New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-11-01
WHOLESALE C0L0NIZING
BUSY DAY FOR MORGAN.
Finds 500 Cases in XVII District
Il Thousand witnesses Examined.

Through the efforts of the police and the state
Superintendent of Elections wholesale COLOMBIA
ton discovered in various Assembly dis
tricts in Manhattan and The Bronx yesterday
afternoon and evening, over thousand wit
nesses being examined. Through the testimony
Of these witnesses, landlords, house agents and
janitors. hundreds of Illegal registrations were
discovered. there being three hundred and fifty
alone in the XVIII Assembly District, where
Captain r. c. Borsch of Superintendent Nor
gan's staff, examined six hundred witnesses.
The one question still in allegiance is Who did
the colonizing?"
State Superintendent Morgan's plan was put
in force yesterday afternoon. He picked out the
police precincts in which the captains had found
colonizng to an extent which showed definite
plan to plant a colony of voters These pre-
cncts included the Eliza beth-st, Macdougal-st.,
East Thirty-ffth-str West Forty-seventh-st.,
West Sixty-eighth-st. East One-hundred-and-
twenty-sixth-st., West One-hundred-and-fifty-
second-st. and Morrisana stations. These take
in various parts Of Assembly districts, including
almost wholly poorer sections. where a man
could take room in a house for short time
without exciting any suspicion.
It was in the XVIII Assembly District that
the greatest attempt at colonization was found.
There $50 cases were found. Captain Handy
had begun on the registration as he got
hold of the list, and his quickly discovered
a plan of heaping up voters in the district. The
Captain handed in his list to Superintendent
Morgan, and the latter chose yesterday for an
examination of witnesses. Captain Handy got
the names of janitors, caretakers, agents and
landlords of the houses in which his suspects
had registered from. and these. in every in
stance, Mr.. Morgan subpenaed over six hun
dred of these people trooped into the Forty
seventh-st. station yesterday and last night.
They were summoned needed. there being
two in every house where a suspect had been
planted or had planted himself for the purpose
of illegally voting.
Captain Dorsch and Raymond Fitzgerald,
other deputy. did the investigating and ques-
tioning. In some few cases the witnesses testi-
fed that the man who had registered from the
houses of which they were in charge had
taken a room there, had paid his months rent,
but had disappeared. This seemed to indicate to
Captain Dorsch that some organization was
willing to pay months room rent for vote
This did not happen in many instances. however.
In nearly all the rest of the cases the witnesses
testified that the person who had registered did
not live at their house at all and had never been
there.
No warrants had been issued, and no attempt
was made to place any of the colonizers under
arrest 1t would be difficult TO find them, and 1T
was decided to do nothing I'm that case, except
to wait till Tuesday, and if the persons who
registered in this manner tried TO vote they
could be arrested then and there. This was the
easiest way, the superintendent believed.
| Superintendent Morgan believed the facts
could better be arrived at by not examining any
one who had not been in the house a suspect
had registered in for less than two months This
would insure some knowledge OF would-pe col
onizers and help get at the facts Captain Dorsch
cornplimented Captain Handy on his work IN
ferreting out the big colony which had tried to
make his precinct temporary home for the
purpose of Illegal voting.
The Elizabeth-st station takes in the I'D AS
sembly District. and two deputies examined WIZ
nesses in the station house from 10 a. m uhuI
3 .. m. yesterday. Captain Kear said he did not
know what had been done by the examiners
except that some witnesses had been sum-
rnoned and examined He said he had been told
he would be informed tomorrow what TO 40.
He did not know if any coonists had been dis
covered.
The Forty-severth-st station became so
crowded in the afternoon that police business
was incerfered with. Lawyers jammed in to try
TO get witnesses to put their cases IN men
hands They told witnesses that the subppnas
were illegal and that no one had any right 10
issue them. The lawyers became so annoying
10 Captain Dorsch that he asked Captain Handy
to put them out OF the station. A dozen lawyers
were elected. Captain Dorsch said he believed
the persistent annoyance OF the lawyers 10 he
a plan to defeat him ia getting at the suspected
colonizers. -. wa, 4.
sembly District. parts of the XIlIth, ANlIth,
XXEIIth and XXIXth Assembly districts. The
great majority OF the suspects were IN the
XVIII. Three illegal voters were the most 1ould
Captain Dorsch and his colleague spent two
hours in the West Sixty-eighth-st. station
where they examined a hundred or more VIII
nesses and found fifty suspects. No arrests
were made and no warrants issued, but the
suspects will be looked for Tuesday. Two depu-
ties spent some hours III the East Thirty-nith-
ST. station last night examining over Sky
witnesses who had been sGbp6naed- captain
Brennan, in Macdougal-st- refused TO tell any
thing about the visit or the QeQutts 10 ms s'a-
ton.
Superintendent Morgan said last night that
the deputies had managed 10 visit seventeen
stations in all during the day ana nlShI. ne
said the work would be continued until ended'
and that Monday would see Brooklyn covered IN
the same way. lie said in regard 10 arrests;
"A plan has been perfected, through the CO.
operation Of the Police Department by which all
cases in which / have evidence or Illegal reg
istration of electors will be concluoed the no
ment the fraudulent voter presents hilse4l at
the polls Ii is expected that the right OF chaI-
lenge will be exercised freely, and In all cases
. the electors will have an opportunity 10 swear
/ in their votes if they desire, and in many
/ hundreds of cases in my hands arrests will fol-
low Immediately after these votes have been
sworn in
SUPERINTENDENT Morgan said in regard to the
trouble in the West Forty-seventh-st. station:
/ "A number of lawyers representing political
/ organizations appeared and endeavored to secure
from the witnesses subp9naed the right to rep
resent them When the crowd threatened dls-
turbance Captain Handy ordered the rooms set
apart for the Investigations cleared, ana further
disturbance inside the station house was pre-
vented Crowds gathered about the station
house and threats of many sorts were made and
directed st the authorities conducting the IN
The XVIII Assembly District. where many
frauds were discovered, has George w. Plunkltt
! as Democratic leader and George W. Nanmaker
| as Republican leader.
FORNEs SUPPRESSED THE ANSWER.