New-York tribune., 1905-12-03
MAYORS ACTION PUZZLES.
LNSINCERE, SAYS SHEARN.
Hearst Men to Force Opening Of
Thousand Ballot Boges.


eff the counsel for Mr. Mcclellan oppose US at
every STEP as they seem disposed to do, then the
contest Will drag along until the end Of the year
and perhaps beyond, but If the Mayor compels
his lawyers to live up to ths spirit Of his ex-
pressed desire for absolutely honest count,
then we shall be able to clear up the controversy
before the end Of the year. We shall resort ts
quo warranto proceedings If necessary" said
Mr.. Shearn-
Mr. shearn said that on Monday the Hearst
counsel will appeal from that part OF Justice
Amends decision which prevents them from
throwing out ballots counted by the inspectors
but which are palpabIy void. He estimates that
there are about thirty thousand of these. With
out these being thrown out, Hearst may win on
the mere correction Of the returns. as he made
gain Of four and one-quarter votes to a district
in the four districts actually canvassed IN court
on Friday. This ratio, If maintained. will over
come McCleIlan's apparent plurality Of 3.74S.
The surprise of the week in the battle between
counsel was the apparent utter disregard by the
Mayors counsel. from ex-Judge Parker down. OF
the spirit of his declaration on November 28 at
the City Hall, when he said:
'T have instructed my counsel. Judge Parker.
not to take any appeal from the decision Of Jus
tice Amend .
Twenty-four hours later Mr.. Butts, acting
for Corporation Counsel Delany, the Mayors
to turn the recount into perfunctory opening
Of the ballot boxes, without recount in any
sense but merely acquiescing in the narrow
letter of the law
All day Friday the counsel for the Mayor
did their best to obstruct the reopening of ball
lot boxes, and to have recount which should
determine beyond peradventure whether the
canvass had been honest.
Counsel for Mr.. Hearst yesterday were in con-
sultation with Lord. Day & Lord. after which
Mr.. Shearn announced that tomorrow he would
ask for twenty orders for the reopening and
recounting of twenty ballot boxes in Manhattan
It is understood that there is sufficient evidence
to warrant the orders in these twenty cases.
Similar action Will be taken in Brooklyn on Mon
day Tuesday.
The appeal from Justice Amends order will
go to the Appellate Division at once, but de-
cision is not expected for several days Mean
While there IS nothing TO prevent the opening
Of boxes where specific evidence is submitted
showing discrepancies in the canvass.
MUCH WORK TO BE DONE.
The work involved in compelling the OPEN
ing Of a thousand ballot boxes is considerable.
Despite Mayor McCIellan's assertion thar he
would not be found interposing a mere technical
argument. it is more and more certain that his
counsel are going to do that very thing. The
Hearst men are preparing for the fight. What
is involved, if the Mayors counsel do their hest
10 obstruct, can be partly imagined when
brief outline Of the legal procedure is given
Ihere are one thousand districts where the
tally sheets and ballot clerks records show seri-
Gus discrepancies. Reopening these by due
process of law is the task that confronts the
Hearst lawyers. Each case must be treated
separately, II there is opposition. First counsel
will ask for the issuance of one thousand court
orders to show cause why recount should not
be had. These orders will be served on six thou
sand inspectors. Then thousand orders VIII
have to be entered requesting a mandamus to
issue. These mandamus orders will have to he
served on ex-Judge Parker, the Mayors counsel
the County Clerk the Corporation Counsel and
the Board Of Elections. making four thousand
copies in all Following these there will be one
thousand writs of mandamus which must be
served on six thousand persons.
This marks the first required formality and
then will follow the opening of the boxes in
court and the comparison OF the records with a
careful computation of the official figures None
of this procedure includes a recanvass OF the
ballots. There can be no recanvass of the bal
lots unless the Hearst get a reversal of
Justice Amends order, which limits them TO a
comparison Of the figures on the inspectors re-
turns and the ballot clerks records II this com
parison does not show margin for Hearst the
fight for actual recanvass to determine how
many fraudulent ballots there may have been
counted will go on and will be carried to the
highest court.
Late yesterday afternoon Clarence J. Sbearn.
Mr. Hearsts personal counsel added still an
other feature to the contest Up to the present
II had been commonly thought that the contest
was limited TO the office of Mayor although
the candidates for the offices of Controller and
President of the Board of Aldermen have been
mentioned by the Hearst side in all the court
proceedings.
The finding Of the void ballots In large num-
pers IN the four ballot boxes opened on Friday
has brought these latter two candidates on the
municipal Ownership ticket into new promi.
nence. Mr.. Shearn said:
Now that we have proved our case that the
pallots were not properly counted on election
night our proposition is TO seat Mr. Hearst and
MS Two associates in this contest naueIz mr.
Ford, the candidate for Controller and ]. q
Pheips Stokes, the candidate for President of
the Board Of Aldermen %
SAY ALL THREE WE'RE BLEcyrED
"Our contention is that these three gentleman
were legally elected and were counted out The
finding of the void Mcclellan ballots in the hal
lot boxes opened becomes a most important
matter"
With the void ballots now alleged to he IN The
ballot boxes and improperly counted the "a
count in the contest, If the Appellate Division |
decides that they shall be thrown out will en- |
trely upset the police canvass.
Henry Yonge of the Hearst counsel. regarding |
these void ballots, said yesterday:
'It was the duty of the inspectors OF eIac+,op |
TO reject the void ballots, whether they vvera
objected to by watchers or not on election night
1t was evident, from the examination of boxas
made on Friday, that they did not nerrorr,
their duty and that the failure to perform their
duty has affected the result of the e1sct,on Ts
our position, that the duty should now ba ner-
formed. is sustained by the Appellate TIIy,fStnn |
McClellan's plurality will be wiped ont ,s tha |
results approximate the facts disclosed in the
1T Is a surprising thing" said Mr. Sbsa-r |
yesterday, that in spite of the fact that M
Mcclellan mas declared twice that he is in favor
OF full and fair count, his counsel are opnosino |
just that kind Of count Judge Parker s Ls5
this to say to the court. coming from Nayo-