New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-11-24
JUSTICE KELLY EXPLAINS.
NONE OF o'CoNNoRs MONEY WENT TO HIM.
TESTIMONY HEFUTIXG THE CHARGTs-MR. AsrENs
.-Io,.. 10 y

Testimony REFUTING THE CHARGRs-MR. AsrEN's
SOLICITATIONS As TO CITY EXPENSES.
The room at the Morton House in which the
Cihhs Committee meets was crowded yesterday:
Shortly after o'clock William H. Kelly, luSuce Oh
the With District Court, took the stand. maurice
j. declared under oatn on he hay n na
through one O'Farrell nearly $3.OOO oI MS saIaty
in the belief tnat it was in the nal CT loan
The Justice Frederic X. C0ndert, GeneTal Wlhea.e,
Ereder,ck A. Ward and William }. tanlnng ac-
COMMANDED Justice Kelly and Mr.. Coudsrt con-
Quoted the direct examination Oh We
ag;tation and seemed t. be laboTing under
intense nervous excitement, OConnor sal WITHIN
few feet of HIN quietly tsE;ng notes, vice o,, ne
tered Il o point blank opposition OF the committee
and counsel Justice Kelly declared that thf STATE
ments OF OConHor SO far as thoy applied TO re
were false il every partlc liar. lie had never re-
ceved at any time III any way elther uLoo.iE . W
indirectly as loan or othtrNise, any money lre
received contributions in his, behadI, OF
having used his name III t s1oh o,eci
matter He had seven appointments and GI Rec
nWhlcsns He ave two positions to the Repub-
Iicans-the clorkshIp to Michael CreGan, OF me me
with and the eed Was the first stenorra
nher and alter time Reed employed OConncr to
DO his work. subsequently the iaMer was o lTgT-
ioriv ennointed at the instance of William OEar-
rel who was Cregan's DEPUTY, and who Sald tnaI
the selection was approved by the Republicans Oh
the XVlIlth District. OGOnhOr nelu 'no ? SaI1 thot
any conversations had taken place between O on
por and himself about the loans, as staed oy inc
FORMER In February tycu 1872 Enc Bruce. who
slgned himself president of the XVlllth Assembly
UIstrict Anti Machine Republican Association.
Tins letter stated that rui1Ors were current tat
Tho stenoqraphcr was dividing his salary wlth
Bernard Big III. Ii was referred TO OConn3r, WIZ
denied the charge a yt nWo snyng that
Of'opnor had SAID that he was compelled 10 diVlue
his salary Again OCODnor made an elnphailc
denial and made affidavit that ne was not supply
ing any money TO Mr.. BIglin. few weeks after
ward 0COnnOr wrote TO the Justice saving thai nc
would not loan him any more money out 6 oil MS us
ellaly his made the witness lndls laht' anu aS
soon Ss possIbe OCOunor was dismissed.
William OFarre |. Mr.. Crcgan,s deputy, tesilhed
that he had hHrty from me kspHDtdn secre
strnogra cher for the court. and that one who
would divide the salary would be acceptable.
o.-who told you thati A gentleman belonging
70 0 SHA Vas that gentlemen Al do not like to
mention names. 1t is matter OF cohhuohce'
che chairman INSISTED that the name should DC
BisIlm.S
o,-what took place between you and Judge Kelly in
20 &1,on "a the matter A-JudSe Kelly had nothing
Whatever TO do with it, He not informed OF the de-
mAnd Of the ganization recomnt'ifu H"nn3 H
Who agreed accept the place at 20 DAY wien tIe
court was in and the balance OF ire salary was 10
be handed 70 This balance gave 10 fnnp b'gmn,
O-Durug all this period din you make any payment
hyfio,n ar in any Other way TO Judge Kelly A-No
SIR lie received none OF the mouey from ino III auS way
" nNnd any oft stick to your own fingers ANO,
81 Did Won ever tell O'Connor that this money was
Tor The benefit of Judge Kelly A-No' Sir: never
made any such statement -, wv, ,,.-.,..,
Q-Who got the patronage OF the ANi'h He'IIo'
s tdnnsrknI guess Mike kept it all.
senator Punkitt- Cregan Is here and ready 10 answer
for himself He says yes. he kept 1t all. LhuehteEI
Thomas b. Asten, ex-president of the Board of
Taxes aud Assessments was the next witness In
renjy 70 an invitation to suggest reforms. he sal1
he thought that the Board Il Apportionment
should be composed of men VINO coulH give thelI
cntire time to the duties of that department that
they should employ clerks and experts capable OF
Going INTO the different tiices and ascertalhlng heH
actnal needs so that the estimates might
he properly adjusted. lie gave as an instance OF
cxcessiye expenditures the fact that under the
Eoard of Pubic Works twenty;slx inspectors OF
vater meters were provided. whereas the entre
work of examining the 1000 meters could be
reformed bv four men. He declared that the ap;,
Preparations for the Beard CT Public MGrHs CONC
T Srpopt n I6e Board Of of Appdr}oumsnt and
the city had a Mayor, he said who would put his
commissioners of Accounts at proper WORK tnere
voud he better government ne Wi.noss ndu
iolI Mayor CIR Co that he would IKE reapp0int-
n,eut and il was promised, but he had incurred ms
dislike. He had removed an unht person rom inc
Board of Assessors. The Mayor sent Tor the wiz
ness and asked his reinstatement. Mr.. Asten SAID
he would like to oblgc him, but he could n0t do It,
lie had voted for Mayor Grace because he believed
he would give the Guy u IcIolm EoNc.ihui'n''
hut he had been far from doing 50.
He believed tho Mayor had used his position IN
a noIitIcal way in the last election by advancing
the INTERESTS Of Judge Sedgwick and Mr.. Dayt H.
There would he a large increase oil taxes next year
aud that would stir the people up. lie related
another instance of Mayor Graces interference.
A vonnc man III the FAX office had put the hgures
So 500 opposite a piece OF property assessed at
S33 600. 1t was rot discovered for three years
gftarward The city meanwhile had lost the taxes
on the difference between the two amounts. Inc
Board passed resolution reprlmanulng the cIeIk,
and the Mayor inter2osod IN his behalf.
lie furthermore asked tor his promotion from
a 81 800 cerkshlp TO SZ,o0O POSITION
The wi ness and Mr.. Donnelly objected. Mr.;
had secured more votes for him IN the XVIII DIS
trict than anybody else The promotion was not
made. subsequently the Mayor appointed the
CleTk marshal 49,, -.
senator Pldnkitt wanted to know how long wit
ness haI been Teformer. adding that from the EVIL
dence he had gone into office IN 1909 and entered
upon the reform business only y'Y ago. There
was IGuymur Of dsapprOval: from t,Ie other mem
bers Finally Mr.. Plunkitt remarked thdt he had
nothing to say against MIR. Grace whefeupon
Mr.. As;en responded sharply: "WelI. have, be-
cause know him."
The witness said that the Board of Apportion-
ment should have the power OF the Commissioners
Board of Public Works and the Health Board, SO
manipulated their estimates as to mlsead on the
0nestIon of salaries and other expenditures. lDey
were so ski ful III this direction that II required the
scrutiny of the most sklful expert to detect Them
The committee adjourned 10 o'clock to-day.
DROP OF OVER TEN CENTS IN OIL.
CONTINUANCE OF The PANIC-FAILURE OF AN OH
BROKER.