The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-03-10
ANSWER FILED
BY MR.. JEROME
District Attorney Denies All the
Charges Made by
King.
HUGHES NOT READY TO ACT
WILL ANNOUNCE DECISION
AFTER READING DOCUMENT.

Albany. n. Y, March s.-District At
tcrney Jerome filed today with Gov
ernor Hughes his answer to the charges
preferred against him by William F.
King, former president of the New
York Merchants association, and
committee of minority stockholders Of
the Metropolitan Street Railway COM
parry, in which the governor is asked TO
remove Mr.. Jerome from office.
The answer is a general denial of the
charges The governor said he would
announce the procedure TO be followed
after he had examined the document.
Based on Assumptions.
The district attorneys answer de-
clares that the charges against him
were based on assumptions which are
purely gratuitous; that in each in
stance of alleged failure to prosecute,
the matter did not, as a matter of law,
constitute crime, OF if crime had
been committed it was by reason of
some defect of evidence, such as the
lack of confederation, with impossible
~ to sustain a prosecution, and that
the law and the obligations of his oath
Of office alike forbade him to institute
prosecutions in the absence of evidence
10 Justify them. Each of the twenty
three charges against him was taken
up by Jerome and answered in detail.
Jerome's Campaign Fund.
With reference TO the charge which
relates to Mr.. Jerome's campaign fund,
which was in charge OF Howard S.
Cans, who was one of his assistants,
Mr.. Jerome states that save and ex-
cept in a few instances" he was not
Informed and did not know from whom
the Contributions to the expenses of his
campaign were made. The answer sets
forth also that the largest contributor
TO the fund so far as Mr.. Jerome knows,
was Samuel Untermeyer, who has been
for long time personal friend of
the district attorney. Mr.. Untermey-
er's contribution was $1,000.
Attorney for Hyde.
The charges against Mr.. Jerome al
legged that this contribution was i'm
proper on the ground that Mr.. Inter
meyer was an attorney for James H.
Hyde, formerly vice president of the
Equitable Life Assurance society. To
this the reply is made that Mr. Inter
meyer at that time did not represent
Mr. Hyde in criminal matters, and that
neither before nor since that time has
any evidence been produced TO indi-
cate that Mr. Hyde had been guilty of
any criminal act
Denial is made that Mr.. Cans, since
he has been an active practitioner of
the law, has at any time received any
faVOTs or been shown any other or
greater courtesies or consideration than
is shown TO every practicing lawyer.
Denial is made also that any favors
have ever been asked or received of
the district attorney from any corpora
ton.
shipbuilding Scandal.
With reference TO the charge against
the district attorney 10 the effect that
he had failed to bring prosecution for
any alleged criminal conspiracy for the
flotation of illegal, worthless and ficti-
tious securities of the United States
Shipbuilding company in 1902, Mr.. Jer-
ONE replies:
while it was probable a crime had
been committed and that certain per-
sons connected with the enterprise had
been guilty of procuring money by false
representations the legal evidence to
prove the falsity of the representation
could be secured only by taking the tes-
tomonies of the witnesses in five diff
ferent states"
Powerless to Prosecute.
Under the elementary criminal law,
Mr.. Jerome says, dispositions when TAX
en- without jurisdiction" are not avail
able either for preliminary steps in a
prosecution or upon the trial of a
criminal case, and that he had no
means Of securing the attendance of
witnesses whose testimonies would have
been essential to make a case, and that
he was therefore powerless to prose-
cute.
in reply to the allegation that the
district attorney had lost almost COM
pIetely the confidence of the people in
the county of New York, the answer
disclaims any ability to judge of this
assertion, but sets forth. bearing upon
the question, some of the numerous let
tiers which he has been receiving since
these charges have been filed, contain
ing assurances of confidence and ex-