Newark evening star and Newark advertiser., 1912-12-04
'TUMULTY SCORED
FOR HASTY ACTION
Attack on Martin Lost Hen
messy Leadership, Say
Political Leaders.
WITTPENN'S ASPIRATIONS
MAY NOW BE ENDANGERED
Verbal Clash in State House
Nearly Ends in Disgrace
ful Scene.


lrEOha sIUH OOrre6pOUueuNsl
JERSEY CITY, N. j., Dec. A.
Hudson county political leaders.
wherever they are gathering today.
are not backward in berating Joseph
P. Tumulty, secretary TO Governor
Wilson, for his iii-advised attack on
Assemblyman Thomas F. Martin be-
fore the Democratic Assembly caucus
At Trenton yesterday.
That Tumulty lost his bead when
he saw that Charles O'Connor Hen
Messy, Of Bergen county, whose cam
paign for the speakership Tumulty
was managing. was likely to lose out
IN the closest thing to an excuse which
Is being made for the Governors
secretary here. Both Martin and
Tumulty, being residents of this
county, are particularly well known
locally, and for that reason the Hud-
son politicians are showing keen in
tsrest in the fracas
Most of the politicians are surprised
that Tumnlky, considering his long
experience in legislative work, should
have been foolish enough to run the
risk of spelling his candidates.
chances even by a wordy outbreak,
let alone personal encounter.
TuniuIty oses Essex for Hennessy.
That the support of the Essex del
egation would have gone to Hennessy
If Tumulty withdrew his objection to
the choice of Martin for the majority
leadership is well known, and 1t is
even believed that sufficient votes
from the representatives of the other
counties to assure the choice of Hen
Messy might have been swung over
to him had Tumulty not made the
attack on Martin.
Any aspirations which Mayor Witt
penn may have to the gubernatorial
nomination next year are believed to
have been severely endangered by
Hennessy's loss of the speakership.
Wittpenn openly favored Hennessy
and got Asse 'nblyman James c. Ag-
new to withdraw as the Hudson del
egation's choice for speaker after he
had been unanimously selected at
Sundays cau3us, in order to help the
Bergen assemblyman's cause.
The mayor, who is still resting at
his home on account of injuries re-
ceived in a train wreck several weeks
ago, was unable to go to Trenton
himself yesterday. or he might have
been able to put some check on
Tumulty's impetuous action. The abb
senees of Governor Wilson, who is
4 1.~o. 4<x1 nf. ~
Hennessy, likewise contrived to give
his secretary an opportunity to make
such false step as to attack Martin
openly.
squable in State House Corridor.
The squabble between the secretary
and last years minority leader
took place in State House corridor
before the caucus had been begun.
Martin had been actively at work
against Hennessy and in the interests
OF Fgan, and when he and Tumulty
met the latter said:
you ought to be ashamed of your
work here today"
y well. I'm not Martin replied,
"and I don't have to make any
spology to you. We've got you prop
erly Deotcn.
Then Tumulty accused the assem-
blynlan of acting contrary to what
he had told Governor Wilson and
himself (Tumultyl in opposing Hen
messy. One word led to another, and
before witnesses had any idea that
The meeting was likely to develop into
anything more than one of the verbal
battles that are frequent in the
State House Tumulty had peeled off
his coat and started for Martin.
The latter. who bears the reputa-
ton here of being able to take his
own part in any sort of an encoun-
ter also proceeded to clear the decks
for action
Then National Committeeman Rob-
ert S. Hudspeth and some others who
We're nearby, realizing that they were
about. to become witnesses to some
thing more serious than a conversa~
tional scrap. rushed oyer and separ-
ated the belligerents before blood was
she'd.
Tun1ulty went back to the govern
or's Office and Martin returned to the
caucus.