The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-02-28
NOT YET READY
FOR SAIHTSHIP
Distinguished Constituents Re-
quest Governor Hughes
to Remove Jerome.
MANY SPECIFIC CHARGES
DISTRICT ATTORNEY PROCESSES
TO FEEL NO ALARM.

!
= Albany n. Y, Feb. 27.-Govern- !:
" or Hughes said tonight that the !:
charges against District Attorney ::
:" Jerome would take the usual !.
course. A copy of them will be :.
sent to Mr. Jerome so that he may :.
" send an answer to them to the :.
" governor, after which the govern :.
= or viii decide as to his course. :.
New York, Feb. 27.-Twenty-two speci
fic charges are made in a petition prav-
I ing Tor the removal of William T. Je-
rome as district attorney of the county
OF new YORK, which was sent to Governor
/ Hughes at Albany today by commit
zee OF stockholders of the Metropolitan
Street Railway company through their
chairman, William f. King
The petition alleged that Jerome failed
20 properly prosecute charges of alleged
jury liking and the giving Of false tes-
tlmony IN street railway cases; that the
prosecution of violations of the criminal
law by the life insurance companies of
New 4ork, as disclosed by the Armstrong
committee, had been DELAYED: that o1
alleged criminal conspiracy to divert the
properly OF the Metropolitan Street Rail-
way company of New York into the hands
or a Few nen was allowed by Mr.. jerome
TO go on and hundreds of Stockholders
robbed of their money and that no at
tempt was made to punish men alleged
10 nave committed other frauds in con-
nection with New York City Traction
deals.
ScandaIous Statements.
Mr.. Jerome's statements as to iudges
are alleged to have been not only i'm
proper but scandalous in their nature. and
to have tended to destroy the confidence
OF people IN the integrity of their courts
the committee also charges that the
district attorney misconducted himself in
falling to indict and seek to convict some
one or the officials of the New York
Central Railroad company in connection
with the collision in that company's TIM
mel in 1902 when seventeen persons were
killed. Various other cases of alleged
failure of the district attorney to per
form his duty are cited in the complaint.
Jerome's Campaign Fund.
The petition also charges that contrf
buttons to the campaign fund to elect
Mr.. Jerome were received by one of Mr.
Jerome's assistants from men connected
Win large corporations seeking favors
from the district attorney and that the
sum. the amount of which is unknown
was upwards of S50.000 Among these con-
tributors. ii is alleged, was the attorney
for James II. Hyde. who contributed
s.. 600 II is also alleged that the assistant
who received these funds and who has
since resigned and entered law practice
has undue influence with the district
attorney.
I'm not worried" was District Attor-
ney JerOmes comment when told of the
charges and request for his removal sent
to Governor Hughes today.
This is another one, | suppose They
file them up there every week or so
against me. The governor has never asked
me to explain. If he does then we will
take cognizanee of them"
Explained to the Governor.
Mr.. Jerome added that many of the
matters contained in the King charges
had already been explained by him in
letter he had sent to Governor Higgins
and which he said was on file at Albany
the charges in connection with the Mutual
Life being covered. he explained, in an
elaborate report which he had made to
the governor.
Mr.. Jerome said that after an examina-
ton of the charges against the American
Ice company he came to the conclusion
that no crime had been committed As
to the shipbuilding case he said:
There is no doubt in my mind that the
circular issued showed false pretenses.
but it would have been necessary, in or
der to prove it. to institute proceedings
in five different states and the prosecu-
tor would have been confronted with the
fact that he could not take dispositions in
criminal cases before the grand jury
without the consent of the defendants,
which would have been an impOssfbility
grand jury being engaged in the task OF
trying to find one"
Decision Will Affect All.
Speaking of the fact that Robert 4
Granniss. George w. Perkins. Charles S.
Fairchild and others indicted in the in
surance scandal. had not been tried, Mr.
Jerome stated that their cases depended
upon the outcome of Justice Dowling's
decision in the Hegeman case which IS
now awaiting action by the appellate di-
vision
Mr.. Jerome admitted that Samuel Un-
termyer had contributed 5000 to his
campaign fund, but ne said that he did
not know that Jacob II. Schiff had con
tributed $3.50 until afterward and that
what was said in the charges about these
was simply a gratuitous lie !
on the part of the persons making the |
charges.
This office has had nothing to do with |
Heinze except to use him as a witness |
before the grand jury. AS to specifica- /
ton No. %. it does not become me to !
upon it"
Specification No. % is the one in which |
it was asserted that the people have lost |
confidence in Mr.. Jerome: that he has |
become the advocate of wealthy persons |
accused and that his days of official use |
fulness have passed.