The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-06-22
REY. 1IR. COOPER.

l
 Yesterday afternoon Rev. MT. Cooper
 former pastor of the Epworth M. E.
 church of this city, was notified by Ser
 geant Cowles that warrants for arrest
 ing him either here or ha Norwich
 had been issued by City Attorney
 Matthewman, and Mr. Cooper there
 upon surrendered himself at police
 headquarters. He was accompanied by
 his counsel Attorney Kleiner, and MT.
 Andrew Moorehead, the State street
 tea merchant who gave $500 bonds for the appearance of the clergyman be- fore the city court. The warrants al-
 lege indecent assault, and name F. G.
 States and William P. Hansen as the inc
 jured parties, The open letter of Pre- siding Elder Crandall J. North, asking
 for the investigation, is as follows: | City Attorney c. B. Matthewman:
 My Dear Sir: Will you permit me to address a few words to you in the in-
 terest of justice on behalf of the minis
 ters and members of the Methodist
 Episcopal church and the Christian public of the city of New Haven? My reason for writing you an open letter is that the request have to present has been urged upon you in every other manner possible without avail, To make this plain I will briefly recite the facts which are known to us both. On the evening of March Rev. R. 1T, Cooper informed me that you had made grave accusations against him, and re- quested me to see you. I called upon you the next day, and you stated the charges to me and gave it as your opin- ion that from the nature of the case they could not be proved, nor could the accused prove his innocence if q trial were had in the court. Therefore you left the matter in my hands to be presented as might seem best to the conference.
 On Saturday. March 30, you called upon me and stated that you had addi- tional evidence, and must hold an ex- animation in your office the Monday fol- lowing at II o'clock, You gave me as- suranee that the examination would be solely for the purpose of placing the matter fully before me as presiding elder, in order that 1t might be thoroughly investigated at the confer ence, which was about to convene in Stamford.
 Accordingly, the examination was held at the time stated, the accused being present without counsel, and the presiding elder, who was necessarily absent, being represented by Rev. Dr. Vail. At this hearing affidavits were read and the accused made answer. Then the examination was adjourned un- til evening In order that the presiding elder might be present, also the witness es in person.
 Although this hearing was professedly private the whole matter was printed in the afternoon papers in such detail as to make evident that the reporters had received assistance from your office. Notwithstanding this the private" hearing was continued In the evening At the close you said, in response to my question, that the reporters had the affidavits after the morning hearing while you were gone to dinner.
 On Tuesday I sent the accused in per son to you. requesting that you send the evidence in your hands 10 the conference at Stamford at once. A committee was appointed Wednesday, at the conference to hear your evidence but you did not arrive till Friday, and then in re- sponse to telegram from me.
 Meanwhile Mfr Cooper had asked the conference, in view of the publicity given the matter, to leave him without appointment to a church in order that he might demand a trial in your court. This course was taken, the ecclesias- tical investigation being deferred until the result Of the courts should be deter mined.
 Accordingly MT. Cooper secured coun- sel and during two months and a half has repeatedly urged upon you that you either bring him to trial or declare that you find no cause for action.
 As an officer of the church charged with the duty of conducting the eccle- siastical Investigation, have waited patiently all this time, determined to do nothing to influence your action.
 Feeling the injustice of your course toward MT. Cooper in Keeping the mat ter entangled in the city attorneys of flee without bringing action, the minis ters and members of our church have for several weeks been urging me to use my influence to have something done. ' Accordingly, 1 improved am oppor- tunfty to send a gentleman of high character and anviable rank in the legal profession, not connected in any way with our church, to explain to you that 1t Is the invariable rule of our church not to proceed with an ecclesiastical investigation against a member whose case is in the hands of the civil courts until after 1t has been decided by them also to urge you either to bring MT. Cooper to trial or declare that you found no cause for action, in order that the ecclesiastical investigation might proceed.
 A fortnight later this gentleman sent me word that you could not give time both to a trial in open court and to investigation; that MT. Cooper must take his choice of the two; that he could not have both. To this I that whether you gave him 9 trial or not, andawhatever the result of such trial, there must be thorough investigation. Again, I urged that you no longer continue to stand between our church discipline and a minister whom you had caused pulp licly to be accused; that either by trial 1,o5, ebn 1rot 4l,,.n,,-t.