New-York tribune., 1909-12-16
LETTERS STOLEN
Continued from fsrst page.

handled and controlled. Menken will have
anV one made President that will be agree
able to yp0 YOU ms spoke MoraoS about Hs M0rso sIso
spoke Of taking Shearn and other "lnde-
psndents" in II you have amy instructions.
i viii try 20 see that they are carried out.
charlie Hyde has sent me lot or bills
TO be settled. They are for automobile hife,
canal street headquarters, BrownsVii,ie ,
~ommittee's treasury was AZ the zero mark
and he suggested that they would nave 10
wait over until yS9r return ,n, ,o p, she news
naper men tonight. taking those VINO GOV
ered tho campaign headquarters Moore
Calvin and HYDE will be there. mere, n9oi ,oid
him thar psn Reid was coming. II woula
30 be- funny n Reid "eut l5ose" and sTed sGsEed
fo' you anu A. ]. JOHNSON.
LETTER GARBLED. SAYS SMITH.
Thomas r. Smith sent a letter to his
chief which. he said last night. was gar
hled as published yesterday. particu-
larry the reference TO Judge o'Brien- IL
follows:
SATURDAY. November % 1909.
Dear Commissioner: lust had talk Win
Judge % brfen anout tne
you referred IN your special denN'iy ie'
ter which reached me this evening
He wants me 20 assure YOU that ever
thing IS in good condition; thst the honeII ~
C;rier Monroe reference is only newspaper
salk: thai She Judge himself (D'Brienl Is
tie head OF the local committee; Shepard
is head of Kings and osborne is chair
man of the executive or upstate emo oi
the committee. He saws he VIII stay on
the Sab. and that anything done down
here viii he satisfactory To YOU.
I will see Commissioner Andrews on
Monday and tell him what YOU want done
You wanted 10 know II tho Charles r.
Murphy appointed a receiver was your
nephew. Judge la Fetra has appointed
him twice.
Another letter from Mr.. Smith gave
detailed story Of conference with Bor-
ough President Gresser of Queens. in
which inside" organization matters
about patronage and the election of
successor 20 City Clerk Scully are talked
about with charming frankness.
When Stanwood Menken, the organ
izer of the Democratic League. was seen
yesterday AT his office he did not at
tempt TO conceal his deep chagrin over
the publication of the letters TO Murphy
which have put the Democratic League
in an unenviable light. He said
Il want 90 say that I did have talk
with Johnson. whom I met informally at
a luncheon at his request at the Law
yers' club. without knowing directly or
indirectly that he would repeat my con-
Nersation TO any one. He asked me
about my idea Of plan and scope Of the
Democratic League. / told him that my
personal notion was that il should he
throughout an independent organization
of men whose personality should be such
that their approval or disapproval or
candidate or measure would have some
weight in the community. ! never told
him that ! would be for man for
President who would be agreeable 10 Mr.
Murphy Mr.. Johnson asked me to sug-
gest some one for chairman. i replied
that he should be some strong inde-
pendent man who would not be so viO-
Ien;ly antagonistic 10 Tammany Hall as
Ia be offensive 10 that organization, but
broadminded enough to see the right
when right is done, and 10 be fair TO all
hands"
Did Mr. Johnson finance the league%'
He did not He suggested that he Was
willing 70 render financial assistance, but
II was not accepted"
| LEAGUE NOT ALLY OF TAMMANY.
When ex-Justice Morgan ]. O'Brien.
/ chairman Of the Democratic League, was
seen. he said:
1t is not fair 10 assume from the pub
/ Ncation of these letters that the Demo-
/ cratic League is an ally Of Tammany
! Hall. But the league has no intention
OF dghting Tamnany. The idea is TO
/ bring about harmony between all the
factions Of the party in this state. Mr..
Smith. Of Tammany Hall. called on me
and seemed much worried about the ef-
/ feet Of our league upon Tammany Hall.
assured him that We were not siding
with Tammany or any other faction in
New York. Mr.. Corners also called upon
me and said that he understood the
: league was trying To put him out Of
Office. ! told him this was not so. I
said that many members OF the league
did not like his methods. and that this
was also true OF Democrats outside the
league. told him also that so long as
he would stand for the nomination Of
first class men on the ticket the league
would not antagOnize him. Since then
Mr.. Corners has stopped attacking us in
his paper"
Mayor Mcclellan was nightly inter
ested in the secret correspondence. but
would not comment on il.
Commissioner Edwards. OF the Street
/ Cleaning Department. said
There is nothing for me to say with
regard 10 the letter i'm which I am men
toned. Some one has used my name
as I suppose any one has a right to do.
but there is nothing said that i'm any
sense tends 20 discredit this administra
tion or the department SO far as can
see"