The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1890-03-11
FRANK EXPLANATIONS.
Formal Testimony Before the
Senate Investigating,
Committee.
MEASURES OF REFORM TAKEN.
special to the Jerseu ca, Me.es.


TRENTON, March H. 1s9O.-The Senate
committee investigating the Hudson
county election began to take testimony
this morning. Sheriff Davis was the first
witness.
He testified as to his duties as chairman
of the County Committee, and said that
the election officers of the last
election were selected by the
Democratic aldermen and handed to
City Collector O'Neill. The Sheriff
selected the officers in his (the Eighty
precinct. He denied that the selection of
the officers was discussed by the mem
bers OF the County Committee before
they were appointed. At least if they
were, he did not remember it. He also
said that he did not know who the cleo
tion officers were to be.
Mr.. Corbin then went over the list of
the election officers in those precincts in
which irregularities had been discovered,
and asked the Sheriff if he knew the
Sheriff said he knew them. The
Executive Committee, he said, had
full charge of the election
and did most of the work of the cam
paign. 1t attended to printing, hiring of
the speakers, and all other details. THE
aid, Hoboken NeaUs and paper in West
Hoboken did the printing for the commit
tee.
THE SMALL TICKETS.
Mr.. Corbin said that on a former exam
ination the Sheriff had said that some of
the small tickets had been sent out by
candidates. and asked him to whom he
referred The Sheriff said that he
had not said SO. Mr.. Corbin pro-
duced the stenographic copy of
the testimony, and read where he had so
testified The Sheriff could not name any
because that WAS the only manner in
which he could account for them. He
did not remember seeing it stated in the
papers that Detective Douglass had
discovered u number of those bal
lots at the last spring election, and
destroyed them. He thought Albert
Datz and Charles Thomas printed some
circulars and posters for the committee
but no tickets.
SURPRISED AND NOT SURPRISED.
The Sheriff denied that he handed out
any small tickets the night before cleo
tion. He was not surprised when he saw
the small tickets at some of the poll
ing places because he had seen
something like them before, but
not the night before at the
committee's rooms He, was surprised to
see SO many small tickets come out of the
box. He could not account for
them or the fact that. with but
few exceptions, they bore q different
mill from that of the box. He
did not think there was q man on the
committee who would commit such a
fraud. The Sheriff positively denied that
he told one of the workers over the tele-
phone to ''stuff in all he could of them.n
REFORM MEASURES.
The Sheriff said that the Executive
Committee has taken action to suppress
the use of the small ballot and ssother
things" at the coming election, but posi-
lively refused to say what the action or
the "other things" were.
The Executive Committee was author
ized, he said, to secure the assistance of
the Senate to obtain some reform in the
methods of conducting elections. He de-
clined to state what steps the Committee
false registration. He could not
tell how much false registration there
was in Hudson county. In some districts
the Democrats used to get beaten
pretty badly, but since they
had placed Democratic officers there
they had not been SO badly
beaten. The great trouble with Hudson
county elections was that competent cleo
tion officers could not be secured
for the money paid. He did not
know that some Of the officers
of the last election had been
charged with fraud. He would not have
minded it if they were, unless the charges
were proven. Mr.. Feeney had charge of
the police arrangements.