Los Angeles herald., 1905-11-07
PHILADELPHIA FEARS TROUBLE
Mayor swears In 1000 Special Police
men to Support Him

MdyOT OWCdTS w lOOO SpSSiat ' SHSS1
men to Support Him
BY Associated Press.
PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 6.-The eve
of the day toward which Philadelphia
has been looking for six months TO de-
eide whether the municipal affairs of
the city shall continue TO be conducted
as they have been In the past or
whether a new order of things shall OBJ
tain finds the situation so tense that
no Phlladelphian will be surprised to-
morrow If the peace of the city is
seriously disturbed. Matters reached
a critical stage today when the mayor
of the city and sheriff of the county,
both of whom are leaders of their re-
spective parties, issued antagonisttc
proclamations swearing to uphold the
law and protect the citizens against the
illegal ballots of the opposing side. The
sheriff in his proclamation calls upon
citizens to assist deputies appointed by
him to uphold, and the mayor replied
in a stronger worded proclamation in
which he says:
''The peace of the city, the supremacy
of the law and the blood-bought rights
of honest elections must and shall be
preserved"
For the moment the question of ma
jorities has been lost sight of.
Backing up his proclamation, the
mayor has sworn in about 1000 special
policemen for election duty The
sheriff says he will not appoint deputies
and that the peace of the city rests
with the mayor.
Sheriff's Proclamation
The proclamation of Sheriff Miles,
who is the Repubublcan leader of the
4 oh nirN11 n
city committee, was published broad
cast in Philadelphia today. AS soon as
Mayor Weaver learned of it he con-
suited with his advisers and this morn
ing he issued a proclamation which
was as unusual as the one drafted by
the sheriff The mayor in his procla-
nation says:
at has become public knowledge that
certain conspirators against the pubic
peace and welfare are planning unlaW-
full acts in connection with the electlon
tomorrow. OF this criminal complna-
ton. James l.. Miles is the ofhclal heau
and has ostensibly in his office as
sheriff by a so-caled proclamation an
nounced that he intends to appoint So
called deputy sheriffs at the polllhS
places of this city.
"I am Informed that the sheriff OF
the county, in his capacity as leader
of the lawless combination referred TO-
has been in consultation with law
breakers and the enemies of law ana
order for the purpose of deVlslng some
means for the prevention of an honest
and free expression of the popular VIII
at the election to be held tomorrow.
This object they hope to effect by hav-
ing him, as sheriff, commission So
called deputies to perform services at
the polling places in defiance or the
expressed provision of the law"
The mayor, continuing, quotes the
law against such action on the part
of the sheriff, and urges all citizens to
resist in every way possible all deputy
sheriffs who may in any way inter-
fere with their voting. The proclama-
ton further declares:
Mayor Denounces Sheriff
"The action of James L. Miles con-
stituteS such a menace to the public
peace that | deem it my duty as mayor
of the city to proclaim his laWless an
noncement, ostensibly as sheriff, is an
election scheme, and that by reason
of this lawless purpose an emergency
has arisen, and that, therefore, l, John
Weaver, mayor of Philadelphia, will by
virtue of the authority vested in me by
the laws of the commonwealth take
command of the police force of this
city, and, in conjunction with Sheldon
Potter, director of the department of
public safety, appoint as many spe-
cial patrolmen as l may deem advisa-
BILE in addition to the regular police
force to protect law-abiding citizens
in the exercise of their elective fran
chise and honest election officers in
the performance of their duties"
The proclamation in concluding says:
II hereby warn any person from at