New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-07-09
RECORDS WERE DESTROYED
Complainant Allowed to Tell of
Returning "55 Per Cent Let
ter" 20 Cohalan and His
Recollection of It's
Contents.
GIVES DETAILS OF DEALS
Connolly Relates How He Agreed to
Share Profits with the Justice
and Ho' Payments Were Made
Everything Denied by
Defence.

Defence.
lFrom a Stah Correspondent OF The Tribune.l
Albany, July g John A. Connolly.
who charges Supreme Court Justice
Daniel +. Cohalan with having sold his
political influence for % 1er cent of the
financial results of that influence to the
Victor Heating c :npany, told his story
on the witness stand before the Joint
judiciary committees to-day. Justice
Cohala with his counsel faced his ac-
cuser wiz a tremor of nervousness
or apparent anxiety all day. In fact.
he rather outfaced onnolly, who :e-
fused O look at him. The justice ap-
peared TO be in much better physical
shape than when lie arrived in Albany
last night.
Connolly bore up we'll, although at
the end of the long session he was
cutie ready to take a rest He re-
Ieated in SUI tance the familiar
charges Of the demand by Cohalan for
20 per ~ent of the stock of the Victor
Heating Company in return fer his in
fluence in getting city contracts for the
concern; the change from that demand
TO the arrangement Of giving Cohalan
- per cent of the net profit of the
city contrac anC the tentative ar
rangement Of a 10 per cent Of gross re-
ceipts on such contracts, which did not
go into permanent effect, although one
payment " $50 J5 was made on that
| basis
Two points which Connolly brought
out received more attention than did
the repetition of then. st percentage
charges-hs story that he had sent
Cohalan letter outlini the % per
cent agreement, and that while he had
put copy of that letter in the letter
press copy book of the Victor Heating
Company he had torn il out at the
time. in 1904, when OI.anlon was
suing the company, and had handel
the sheet of tissue paper bearing this
letter copy TO Cohalan while they wero
riding on Broadway car.
Justice Cohalan' had just returned
from the st. Louis Democratic Ma
tional Convention, Connolly said Of this
transaction, and as he took the tissue
paper copy and crumpled it up in his
hand he said: I'm glad you got that
for me. II it was discovered it would
be a case for the grand jury"
Destroyed All Records.
Connolly's second dramatic period
came with his relation Of the destruc-
ton of all the records of the transac-
tons between Cohalan and himself at
the time, in May. 1909, when Cohalan
returned the $3,94O - which Connolly
asserts he had paid him in percentage
commissions on city contracts.
Alfred b. Cruikshank, his lawyer.
went to his Office, Connolly said, about
week after the settlement which
Cohalan had effected by paying back
the S3,9i0 %, and together they went
carefully over his ledgers, check stuo
hooks, cancelled checks and letter files,
while Cruikshank tore out the Cohalan
account in the ledger, cut out the check
stubs which, although written only for
cash. corresponded with the alleged
payments in caIh to Cokalan, appro-
priated the cancelled checks from the
same transactions and cut out the let
ter copies relating to the Cchalan deala
Connolly was not allowed 10 testify
Cohalan lawyers had exhausted every
resource to keep the evidence out
John b. Stanchfeld denied the exist
cnce or receipt of the alleged letters.
whereupon Joseph A. Kellogg. the At
torney Generals representative who
conducted the direct examination Of
Connolly. asserted that, under the rules
OF secondary evidence, as the witness
had sworn that such documents had
existed he could present the witness's
oral evidence in recollection Of them.
The point came up and was fought
bitterly every time Mr.. Kellogg ques-
toned Connolly about documents that
had been destroyed. but Senator Muir
lduSn ObgSN-
tions i'm each case.
This is very important. so let US
have the whole thing" said Senator
Murtaugh. and while several Of the
Tammany members Of the committee
objected privately 10 his ruling they
did not mt TO go to the length of
calling for vote on the question. and
the ruling stood.
Widens Scope Of Evidence.
BY the terms of the ruling, II the OBJ
jections to 1t do not become any more
specific than they were to-day, 1t is ap-
parent that Senator Murtaugh will get
into the record dence that will cover
every point OF Connoliy's accusations.
His decision on this point means thar