The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-12-29
TO RUSH TRIAL \ OF COUNCILMEN Gases in Pittsburg Are Dispatched. MAYOR GUTHRIE IS BUSY President Roosevelt Said to Be
 Interested. Accused Men, in Bitter Words, Refuse To Perform Any Public Duties Untn TAey Are via- aIcatea
GUTHRIE IS BUSY

&t prosecution in the alleged corrupt prac- tices of Pittsburg Councilmen, as well as attorneys for the seven Councilmen and two former bankers already under arrest, insist that the trials win be urged to as speedy conclusion as the
 machinery of the courts will permit. William A. Blakely. who was ap- pointed District Attorney within the past two weeks to i'll a. vacancy caused by death. today stated that he would do all within his power to have the cases disposed of before the municipal elect Ion in February. at which all of the Councilmen arrested and number of others said to be under surveillance. are candidates for election to Councils in new districts following the re-district- Ing of the greater city growing out of
 the consolidation of old Pittsburg. Ale gheny and several boroughs. Tn connection with the alleged brih- ing of Councimen by officers of nation-
 al banks to secure deposits of city funds. it is said the plan followed by
 some of the banks was to have their
 New York correspondents forward the amount of the corruption fund to an l other Pittsburg bank to the credit of the Councilman negotiating the brib- | cry deal. he to make distribution to the other Councilmen.
 President Roosevelt it is now gener- ally believed. has been instrumental fin pressing the investigations since the ! first suggestion of Irregularities by nu- tional bankers reached the Department
 of Justice.
 Mayor George W. Guthrie went to | Philadelphia today and will not return | until Wednesday. The Mayor. while in ] Philadelphia. may inquire into the ap- piication for a street railway franchise | which. figures in the charges againsf
 Councilmen. the attorney and some of
 the stockholders of the company being
 Phiiadelphiane.
 There is comment on the fact that while the charges against Counciimen inveiva at least hal -dsxefi ordinances. ' prsistleally 10 esidehce or details have been given out except those concerning I the establishment of Repositories for the city's funds.
 There were no sensational develop. ments in the City Councils scandal at tonight's session of the two branches of | the Council. There was not even a ref
 erence to the subject in Select Council. the only member of which Involved in | the charges is T. O. Atkinson. Tn Common Council. President Will | liam Brand made an address in which
 he denied guilt of each and all of the charges made against him but asked to
 be excused from serving as presiding ! officer of the lower branch Of the Coun- | ell until after the courts had disposed of the charges.
 Finally Samuel McElroy consented to
 occupy the chair for the one session and business proceeded.
 Councilman Melaney, another of the accused members sent a letter in 1 which he refused to take part in the proceedings of the body or to do com
 uittee work until he had been vindicat- ed His letter was received and filed. Jacob Soffel Chairman Of the Public Works Committee, declared his inno-
 cence of all charges in an impassioned speech in which he dehed his aecusers He declared he would have no Further voice in the deliberations of the Coun- ell until he had been tried and vindi- | cated In court.
 | Hugh Ferguson. another accused
 member. said nothing of the charges l against him, but refused to vote on any proposition presented at the session. lJoseph c. Wasson, chairman of the Finance Committee, and John P. KleIne. | the two other accused members. made no reference to- the graft charges and participated in the business of the ses- sion. Common Council passed over the
 veto of the Mayor an ordinance pro- viding for $i.a00.000 bond Issue for
 bridge connecting Pittsbnrg and Ala l gheny.
 l There Is an unconfirmed report to-.
 night to the effect that Barney Dreyfus,
 President of the Pittsburg baseball
 club. is to be an important witness in
 the graft cases.
 The baseball park Is located in what
 was A1legb eny prior to the consolida-
 ton of the cities last spring and be-
 sides annual tickets for. all members
 of the Allegheny Council. only a nomi- nal license was demanded from the
 baseball management. When the
 cities were consolidated the number of Councilmen was so large that the
 issuance of annual passes to all was
 considered too heavy burden and none were given. Thereupon a practi-
 calIy prohibitory license ordinance was
 introduced in the Councils of the com
 bined cities. but 1t has never been l finally acted upon.