The sun., 1906-12-31
STEPS TO OPEN BALLOT BOXES.
NEW ATTORNEY-GENER WRITES
TO HEARST TO APPLY --
And Il Looks as n the Application VIII Be
. Granted. whereuDOn the Action VIII
Probably he Brought Somewhere Up
state-Mayors Lawyers VIII Fight.

son, who Is to take ONCE to-morrow' sent
the following letter to William r. Hearst
yesterday from the Victoria Hotel:
Hon. William r. Hearst. 1856 East TWsnty-
eighth street.
DEAR SIR: In the matter Of the appllca-
tion of William Randolph Hearst to the Hon.
Julius Mayer. Attorney General OF the State
of New York. for leave to institute quo war
ranto proceedings against George b. NC
Clellan. Mayor Of the city OF New York. which
leave was heretofore denied. you are hereby
notified that should you desire 20 renew or
to make another such application rehearing
and consideration on said matter will be
granted by me as soon as l take office as
Attorney C enerai on January l. 1907.
You are thus informed because l deem
that the welfare and dignity OF the people OF
this State demand the immediate settlement
Of the serious questions involved. Yours
truly. W. 3. JACKSON
MIR. jackson gave out copies Of this
letter at the Victoria last night.
-The letter speaks for itself, he said.
81 have no further statement to make about
the matter at this time Any statement
now must come from Mr.. Hearst or his
COUNSEL
Clarence J. Shearn. Mr.. Hearst's counsel.
said that the first intimation be had that
such letter had been sent was when he
heard OF il from the reporters, though
Mr.. jackson. it was understood, had had
a talk Yesterday with Mr.. Shearn and also
with Mr.. Hearst.
This is certainly very gratifying to MS,
said Mr.. Shearn As a matter of fact,
we had all along intended to present such
an application TO MIR. jackson as soon as he
took Office and the papers are now ali pre-
pared and will he handed to him on Tues
day. 1t will then he for him to set date
for an argument. We intend TO push this
fight for q recount as vigorously as ever,
and nothing will be spared TO bring about
a recount OF the votes in the ballot boxes.
IL looks now as il we were going to get
some action at last
Mr. Shearn said that the papers which
would be submitted in the new application
were practically the same as those pre-
sented TO Attorney-General Mayer, who
denied the application. In denying 1t Mr..
Mayer said that in his opinion nothing
was shown in the papers which would IN
dicate that the result Of the election would
be materially changed.
There are 100 printed pages OF affi-
davits for Mr.. jackson TO go over alleging
frauds and mistakes in the count. The
other side has the right to oppose the
application before the Attomey-General,
and Mayor Mcclellan will be represented
in the argument probably by Assistant
Corporation Counsel Butts, who has han
died the case all along. Mr.. jackson has
been asked verbally by Mr.. Hearst and
his friends to give them a rehearing, but
his letter was not sent in reply to any
formal written application, and it had been
the general expectation that Mr.. jackson
would wait until after he had taken Office
and received such request. That he
anticipated this by letter in which he says
he believes the people of the State demand
a settlement of the matter leaves little
doubt that he intends to grant the applica-
ton. In that event it will be for him to
bring an action in the Supreme Court.
He could do this in any judicial district
in the State. 1t was said last night that
the action would probably be brought in
some district up the State on account OF
| the crowded condition Of the calendar here.
1t is the intention of Mayor Mcclellan
| and to take advantage OF every point that
seems to justify an appeal. Most of the
lawyers who have looked into the case have
given up figuring how long these proceed
| ings might take, but all have agreed that
they will take a long time, and with a suf
ficieut number Of appeals could be made to
last almost indefinitely. The expense,
which would also be great, falls on the appli-
cant IL he loses.
The ballot boxes, which. as it now. looks,
will be opened, are still in the custody Of
the Board Of Elections of this city. Ordi-
narily their contents would have been de-
stroyed long ago and the boxes used for
the last election. The Corporation Counsel,
representing the Board OF Elections and
the Mayor, asked permission from the
| Supreme Court to destroy the ballots at
| the end Of the six months provided by law,
but Justice MacLean denied the applica-
ton, holding that while doubt existed il
would be against public policy to destroy
! the proof Mr.. Hearst at that time offered
| TO pay for new set Of ballot boxes for use
last fall, but the Board OF Elections found
that IL could not allow this and had to foot
| the bill itself.
Although Justice MacLesn handed down
this decision Iast summer no notice Of an
appeal by the Corporation Counsel was
taken until some weeks after the election Of
| Mr.. jackson. The matter was argued
before the Appellate Division two weeks
| ago and no decision has been handed down
as yet.
The Hearst people have been confident t
| OF a recount ever since Mr.. Jackson's cleo
ton, though Mr.. Jackson has carefully
refrsined from making any statement
which would indicate that he had made
any decision himself in the matter. He has
already appointed Mr.. Hearst's committee
man, W. A. de Ford, deputy Attorney
| General.
Mr. Jackson's letter to Mr.. Hearst comes
closely on the heels of Attorney General
Mayors appointment OF Gherardi Davis az a
special deputy TO take charge of the action
brought against Mr.. Hearst che Corrupt
Practices Association to oompei him to make
a statement in detail OF the sums he spent
in his last campaign. on the ground that his
statement on file contains many discrepan-
| do do