New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-01-21
FRANK RICES CONFESSION.
HE TELLS HOW HE GAVE UP The RETURNS.
STORM EMANs WAS ALLOWED TO TAKE THEM
FROM HIS DEsK-HE HAD SAID BEFORE
HE HAD NOT SEEN THEM.


At the hearing yesterday in the Dutchess County
election contempt before Judge Cullen, IN
the Brooklyn Supreme Court, the proceedings
proved fully as interesting had been en-
pected, despite the absence of the defendant Storm
Ernans, the County Clerk, Judge Maynard aid
other important witnesses who had been duly
subpocnaed In consequence Of these absences tie
case was not completed The feature Of the day
was the testimony of Frank Rice, Secretary OF
State, who confessed under oath what he had
previously denied as a State Canvasser, that he
did receive the amended election returns from .
Dutchess County and did give them back again
TO Emans, though that individual presented no
authority to warrant the surrender OF the returns
to him.
The hearing opened by Mr.. Ridgway, the Dls-
trict-Attorney Of Kings County, moving TO quash
all the proceedings the ground that the mode
of procedure was irregular. The order requiring
Emans to appear, Mr.. Ridgway asserted, was In an
improper form. AS Mr.. Ridgway was preseh'
when the order was granted, and acceded to It's
FORM it required some assurance for hlm TO take
the point After little discussion the objection
WAS oyerrued by Judge Cullen and the hearing
began Colonel Bliss, apparently suspicious that
some of his witnesses might not be present, asked
70 have them all called. 1t was then that IL
developed that Mr.. Emans was SICK, ana a phy'
sician's certificate to that effect was produced,
Incomplete as the evidence left yesterday.
IL still was of such a nature that if Mr.. Emans
had come into court well man lie would have
zone ont somewhat impaired IN health. lie hau
expressly sworn that he received back the eecNn
returns from the mail messengers IN the scVeral
Offices of the Governor, the Secretary OF State ana
CoLtr Her. ami yet Colonel Bliss put success lively on
| the stand those mail messengers and each OF them
4 IA dali thp nor
Emans. and had no knowledge that they We're so
delivered Emans had sworn to this statement
obviously for the purpose Of protecting the State
officers who had no right to deliver back to him
the official returns filed with them and he there
fore was seeking to make out that they never had
legally reached those officers.
As this was not enough, Colonel Bliss then
called Secretary Of State Rice, and he proceeded
calmly to give the history Of his own most
extraordinary violation of law. for he swore thab
Mr. Emans called upon him early one morning ana
told him that he had mailed TO him certain papers
relating to the election in Dutchess County; that
at the time he had mailed them he was not under
any stay, but t-lat after he had mailed them an
order with stay served upon him, ana he hao
come 10 Albany TO get back the returns. just AZ
that time the letters were brought in and lald
down in front of Mr. Rice and Mr.. Emans, with
Mr.. Rice's consent, stepped up and took out
large roll and letter which he said contalneo
the returns and carried them of.
This is the statement of the same Frank Rlce
who stated as a member of the Board Of State
| Canvassers that he knew nothing OF the eN-
! istence of any other returns than the Mylou TO
| turns and whose statement to that fact was the
excuse that the State Canvassers gave for counting
the Myod returns. And yet Mr. Rice Is now
formally compelled TO admit that he as Secretary
/ >tat A i'm OWu
atnp 70 the election in Dutchess County which
Mr. Emans swore were the corrected returns Oh
the vote for Senator, and that having so re-
cciyed them on the simple excuse OF MI Emahs
that he wanted them back, he, Frank Rice, gave
them back and then concealed that TRANSACTION
| counsclling the State Canyasscrs to count the
fraudulent returns.
In pursuance of the scheme Of withholding NIL
the information possible the somewhat numerous
counsel on the Democratic side developed the faco
that they intend to assert that Deputy Attorney
General Maynard in any advice he gave Ar.
Emans acted as counsel and therefore is privileged
from disclosing il. This is pushing even Demo-
cratic doctrines rather far, to assert that State
officer can plead that he was the personal counsel
of a County Clerk in advising him TO disobey the
express order of the Supreme Court. In the same
line it developed that counsel were going 10 assert
that Mr. Emans could not he subjected TO an eNami-
nation, and that he had a right to put in an afi.
davit giving his own version of all that occurred
and that the Court must be satisfied with that.
This position is thoroughly at variance with the
long practice in this State as to contempt pro-
ceedings and with the statutes upon that subject.
If Emans is examined it is said that he will he
compelled 10 admit that his statement that he
acted under the advice of counsel is to some en-
tent. at least misleading, for he has carefully eN-
cuded from his affidavit the statement OF the fact
that before lie mailed the returns TO Albany he
went to the counsel who appeared for him in
court yesterday, showed him the order of Judge
Cullen and asked him what his duty was, and he
wac advised that il his duty TO forward those
returns at once. and he thereupon did so, yet he
seeks to protect himself from what he did by
pleading the later advice of lawyer named HUI.
cut
1t incidentally appeared yesterday that the order
of Judge lngraham, TO which Mr. Emans appeals
for his protection, was made in a suit to which
Mr. EmaDs was not a party, so that Judge
Ingraham might just as well have enjoined the
President of the United States Mr.. EmanS
That order was obtained by Delos McCurdy, who
manifested upon the stand an extraordinary loss
of memory to anything which he did as re-
Gently the 2lst of December last, loss Of
memory which was only i'll part recovered when
Colonel Bliss showed him that Judse lngraham
had Informed him of all the facts TO the grant
ing of the order. The adjourned for
three weeks to enable Mr. Emans to recover his
health. Meantime Judge Maynard and others are
TO be examined before a referee at Albany.
Emans was represented by c. b. IIerrick Frank
b. Lown, of Poughkeepsc Dcos McCurdy, and
District-Attorney James w. Ridgway. Coloncl
George Bliss and Charles Cossum, of Pough.
keepse, hand 10 make the State Off.
cials present tell what they knew about the case
Among those who sat in the courtroom. beside
Secretary of State Rice, were Edward Wemplc.
the eX-Controller Timothy s. Williams, the pri-
vate secretary TO Ex-Governor Hill, and number
of messengers from the State departments at Al
bany. Judge Isaac H. Maynard, the new member
of the Court Of Appeals, and u. S. Westbrook had
he.an suhnGenaed. but sent eXcuseS by tel ,granh