Los Angeles herald., 1892-08-14
WHITNEY MADE THE CHANGES,
Such Is the Statement Made by
John A. Pirtle.
More Light Thrown on the Mutila-
tion of the County Records.
Pirtls's statement-The Proper Pro
ceedure Ignored-How the Job
was Worked-Taylor Learns
What He Had Done.

Hector of this county, is the man who
mutilated, altered and tampered with
the records of the county clerks Office
on page 40, volume 8, in so far as said
records appertain to the naturalization
of Robert A. Taylor. This is the state.
ment made by John A. Pirtle, who
states that he was present and saw
Whitney change the figure s to a
figure Z. This was all done with the
consent OF the county clerk and his
chief deputy.
According to Mr.. Pirtle's own claim,
there existed not the slightest au.
thority for the tax collector of the
county to change the records oi
the county clerks Office. Pirtle says
that Taylor told him that the records
were wrong; that they showed that he
had landed in the United States upon
the 1st day of June, 1888; that, as a
matter of fact, he had landed June L,
1887; that he could prove that he landed
on the latter date, by his mother.
PIRTLE's STATEMENT.
Pirtle then went to County Clerk Ward
to have the matter Strengthened. Tax
Collector Whitney was. naturalization
clerk May 16, 1891. He was brought in
by Mr.. Ward. To these parties Pirtle
explains the story Taylor had told him
about the records being wrong. Now,
what is next done? According to Mr..
Pirtle's statement Tax Collector Whit
ney proceeds to doctor the records. He
changes figure s so as to make it APP
pear as q; or, to be palmer, June /,
1888, is made to read June /, 1887.
The next question is, upon what
ground was the record altered by the tax
collector? Mr.. Pirtle says that the
record was changed merely because Tay-
lor told him that it was wrong, and he
told Mr.. Whitney and Mr.. Ward that
Taylor had told him that it was wrong.
Upon such a 1imsy presentation as this
the county clerk permits the records of
the county to be doctored, and the doc
toring is done by a person who is not
even his deputy.
THE PROPER PROCEDURE.
Now, if an error had been made in the
record unintentionally, and it was nee
essary to have it corrected, the only
legal authority the clerk had to make
the correction was upon the order of the
court. He could not make it upon his
own responsibility. Taylor could have
gone before a superior judge, If one of
the six judges happened to be holding
court, and presented the affidavit of his
mother to the effect that he landed in
this country on the lst day of June,
1887, and that the record showed that
he had landed one year later, which
was not the fact.
II the Judge considered the proof Tay-
lfxrx tod 10 ho In nd iot
he would have issued an order directing
the clerk to change the records so as to
have them conform with the facts, as
proven by Taylor and by his mother.
THE LEGAL COURSE NOT FOLLOWED.
But no, this--the only legal course is
not pursued. 1t was altogether too long
one for the Republican Office holders.
A shorter course ia pursued. The re-
cord is changed, as Mr.. Pirtle says, by
the tax collector when Taylor was not
present. Then Taylor is rushed through
the courts and citizen and Republi-
can voter is made.
HOW THE JOB WAS WORKED.
As to Taylor, who and what is he?
He is simply poor, uninformed type
writer who became anxious to vote. He
showed his first papers to Mr.. w. A.
Ryan, democrat; Mr.. r. j. Adcock,
democrat; Mr.. Theo. D. Reymert, re-
publican and Mr.. A. Orfla, republican.
ALI these gentlemen are attorneys by
profession. They inform Taylor that
his first papers show that he has been
here only four years and is not eligible
for citizenship. They tell him that he
must be here five years before he can
Nc t,ov Pnt ox,1n so
anxious to become full fiedged citizen
in time to vote this fall. He goes
next to the Democratic naturalization
bureau and here he is informed that he
cannot be naturalized this year for the
same reason as explained above.
To all of these five parties to whom
Taylor exhibited his declaration of in
tention it was evident that no attempt
had been made to alter, change or
doctor any figures upon it. To this
every one OF the five gentlemen will
swear.
Then Taylor accosts Mr.. Pirtle.
Pirtle says that when he first saw the
declaration the figure 8 had been altered
in it so as to look like az. He takes
the declaration from Taylor to the court
house, and there the records of the
clerks Office are changed to CORE spond
with the declaration.
TAYLoR's ILL-JUDGED BOAST.
Taylor next goes to Messrs. Reymert.
Orfla, Ryan and Adcock and boasts
that he has succeeded in getting natural
lied anyway. They had all told him he
could not be, and in spirit of bragga-
docio he not only tells them he has sue
ceeded, but shows them how the dae-
tardly work was done. This c0nclusively
proves that Taylor is not as strong
mentally as man should be who under
takes such work.
Crooked work is done to make him a
citizen, and he makes public talk of the
matter az if it were joke.
TAYLOR LEARNS WHAT HE HAD DONE.
Let it be distinctly understood that
none OF the four attorneys were con-
suited in a professional way. Taylor
merely told them how he bad been
made citizen by piece of cunning
chicanery.
Then Mr.. Ryan told him that he bad
done wrong, and had committed q
felony. He informed the unfortunate
Taylor that he should at once take steps
to get himself out Of the hole he was in.
Mr.. Ryan told him that for all the felo-
nies that had been committed in making
him citizen he would be made the
scapegoat. This is exactly what has
been done.
Mr.. Ryan further informed TAYLOR
that if he did not at once file petition