New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-10-30
GRAND JURY PROBE FOR
REGISTRATION SCANDAL
1ammany "Tin Soldiers" Said
TO Flood I'd, Sd and 9th
Assembly Districts.
roLEYS MEN INVOLVED
Instruct Attorney Subpenas
Thirty witnesses, Many OF
Them Proprietors OF
Rooming Houses.

posistration frauds which will in
- the names of 1,2OO registered
,.o,ers in the I'd Assembly District
.oo in the Sth and 1000 in the Sd
n,ors brought to the attention OF the
n,strict Attorneys Office yesterday.
Tbev we're turned over TO William y.
no Ford. Of Mr.. Whitman's staff, for
Investigation, and will be brought be-
fore the grand jury.
Thirty witnesses were subpnnaed
yesterday. several of whom were
uomen. and the records Of registration
IN the Board of Elections for the three
Assembly districts named will be sub
penaed to-day
fight that is being waged between
"Clem" Driscoll, the steam engine In
boots": his brother Gene" Mike" Ro-
franc. a nelghbor lawyer Of the Dris-
coils. and tom" Foley is said TO be at
the bottom Of the affair. Some of those
vho called the District Attorneys at
tsntion to alleged frauds in registra-
tion were l.. ]. O'Reilly. w. r. Hearsts
secretary: Edward r. Finch, repre-
senting the Republicans and the Pro-
rressives, and members of the Honest
Voters League
1t is alleged that many Tammany
men who registered in the "a District
merely hired rooms there and have not
lived there the required length Of time.
Most Of those who were called as wit
nesses Yesterday were the proprietors
Of rooming houses or hotels whose
boarders, it is alleged, registered be-
fore they had lived long enough in the
district to become voters.
Spite" Inquiry, Says Foley.
Down in my district" said Foley
yesterday, the pressure of business
has wiped out several tenement sec
tions. Many of the old residents have
moved away. But there are numerous
men born down there or living there all
their lives who have never voted any
where else and who don't want to vote
anywhere else.
These men maintain a voting resi-
dence in the district within the require
ments of the law This grand jury
proceeding is brought <or the purpose
Of annoying them and Of annoying the
women Of the district who refuse to
lend their aid to the men who have
turned on me"
The Driscolls were saying last night
that their fight on Foley would come
close to defeating "Ar' Smith for the
Assembly. Smith has been Foley's As
semblyman for a number of years, and
his nomination has always been con-
sidered equivalent to election.
Tin soldiers" is the descriptive
phrase used by the men who are fight
ing Foley to designate the names Of
men who, they declare, are illegally
registered, and as a block they are
noted In previous fights in he I'd, Sd
and Sth Assembly districts as the
cleanup vote"
Among other names turned over TO
the District Attorneys Office, it was
said, was that Of deputy attorney
general. who, though living with his
family in Harlem. is registered from a
number in Rivington street.
ROfrano, it is said, has been over the
registration records from the districts
concerned. and particularly over the
records Of the cd Assembly District,
picking out the tin soldiers" for iden-
tification later II they should present
themselves TO vote this year as usual.
Efforts to Hamper Probers.
The public copy" Of the registration
records for each election district. which
are supposed TO be open for inspection
in each district, have been carefully
covered" during the time that the evil
dence that was given to the District
Attorney yesterday was being pre-
pared The method OF covering" it
Is understood, was to have Tammany
organization man assigned TO each cleo
ton district polling place, with instruc-
tons to begin copying names from the
record as soon as he saw any one enter
the place, unless he was certain that
The newcomer was Of the organization.
In that way the investigation was de-
layed and hampered.
Samuel s. Koenig, Republican county