committee had all the time been authorized to proceed with its work, and directed us to make a speedy report, if I remember correctly what was in that resolution. Accordingly, we undertook to do that. We called on Mr. Vare to appear and present his case. We did not summon him here as a witness. We did not summon him at all. We notified him of his right to appear and present his case.

Mr. Vare protested that he was ill. We adjourned with the distinct statement that, as soon as Mr. Vare could possibly appear, the committee desired to be notified. It is true that Congress adjourned; but it was also true that it was the purpose of the committee to assemble at any time that Mr. Vare gave notice of his readiness to appear. At least, it was my purpose to call a meeting; and I had talked with one or two members of the committee, who had said they would come at almost any time the notice was given. We did not get the notice, however, and it may be that Mr. Vare was not in any condition to have come anyway; but he did go to the convention, and then, shortly thereafter, suffered this stroke.

Mr. BROWN. Senator, I should like to interrupt you for a moment. He had no right to go to the convention. He was unfit when he

went.

The CHAIRMAN. Well, perhaps.

Mr. BROWN. He was going down then, and his friends knew it, and his doctor knew it. That is the unfortunate side of this tragedy. The CHAIRMAN. I have said that he perhaps was not able to have come anyway.

Mr. BROWN. No; he was not.

The CHAIRMAN. The matter has been carried along to this time. Now, Mr. Brown, I take it from your statement that you can not state to us any time when Mr. Vare can probably appear.

Mr. BROWN. Doctor Kirby, who has been attending Mr. Vare, is here, Mr. Chairman. Will you let him state Mr. Vare's condition to you?

The CHAIRMAN. Yes; but will you give us your judgment first?

Mr. BROWN. My judgment is, looking at the man, that if left alone-now, here is the unfortunate part. He is there at Atlantic City; he goes down there one day, and here comes his birthday, and here comes the Christmas season, and everybody wants to be nice, and they go and talk in the hall. They do not let a man go to him, but