New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-07-09
GRAFT INQUIRY NOW ON
! eoisIatjye ,Probers Organize,
with Merritt as Chairman.
Mr.. BRUCE CHIEF COUNSEL
No More Meetings Until July 20
but Meanwhile Aft1dav1ts
Will Be Gathered.

Will Be Gatnere0.
The graft investigation committee Oh the
LEGISLATURE, appointed to investigate al
charges of legislative corruption arising
from the Allds-Conger trial In the senate
from the Hotchkiss investigation OF nre
insurance legislation or from any outSi"e
sources met for organization YESTERDAY at
noon in the Murray Hill Hotel EDWIN ~
Merritt, tr., majority leader OF the ASSEM-
bly,. was selected as chairman OF the COM
mittee, and N. Linn Bruce was desisnateu
as counsel.
In the corridors. both before and ai'e, |,
the meeting of the committee, local an"
upstate politicians buzzed around taiE'ns
mostly of the probable work TO De uoie W
the committee this summer
Raw Smith, clerk of the Assembly; Louis
Bedell. formerly known as Governor oueii
Assemblyman. whose name was brought
prominently into the HotchKiss =
tion. Colonel Abraham Gruber, the state
Superintendent of Elections, William Leary !,
Frank Perley. State Tax Commissioners, and
Michael J. Dady, of Kings. were aiiohs
those present. but when the call for the
meeting was announced they had to be
content to wait in the corridor while the
ILtt iii SAcSN$''N
little more than an hour and half
Senator Alexander Brough was maze
vice-chairman of the committee; Walter
Moses. Sneaker Wadsworth's clerk, is to
be secretary; Charles R. Hotaling, SER
geant-at-arms of the Senate, will act In
the same capacity for the committee. and
George NJ. Shotwell, assistant stenographer
of the Senate. was designated as the OIL
cial stenographer.
Senator Brough sails for Europe to-day,
and though he will not be here for the
meeting on July rs, he said that he had
arranged to cut short his foreign trip on
receipt of cable dispatch announcing the
beginning of the working sessions OF the
committee.
Inquiry To Be Thorough.
A representative of the Law Reporting
Company endeavored to put in a bid for
stenographic work. and showed copies of a
letter his company had sent TO the mem
bers of the committee requesting that it
be allowed to bid On the work, but as the
meeting was held behind closed doors, ana
no one was admitted, aside from actual
members of the committee, except c. j.
Barnes, the Senate stenographer, he did
not get chance to put his bid before the
committee
Chairman Merritt said attsxward that
nothing had been done at the executive ses-
sion except to designate the officers OF
the committee. No mention was made of
the compensation to be given the counsel
assistant counsel. sergeant-at-arms, secre-
tary and stenographer, and all these mat
tiers, he said, would come up later
In the mean time the counsel. the chair
man or the secretary would receive af1i-
davits.
Asked as to the scope Of the inquiry, Mr.
Merritt replied that the resolution under
which the committee was named would de-
fine that and he added that the rules OF
procedure would be determined upon at the
next meeting The other members of the
committee were Ioath to talk about the in
auiry at all. 1t would be a thorough IN
quiry. they all asserted, but along what
lines they could not say.
Mr. Merritt said that the choosing Of as
sistant counsel would be taken up by a
committee consisting Of himself, the vice
chairman. Senator Alexander Brough, and
the counsel. NJ. Linn Bruce, and they would
also, the chairman said, select what other
expert and clerical assistance was deemed
necessary.
talked more freely about the committees
work and the probable scope of it, What
ever there was. said these political experts.
of corruption or misdoing by legislators in
the New York State Assembly or Senate
would be fully exposed by the committee
1t was suggested that the resolution rather
the activities of the commit
tee, but Mr.. Gruber voiced the belief that
the newspapers would so criticise any ap-
pearance of ''Whitewasa'' that the COM
mittee would be forced to go into every
charge thoroughly.
Busy Time After July Is.
The name of William H Hotchkiss. State
of Insurance. was one fire.
quently mentioned during the day. On the
day of the last session of the inquiry he
conducted it was suggested TO him that the
legislative committee might not do thor
ough job of investigating.
I've heard that talk" was his comment
''but just bear IN mind that this inquiry /
have been conducting Is not adjourned
finally as yet, but is held open, subject to
my CALI
Mr. Hotchkiss's inquiry is still open. and
might be resumed should the necessity
arise, but the answer of the committeeman
and their friends yesterday to that sugges-
ton was that there would never be any
need of 1t, because the legislative committee
would cover the entire field of legislative
corruption thoroughly.
The full committee, all of the members of
which were present yesterday. is as fol-
ows: Chairman. Edwin A. Merritt; Vice
chairman. Senator Alexander Brough. Of
Senator Robert F. Wagner. OF
Senator Victor A Allen. of
Rensselaer,. and Assemolymen William w.
Colne, of Kings; Frederick r. Toornbs, of
T. L. Young. of westehester.
and James A Foley. of Manhattan. Sem
ator Wagner and Assemhlyn,sn Eora,, -