The evening world., 1894-10-01

but understands he thinks he ought to
| have received more
II only want to get at the legal etatus
| Of this special counsel, said Mr.. Con-,
"and It Ii not material what he received,
50 long as you had fund for that pur-
| pose at your disposal"
| Mr. Wellman as Assistant Dstrict-At-
| tOfney was declared from receiving pay
AS an Assistant Corporation Counsel at
so. and referred to several cases which
'''rhcn you don't think there Is any
law which prevents q public officer from
receiving double pay?' ..
! NO. sir. As Assistant District Attor-
Iney MIR. Wellman was acting as county
officer The Corporation Counsers Of
! flee iS I'm no sense "A county ONCE, ana IL
! could employ Mr.. W"llman or any one
county ONCE II wuold bc different"
MIR Clark did not think that power
Of appeal FOR those who had been dis
! missed from tho" force by the Police
| Commissioners was detrimental in any
| way 10 the dsniplin" OF the force he
| thought it was right that every man
! should have right to appeal from a
decision against him by the Commits
MIR. con called attention to the case
Of patrulmnn John Mitchell, who was
| dismissed and afterwards reinstated,
which Mr. clark said was remarkahl"
one Mitchell was absent without leave
for ten days and was tried aud dis
he was suffering from mental aberra-
tlon, while the Commissioners thought
me had simply gone on spree As the
latter had not taken this into Considera-
! ton, the decision of the Board was re-
verscd and Mitchell got back on tn"
! force.
witness. He said he had tried AT least
800 cases before the Police Board during
the past eighteen years. In great
many cases he had taken appeals from
/ l,, fiNi. # H,4 'Iff1TT u I I
had about forty appeals pending now;
and in many instances his clients had
been reinstated on the force.
In nearly eXvpry case, he said, thai
| the courts had reversed the decision or
tn" Commissioners it had been on sub
stan'inl grounds Frequently; he
| thought. guilty men had escaped pun
| lshmeut, while others whose innocence
had been fully established at the tra
had been dismissed. Usually the ground
Of the reversal the witness said, was
| that the evidence had not been sufli-
Client to justify dismissal
MIR. Grant related the case OF Rounds.
man John Goodwin. of the OAK street
Justly dismissed. The case was pending
now on appeal
what is the general opinion of the
force as to the trials at Police Head
quart crs?'
~ have met good many men who
think they are not fair. How far that
IL the general opinion. | do not know"
They think the decisions are not al
ways based upon. the evidence brought
out at the trials|
EXACTLY. That is the Idea which
prevails among large portion Of the
force, | think"
He had had several cases before the
Board befor" commissioners Murray
ana Kerwn came into office Previous
to that time he could not say whether
members OF the force depended more on
the pul they had or the strength of
their evidence I'm securing an acquittal
" "ar
Usually, he said. he depended on the
strength OF his case. but II any Of his
clients nhappened to have pull. he
thought that also might be used to adj
vantage He didn't know much about
the present Board. and the possibility
OF getting IL fair trial before It,
They have been so busy with their
so-Caled trials this Summer since the
two new members came In that | canno
say how they might act In Il close case"
There was some delay after Mr.. Grant
left the stand. Mr.. Con- said he had
soon relieved when Commissioners
Charles T. Maclean made his appear
ance and edgng his way through the
crowd, took the witness stand
After telling the Committee that he
had had ten years experience on the
Police Board. MI. Mclean was asked
what his opinion was about the power
of appeal to the courts In cases of dis
mlssal from the force.
What effect has this right upon the
dscip.Ine Of the force? asked Mr.. GOf.
1T Is INJURIOUS replied Mr.. Mclean
He Thought that the Police Board
should be the sole Judge of the facts in
each case, and this was formerly so, but
now the Appellate Court had the right to
pass upon the facts as well as legal
| questions involved. The present law,
| he maintained, gave the courts too much
! power In these cases.