New-York tribune., 1908-07-01
M'CLELlAN'S TITLE 0. K.
MAYOR WINS : FIGHT.
Recount Ends After Hearst Has
Tried AU LegaI attacks.

Hearst carried his plant through practically
court and process of law in this state, and even
had a special law made by the Legislature to fit
his case came to end yesterday. Without
leaving their seats the jury by instruction of JUS
tce Lambert, declared that Mayor Mcclellan
| rightfuly held Office Hearst gained sos votes in
the entire proceedings due to legal decisions on the
validity of certain contested ballots
| No one knows what the cost of this fight to Mr.
Hearst has been. Mayor Mcclellan said last night
that it had cost him 10000. plus counsel fees still
unpaid. Later he will be reimbursed for the
penses sustained by him in defending his seat.
The Attorney Generals office has spent large
probably that official has especial idea how
much-in the quo warranto proceedings and in
other phases of the legal complications into which
! he jumped to serve Mr. Hearst. All last winter
Mr. Jackson was pesterng the finance committees
of the Legislature for additional appropriations to
, carry on this and some OF his other fights.
Nothing at all came of the efforts of Clarence j.
Shearn Mr.. Hearst's lawyer to prove ballot box
stuf1ng. Justice Lambert gave every opportunity
yesterday for proof along this line to be brought
! out. Then, after Eugene Lamb Richards, of
sci for Mayor Mcclellan. had had chance to
! ply to the Hearst arguments, the judge in a
scathing charge declared that if voters could be
disfranchised so easily had been attempted to
be done in this case the country would go pieces.
and instructed the jury find for the defendant
! Mcclellan He had to be prompted by Mr.. Shearn
before he could remenbe, the Mayors first name
JUSTICE LAMBERTs OPINION.
, Justice Lambert said
49,. It Is not Necessary that should explain to you
]udsment WHICH do in this case It is not i'm i'm
With e the duties
the inspectors of election the officers who took
me IN that 9s e o the to a. a
BY anf The etsnes as
! here that there fraud far the
M
| votes that correspond to the record they made of
| I only
| OF this for the purpose of exonerating those men
sf There n has been complete abandonment upon the
part OF dd the people @ OF the effort to make out tho
instance IN that is now urged here that should
could hfye bs saohed the oGng1sGn M that if people
| done here, that this form of government OF ours
evidence is entirely unsatisfactory so far as am
concerned to show the inaccuracy Of the lists of
men upon that occasion. L would not permit if
Mayor f tie session here e the
not; not permit pei such verdict to stand. based upon
espRss TRssef9re direct you render verdict that
! City of New York at the November election 1908
The verdict had been expected-there could hsva
been no mistake about the result of the recount
after the first few boxes were recounted so there
was especial jubilation or corresponding depres
| sion
| II have never had any doubt of the result and
especially not after the first two boxes had been
opened said Mr.. Richards, Of counsel for the
/ Mayor.
sHEARN FEELS sATsFIEr
we have had an eminently fair trial, and have
no complaint to make" said Mr.. Shearn.
| Mr. Shearn, who presented the case for the
People a special deputy attorney general rested
| about noon, after Mortimer L, Wisdom his ac-
countant testified that in the districts where
Shearn charged ballot box stuffng, Hearst would
have gained 4.243 votes in New York county, 1,7aa
in SirpS and in
Richmond were missing, so that county not
| included. Hearst's net gain the recount was
S69 from which Mr.. Shearn contended SO votes
| should be deducted, they came from districts
| where he alleged the ballot boxes showed more
votes than the poll books. This, according to his
figures made total gain of 6,053 for Hearst and.
since McClellan's official plurality was 1884, would
seat Hearst by plurality of 2.29.
Mr. Richards wanted to know If 10000 or
5000 votes would not be thrown if the dis
trcts where Mr.. Shearn charged ballot box stufing
were eliminated from the count. Neither Mr..
Shearn his witness could tell. There were be-
tween $50 and 200 election districts in question.
Mr. Richards offered in evidence the poll books
from the County Clerks office the tally Sheets in
; spectors statements of canvass and the ballot
| clerks returns He declared that in not of
| the protested districts the poll equal the
registration and after considerable squabbling Mr..
| Shearn admitted this, but said it ought to be
proved, adjournment taken for hour to
permit John r Dooling. president ce the Board
of Elections. to bring the official registry record
to the courtroom.
| Then Mr.. Shearn demanded that the Mayors
| counsel produce all the tally sheets.
| I'VE shall show you greater discrepancies in
| these" he said Mr.. Richards said it would take
two weeks to examine them, while Mr.. Shearn
thought one day would suffice.
! COURT WANTS TO END CASE.
We'll If you want to prolong this thing fur
ther we willing to go ahead" retorted Mr..
| Richards. But the court said there was no need
| of prolonging the case. You can put in as much
proof as you want" said Justice Lambert
After the adjournment Mr.. Shearn conceded that
| in every disputed district the registration was
greater than the poll of votes. The figures in the
pollbooks taken from the County Clerks Office
showed scarcely any deviation from those CT the
count in the disputed districts when Mr. Richards
brought them forward. These the official
figures. and those in the pollbooks taken from the
Office of the State Superintendent OF Elections on
| which Messrs Shearn and Dolson had based their
! case were supposed TO be Identical with them
| Mr. Richards declared that 1t unfair for Mr.
! Hearst's counsel to attempt show commission
| of fraud by the figures from set of books
| when other records OF the election returns agreed
! with the recount of ballots
! Everything" said hs goes to show that this
canvass of more than 100000 ballots was conducted
honestly and fairly. we ask for direction from
the court that Mr. Mcclellan was elected Mayor
honestly and fairly" He said that 1t was abso-
utely ridiculous his opponents to select liz dis
| tricts with heavy Mcclellan puralites. and be-
cause the ballot boxes showed slight discrepancies
when compared with one set OF pollbooks, TO seek
to disfranchise some seventy thousand voters by
having those districts thrown out of the count
Deputy Attorney General Dolson summed up for
the People He declared his belief that the votes
In the protested boxes could not be counted hon
estly. In, box, he said. forty-eight votes APP