The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-03-20
KELLY, CRITIC OF COURTS, NERVOUS
 BEFORE JUSTICE
MiddIetown Politician Files Written Explanation of
 Remarks.
Judge Case will Consider Let ter and Announce Deei-
 sion Tuesday.

MfddIetown, Conn, March zo-Thom~ as Kelly, former water comulssioners whose remarks at a meeting Monday night of friends of Professor willard C. Fisher were construed by many as an attack upon the Judiciary of the state because Judge " S. Case. of the superior court, had ruled that the 5aIlot boxes used in the last city elee- ton contest, was in the superior court today.
 Wont you come forward. pleaseg' asked Judge Case
 Mr. Kelly walked to the bench show ing signs of nervousness. He handed a letter to Judge Case You have prepared this2" asksd Judge Case.
 '.Yes" replied MT. Kelly T will look it over" said the court You understand that at present your presence here is voluntary You are under no compuIsion. Whatever state ment you may make is of your own free Hil1.''
 MT. Kelly nodded in an affirmative way. Judge Case then excused hr- Kelly until 10 o'clock next Tuesday | morning.
 KELLY EXPLAINS. Outside the court room, MT Kelly said that he had received a. letter from Judge Case stating that if he | had any statement to make in refer ence to alleged utterances at the Fish CT meeting on Monday night, the court would like to hear it. Mir Kelly said the paper he handed to the court | simply stated that h~ wa6 prepared to offer afidavits of what he really said during the meeting
 At the meeting Monday night there 1 was discussion of a plan to launch Fisher clubs to assist the movement which aims to nominate Prof Fisher | for governor in the next Democrats | convention. MT. Kelly is said to have | charged that lawyers were. rascals. r and also criticised Judge Case for his decision in the election case brought 1 in Professor Fishers behalf through | which it was desired to inspect the ballots cast for mayor. | Mir Kelly also made reference to the alleged participation of State Cen | election MT. Kelly claimed that ho l did not use the language credited to ! him and while criticising the judiciary and lawyers, he claimed to have said that some of the 1awyers'' only were bad.
 DIDN'T EXPECT PUBLICITY.
 In the statement handed to Judge Case, MT. Kelly said: T never fn- | tended what said at that meeting for the public press, as | regarded i the meeting as private" | Commenting on the reference to tho 1 decision of Judge Case in connection with the recount petition, Mir Kelly in the statement said he had remarked
 that the motion would not be granted 1 but that the remark was incidental 1 and made after he had learned that
 an attorney had gone to Waterbury to seek a recount
 "I did say afterwards" he coutin- l ued, ''that the judiciary was rotten 1 and the lawyers d-- rascals bur qualified both sentences by saying that | the charge did not include all the le-
 gal fraternity but only those who
 were bad
 QUALIFIED HIS CRFTTCISMS. Referring to the judiciary. Mir Kelly said he had in mind two or three fed 1 eraI judges who had been tried dur ing the last year or two, while his ref l erence to the legal fraternity was die
 rected against those members of it l who were instrumental in jugglinU I laws in the various legislatures which
 are detrimental to the masses of the
 people,"
 -sBut allow me to ~yithdrav tho terms d- rascale', the statenra1c c continues, ''as both utterances are de~ | grading and should not have been
 made under the cirstances or provoca- tion-certainly would not have been 1 made under the circumstances or pro
 vocation=csrtainly would not have | been made if had thought the whole I matter was to be published. J am prepared to make an affidavit to fhe foregoing statement.