The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-01-04
GRAND JURY INVESTIGATION.
Looking Into the Vote in the Third
Assembly District.

The Grand Jury yesterday began an in
vestigation into the election of member of
Assembly from the Third Assembly district
last fall. The candidates for member of
Assembly were:-Thomas Egan, democrat;
Schwenck, soclal-labor.
The contest, it will be remembered, was
hot one, and was bitterly contested by Egan
and Holmes. The district has a normal
Democratic majority of 300 and Egan, who
is very popular, would have carried it by
the full Democratic vote had it not been that
ex-Assemblyman James Tumilty and few
Egan for his failing to support Tumilty the
year before. They knitted Egan unmerci-
fully and almost accomplished his defeat.
Then the vote was canvassed; the result
announced was:-Egan, 1 1,971; Holmes, ], 1856;
Schwenk, 25; scattering, 2. This gave Egan
of Mr. Holmes instantly began the cry of
fraud and ballot box stuffing, and claimed
Holmes had been counted out. Mr.. Holmes
was repeatedly asked to make a contest and
throw the election into the court but he was
apparently satisfied that Mr.. Egan had
honorably won, and he refused. This de-
cision was believed to have settled the mat
ter for ever, and the election was generally
forgotten, until the Grand Jury last week
subponaed City Clerk Scott to appear before
it yesterday, and to bring with him the ten
ballot boxes in the district, and all the books
and papers connected with the election there.
Mr.. Scott yesterday obeyed the subpoena
and the ballot boxes We're carted to the
Court House and carried into the Grand
Jury room City Clerk Scott went in there
with them, and he remained with the Grand
Jury until night The ballot boxes were
opened and the vote was counted, precinct
by precinct, by the Grand Jury. When the
examination was ended the boxes were
locked up, and City Clerk Scott took them
back to the City Hall.
It was said today that the Grand Jury had
not found any evidence of ballot box stuffing
in the examination, and that no Indictment
would be found. So far as could
be learned the Grand Jury discovered
that the voting in the district had been
honest, and that whatever errors it dis
covered were simply clerical and unimport-
ant and did not affect the result OF the cleo
tion. This information may not be correct,
but the general impression is that no indict-
ment will be found
A prominent democrat, speaking of the in
vestigation, said that if any fraud had been
committed he hoped the Grand Jury would
discover it and indict the perpetrators, but
he added that he did not think wrong had
been committed.
ssThe days for ballot box stuffing have gone
by" he said land it will be long time, in
my opinion, before the pernicious practice is
revived. think that this investigation is
the result of some action of the friends of
Mr.. Holmes, who hoped to find that fraud
existed, and that indictments would be found.
If such result should be reached, Mr..
Holmes could then go to the Legislature, and
demand that he be recognized as the duly
elected member from the Third district. 1
do not believe. however, that Mr.. Holmes
will have an opportunity to do this"