Q. That was the charge contained in the affidavit, was it not?
A. No, no; it was not a charge. I think that the information was made under an act of Assembly, passed within the last two or three years, about people interfering with the running of trains. I think that was it, though I am not quite sure.
Q. Would it not have been better to have made these arrests as soon as possible, before the arrival of the military?
A. No, sir; I think, under the circumstances, it would have been a very bad move to have made these arrests. I was conscious, at the time I gave the warrants to the officer, that it was a dangerous thing, on account of the public excitement that had been created by calling out the troops, and I told him to be very cautious about what he would do, and I was satisfied he would be cautious, as to rush pell-mell, right up there, and snatch these men right out, would have created a disturbance at once. At least, I thought so.
Q. On Saturday night, when you went out and ordered all the police you could get, consistently, to the Twelfth ward, I understand you to say that it was not for the purpose of protecting the railroad property, but to protect the city particularly?
A. I conceived that the railroad property had eight hundred or nine hundred—at least eight hundred men there, for that purpose.
Q. You took these policemen, you say, to arrest men that were carrying off railroad property?
A. Presumed to be railroad property.
Q. Or carrying off plunder?
A. Yes, sir.