The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-11-02
ELECTION WARRANTS REFUSED
ARREST THEN WHEN THEY VOTE,
SAYS DAN FINN.


Politics for Years and There's a Lot Of
Humbug In the Arrest Business Only
One Conviction I'm a Hundred, He Says.
The question Of issuing warrants for men
alleged by the police to have registered
illegally and subpUnas for the owners
of the houses where they said they lived
drew a new series of rulings from Magistrate
Finn in the Tombs police court yesterday.
When Capt. Toole of the Oak street station
house read in The SUN that Finn had given
three warrants and seventeen
on Wednesday to a policeman sent by
Capt. Kemp OF the Mulberry street station
house he was very angry. The day before
that his policemen, Mullen and O'Neill,
had made precisely the same request only
to be turned down. He ordered them to
return yesterday and renew their request.
They had thirty-seven ~subpenas to apply
for.
Now, I'm not going TO issue these sum-
monses and warrants, as you ask said
Magistrate Finn. Il did issue three war
rants yesterday and some summonses ,
but only for an experiment"
But here's a case OF a woman who says
seven men registered from her place though
they dom live there at all. She won't
come here without a summons, y explained
O'Neill.
-In that case I'll give you a summons, "
said the Magistrate, but not in the others
Here's a case where the ianitor Of the
house says a man doesn't live there and
we want him TO come here and swear to
that, but he won't come il you don't send a
subpoena for him." persisted O'Neill.
Why should he Gomez" asked the Magis-
trate. What has he done1 What right
have you to ask him to come here? Why
don you send the name OF the man you
suspect to the inspectors Of election and
get him when he tries to vote? How does
this %ianitor know this man doesn't live
there? How many families i'm that house?"
Ten or fifteen families, said O'Neill.
Have you asked them all-every family
il they haven't got a boarder by that name?'
NO, we only asked the janitor,' said
O'Neill.
well, you bring every one Of those
families here and If they all swear that this
man doesn't live with any Of them I'll
give you a warrant. Why don't you go up
to the Waldorf-Astoria and ask the pro-
prietor of that place if every man registered
from it lives there? Does he know? Could
he tell your Would you expect a warrant
from me If he were 10 say j Ohm Smith, regis
tered from there, did not live in the hotel
when the fact IL that with SO many persons
! claiming that as their residence he could
not know? IL seems TO me that you police
men try to embarTass only the poor people
in these cases and try and brighten them
from using their right to vote Well. you
don't get no warrants on such testimony
and I'm not going TO Summons these pro-
prietors here, and that's all there is TO it
Roundsman A. J. Miller Of the Old Slip
station house then asked for three warrants,
He had Supt. Thomas Holm Of the Broad
Exchange Building in court 70 swear that a
certain man who registered from that place
an Office building with 1000 tenants-did
not live there and had no right to register
from II.
ANY beds in that building?' asked the
Magistrate.
NO, sir" said Mr.. Holm, who ex planned
that only the watchmen were in the building
after Office hours. There were cots in the
building but no beds.
AM you are sure with 900 persons there
that this nan hasn't an Office there and
doesn't sleep there?'
Yes, sir"
Are you ready TO swear he doesn't rent
desk room from some other TENANT"
We'll, no, | can just exactly swear to
that " said MIR. Holm. He may have a
desk but ! dom think"
NO warrant in hat case, said Magistrate
Finn. why, say, I remember when old
Mr.. Sickles. the Generals father, for years
registered and voted from his Office down
town and neither lived there nor slept
there"
The Magistrate gave a warrant to the
%roundsman when the proprietor of a South
street boarding house gave positive testi
mony that a man who said he lived with him
was not one Of his boarders.
I've got seven Of them and this fellow
amt in the bunch, he said. IF he regis
aprg from thiSD place he's a liar. that's all
Deputy Attorney-General Chilvers tried
to the case for the policeman, but
had no more SUCCESS than they.
I'VE have already notified the inspectors
Of election and will arrest these men," he
explained M"But your Honor knows why
we want warrants. If we have warrants
when we arrest them on election day it is
enough to hold them until we get the wit
nesses to court. But il we arrest them
in the polling places and bring them here
without our witnesses to corrobOrate them,
the Magistrates are more than likely to do
as they nave In years past, declare we have
no case and turn the men out at once"
We'll. II you've notified the inspectors
Of election, these men can be arrested IL
they try to vote. OF course they can vote
il they insist. and then they can be ar
rested" said the Magistrate. Il think the
Magistrates will find a way 10 hold them
until you get the witnesses here"
Mr.. Chilvers said maybe they would, but
his experience was in past years that the
only way to make sure was to get warrants.
-Yes. and a certain captain of police
came 10 me last year with the modest re-
quest for 300 warrants" said the Magis-
trate. Now, nat a chance he stood of
getting that many convictions, didn't he.
Look at the record OF convictions! One
in a hundred II there's that many. There's
a lot of humbug about this whole business
and I've been in the politics of this town
lDn0 enough 10 know IL y