Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-10-28

on the highways and canals so far as
could, in spite Of the desperate OPP
position of Murphy and his lieuten-
ants In the legislature and in the de-
partments. The reason why the rev.
Citations Of thievery up to date are nc
greater than they are Is that Mr.. Muir
ply, when he saw that / meant to
bring the thieves to justice, caused his
legislature to cut off every dollar OF
appropriations necessary to an ef-
fective investigation.
Good God! Do the people OF this
state realize that for the first time In
more than a generation the present
legislature refused to make the usual
and customary contingent fund ap-
preparation heretofore placed at every
governors disposal for just such pur-
poses as these Investigations? Does
not this one incident clearly show the
vindictive character Of the boss and
his creatures In their opposition and
their desperate determination to pre-
vent the exposure that my investiga-
tions were beginning to produce?
"It Is literal fact that all that has
been done to show up fraud was
furnished by Commissioner Henessey
out Of his own personal resources, by
volunteer work by several engineers
and others, by contribution Of $4,000
out Of the funds given to me by friends
during last falls campaign, and by
other funds subscribed recently by
some Of the same men as well as by
others.
Limited, thwarted. obstructed,
by Murphy's henchmen In all Of the
departments and In the various coun-
ties, ] have nevertheless managed to
secure indictments In Erie, Rockland,
Westchester, Putnam, Suffolk and
other counties. Approximately more
than score Of men have been actu-
ally indicted during the past two
months for gross frauds in the good
roads department. Hf
Above all, based on the investiga-
tions OF Mr.. Blake. to whom Mr.. Muir
ply so vigorously objected, within the
past two weeks, while was actually
being impeached, the Washington
county grand Jury returned twelve in
dfctments against the grafters In the
Great Meadows prison job.
Murphy On stiIwsII. s
my final interview with Mr.. MUIR
ply In the late night of April 13 was
marked in my memory for his inso-
lence to me and for the sordid bru-
tality Of his demands. 1t was after
the Jefferson banquet at the Waldorf
Mr.. Murphy had gone home. and ar
terward Judge Mccall had gone to my
rooms with me from the banquet and
waited an hour for Mr.. Murphy to
join us. He called him up on the tel
ephone and said that Mr.. Murphy
asked me to go to see him at his
house.
Judge Mccall and I got into a taxi
cab and went to Mr. Murphy's resi-
dence. It was after midnight and Mr.,
Murphy. let US in at the door. We sat
In the front parlor and talked over
the situation at Albany--appointme
and so on Mr.. Murphy
would agree to nothing I wanted, and
I didn't agree to anything he wanted.
II asked him not to interfere with
the trial Of Stilwell In the senate.
said: What are you going to do about
him% s
Stand by him, Of course replied
Mr.. Murphy. "Stilwell win be acquit-
ted. 1t will be only q three-day won
der How do you expect a senator to
live on $1,000 year? That IL only
chicken feed y.
"At this conference / urged Mr. MUIR
ply to let me carry out In good faith
the platform pledges Of the Democratic
party for direct nominations. We talk
ed over the bill. I told him there was
o strong sentiment throughout the
state In favor OF this legislation. He
said I. was mistaken, that. there was
no sentiment for direct primaries -ex-
cept from a few cranks. g
II called his attention ito the pledge
In the platform. He said he was op-
posed to any bill that abolished the
state convention and eliminated the
party emblem. said that there could
be no honest direct primary law un-
less that were done. He answered that
the organization would never agree to
any bill that did 1t, and that such BIN
would be Overwhelmingly defeated In
the legislature. ! said to him that un-
less we made good on direct primaries
we would lose the state He replied
that did not know what I was talking
about.
1--WE again talked over appointments
to vacancies on the supreme court
bench, and I said that / was being
criticised by the judges and others for
not filling the vacancies. He talked
over several names that would be
agreeable to him, Mulqueen. Gillespie,
and others. I told him that I thought
I ought to select the very best law
yers could get, and said again that ]
would make no appointments unless
the names were approved by the Bar
That was the last time
saw Mr. Murphy, and I returned to the
hotel very much disheartened.
Threat to Destroy suIzer.
Before we parted that night
warned Mr.. Murphy that he would
wreck the party and accomplish his
own destruction IL he persisted In
shielding grafters and violating plat
form pledges. His angry retort was
that I was an migrate, and that he
would disgrace and destroy me. ~
Every man who has borne the
weight Of great office like that Of the
governor of New York, will appreciate
my position. ] wished to keep In with
the organization; was anxious to
avoid break with it. knew only too
well the legislature would obey Mr..
Murphy's every order, whether given
over the telephone or In person. l
knew the terrible odds against me in
the fight which I courted when I de-
clined to submit to Mr.. Murphy's die
tation; when declined to turn my Of
fice into an instrument for the corrup-
ton of government and the debauch-
ing of. the state. I was reluctant to
break with Mr.. Murphy. did 1t only
because It became impossible to do
otherwise, and not betray my oath OF
office and forfeit every shred Of self
respect.
when returned to Albany after
my last interview with Mr.. Murphy, /
considered my plight and the
whole state situation. II was only at
that time, not since, that any thought
Of resigning my Office was in my mind.
There were three paths for me to
travel; to surrender to Murphy and
be unmindful Of everything except his
orders; to fight for what I believed
was right, regardless Of Murphy, or to
resign my office and give the people
my reasons.
ut did not take me long to deter
mine not to surrender. could not
do that and maintain my self respect.
Gould I fight and win? It did not
seem possible. I knew that Mr.. Muir
ply told the fact when he said he
could and would block me in the leg
Islature. knew also that every state
department was under his control,
save the few I managed to hold against
him. More than all knew from
many years knowledge Of state, he
would stop at nothing to thwart me,
even to the extent he has gone, which
Is not his limit.
Tore Up His Resignation.
az thought long and seriously about