The sun., 1903-10-06
ARE YOU MARRIED OR SINGLEf
You'll be Arrested II You won't Tell.
Unless the Courts Get After Maher.,

Unless the Courts Get After Maher.A
Superintendent of Elections George Will
son Morgan and his deputy. John d. Maher,
maintain, in spite Of legal opinions against
them, that they were entirely in the right
in causing the arrest on Friday night last
OF Valentine Carleton of the Occidental
Hotel for refusing to tell at his home, when
not under any subpoena, whether he was
married or single, and unless restrained
by the law they mean to make other arrests
just as fast as people refuse to answer
questions. Carleton was arraigned in the
Tombs police court yesterday and held for
trial. Before the case came up, Carleton
went to Mr.. Maher and asked him to with
draw tho charge against him, Offering to
answer the question. Carleton's offer to
answer was the result of pressure brought
to bear upon him by Tim Sullivan and
Col. Mike Padden, proprietors Of the Bowery
vote. 1t seems that the controversy be-
tween Carleton and Mr.. Maher has attracted
moro attention to the Occidental Hotel
than the Sullivan-Padden outfit likes.
Carleton was rebuked for making trouble
and ordered to ry to square the case.
He did his best, but didn't succeed.
In the Carleton case we are entirely
right" said Mr.. Maher yesterday, -and
are satisfied that the courts will sustain
us. At any rate until we have a decision
against us we will 60 right on arresting
all persons who refuse to answer the legi-
innate questions We put to them. In the
first place, our visits to hotels to question
these people has been from desire to save
them as much trouble as possible. We
could subpoena them all to come here and
wait hour after hour until their turns came,
, but instead OF doing this we have gone to
the hotels and attended to it right there.
This has made it easier all around, but has
, especially favored the subjects Of investi-
cation. In the case of Carleton, he was
put under oath according to custom and
! submitted to the oath willingly. That in
itself involved recognition of our authority.
Had he refused to submit to the oath then
We would have had to subpoena him, but
he did not. The law plainly says that a
| man who shall refuse to testify under oath
before the superintendent or his chief
! deputy is guilty of misdemeanor. Equally
guilty is one who ignores a subpoena, but
to say that we must subpoena man in order
| to examine him is all wrong. If he ac-
cepts the oath, he recognizes our right to
! question him. II he refuses the oath, then
we must subpoena him. We have no idea
, Of receding an inch from this position un-
less the courts decide we are all wrong.
! What tho law says is:
| Any person who shall omit. neglect or re-
| fuse to obey subpoena attested in the name
| of the State superintendent or who shall
! refuse to testify under oath before him or
his chief deputy, is guilty OF misdemeanor.
William Hart, an ex-convict. who was
(; arrested under the same section of the law
| under which Carleton was arrested was
| sentenced in Special Sessions yesterday to
| thirty days imprisonment. He, howev YER,
| was served with subpoena before he was
| questioned. But, of course, as the regis
| tration has not begun he was not registered.
| Considering himself a citizen at large not
| bound to give testimony at large about his
! private affairs, he answered questions thus:
O What is your name? A John Doe.
q. Where do you live? A. In the parks
. Where did you sleep last night? A. In
| Battery Park
q. Where did you sleep the night before
:. Q, And the night before that? A Corlears
Hook Park
Q Have you ever been arrested?
Hart refused to answer on the ground
that the answer would tend to degrade
him, and he was arrested. He saidto Justice
Wyatt yesterday:
AI'm not citizen of the United States
and didn't want to vote. If these people
wanted to get case on me why didn't
they wait until had registered"
He was told to keep quiet and was hustled
OF to the Tombs.