Slaughter, Thomas Anthony (Arthur) | Day 11

Received £50 – 60 from Mr Cloke to pay 7 public houses £5 apiece plus the 40 or 50 messengers employed.

Note: Source document shows his middle name as Arthur in the Index in the Index. The Poll book for the year lists a freeman named Thomas Anthony Slaughter.

Witness Type: Freeman, Other

Party: Conservative

Witness Testimony:

  • 13507.

    (Mr. Holl.) Where do you live ? — New Street 

  • 13508.

    What are you ? — I am a solicitor’s clerk. 

  • 13509.

    Did you receive any money in connexion with the election ? — Yes. 

  • 13510.

    How much ? — I hardly know how much I received. The accounts were given to Mr. Cloke after I received the money. You see, actually I did not receive the money to pay, I simply did it to assist Mr. Cloke in paying.

  • 13511.

    Did you receive money to go round and pay the different PUBLIC-HOUSES ? — Yes; he handed me the money and the receipts at the same time. 

  • 13512.

    How many did you pay ? — I think I paid about seven. 

  • 13513.

    You paid seven PUBLIC-HOUSES 5L apiece ? — Yes. 

  • 13514.

    Do you remember the names of them ?  — Yes. You have the whole of the receipts. 

  • 13515.

    Yes ; I do not think we need trouble you for the names ? — I have just put them down from memory on this paper (handing a paper to the Commissioners). 

  • 13516.

    (Mr. Turner.) Did you put down the sums you paid ? — They were all at one rate, 5L. apiece. 

  • 13517.

    (Mr. Holl.) Did you receive any other moneys besides the sums you paid to the seven PUBLIC-HOUSES ? — I paid the messengers. You have the receipts for those. 

  • 13518.

    How much did you receive to pay them ?  — I cannot tell; I had it at different times, but I should think between 50L. and 60L .

  • 13519.

    How many messengers are employed ?  — About 40 or 50. 

  • 13520.

    That is a great many ? — Most of them were boys, and a great many of them put themselves on. 

  • 13521.

    They were sons of voters, I suppose ? — Not all ; some of them were sons of voters. 

  • 13522.

    But most of them were sons of voters ? — Yes ; they were put on mostly by the committee. 

  • 13523.

    In point of fact, they were put on to give them something to do,, and give them some money ? — Yes. We had not more than we required ; we required more sometimes. 

  • 13524.

    You had 50 ; did you want 50 messengers ? — Yes, and more than that sometimes. You see we received all our printing, our BILLS, from Deal. Sometimes there was a meeting here the same evening, and we had to send those BILLS round by these boys, so as to give people notice, or else we could not have got them down. 

  • 13525.

    There are only 500 voters ? — Yes, but they did not send to voters only; they delivered them all round town, and sometimes we wanted those BILLS out in a very short time. 

  • 13526.

    Do you mean seriously to say you wanted 50 messengers to take out BILLS in so small a place as Sandwich ? — Well, I do not know whether we wanted them. 

  • 13527.

    How many postmen are there to deliver all the letters in Sandwich each round ? — One. 

  • 13528.

    So one postman can do all Sandwich, and you wanted 50 persons to deliver these BILLS ? — Yes, but then these boys would not work quite so fast, they would get playing about. (Mr. Holl.) Of course they did not work so fast if there were 50 of them ; they had nothing to do I should think , or very little. However, that is a sufficient answer for me. 

  • 13529.

    (Mr. Jeune.) You did not engage the rooms did you ? — I engaged about seven rooms, not all the seven I paid for, but I engaged I think about seven rooms altogether. 

  • 13530.

    You did not pay the same ones that you engaged ? — No, I did not pay them at the same time I engaged them. I gave an account of the rooms I had engaged and I afterwards received money to pay for these other houses besides. 

  • 13531.

    You were a committee clerk I think ? — Yes. 

  • 13532.

    The central committee sat at the “Fleur-de- Lis” ? — Yes. 

  • 13533.

    Was there any other committee witting at any other rooms ? — I do not know. 

  • 13534.

    Not exactly, I should think, were they ? — They had meetings at almost all the houses. One night they had a meeting at the “Alma,” and another night meeting at another room. There was always a meeting every night, so they arranged they should be in different houses. 

  • 13535.

    So the rooms were not used in any one house more than once, I suppose ? — Some of them were used twice, I should think that would be about the most. 

  • 13536.

    They were called COMMITTEE ROOMS, but I take it there was no committee except the central committee ? — Not that I know of.