New Britain herald., 1915-12-07
M'CALL OUSTED BY
 GOVERNOR WHITMAN
Charges Against New York Com.
 missioner Sustained in Part

Albany, N. Y, Dec. 7.-Edward E. Mccall of New York, a former jus 1 tice of the state supreme court, was removed last night from office as l chairman of the down-state public service commission, by Governor Whitman, who sustained in part the 1 charges preferred against the commis- sioner by the Thompson investigating committee of the legislature. The ] governors decision was that Mccall, 1 in violation of the public service com i mission law, owned stock or a cor 1 poration under the supervision or ms commission. Other charges alleging l neglect of duty and inefflc1ency were 1 dismissed.
 Governor Whitman, last night, salo 1 that today, he would designate Com missioner William Hayward of New
 York as the temporary chairman ana that at the same time he probably would appoint a commissioner to fill the vacancy caused by McCalPs re- moval Mccall was appointed Feb ruary 3, 1913, and had two more years to serve.
 Reviews Evidence.
 Tn an opinion, Governor Whitman reviewed at length the evidence to support the charge that Chairman Mccall was the owner of 3S7 shaers of stock of the Kings County Electric Light and Power company, as well as the commissioners explanation that before entering upon his official duties, he transferred these holdings to his wife, In this connection the gov ernor says:-
 "There is nothing before me which in any way evidence the transfer of the stock from the ownership of the commissioner to that of his wife, eX- cept the commissioners unsupported statement, and while I have no de- sire to question the truth of his state ment that he intended to transfer the stock to his wife, there is no com potent evidence before me to show that such transfer was ever made. There is no evidence anywhere of the slightest desire to comply with the elementary legal requirements. I do not believe that a transfer within the meaning of the law was ever made"
 Opinion Quotes Law.
 The opinion then quotes the section of the tax law providing a penalty for transferring stock without affixing thereto the necessary stock transfer stamps, and cOntinues:-
 Therefore, if we assume that there was such a transfer, we have this situation-a former justice of the su- preme court, when one offense is charged against him, offers a de- fense that he has committed another. If it is true that he transferred this stock to his wife and that he wrote a on nY H Q forth his purpose to transfer, his fail ure to pay the tax required by law was crime for which he could be imprisoned for six months. Of course, the fact that the statute of limitations protects him now from prosecution has no bearing upon the question in volved.
 Directs Removal.
 1T find that this charge is sustained, and I direct the removal of the com missioner
 Having sustained this charge, the other charges and specifications hereunder, for the purposes of the record and in conformity to the statute, are hereby dismissed" Appointed by Sulzer. Mccall was appointed by Governor Sulzer. He had the indorsement of Charles F. Murphy, and it was said that this was the last apponitm cut made at Murphy's request before the break between Sulzer and the Tar1- many leader.
 The Thompson Investigating com mittee was appointed by the legis- lature last January and empowered to investigate the workings of both the upstate and down-state public ser vice commissions. The committee filed charges of neglect of duty and miscon- duct in office against four of the down state commissioners, Edward E. Mccall, J. Sergeant Cram, G. V. s. Williams and Robert c. Wood, but after a hearing before the governor. the executive dismissed the allega- tiOns as not sustained.
 During the last summer the Thomp- son committee resumed it's investiga- = tion of the down-state commission and the subsequent hearings brought out the fact of McCalIs alleged owner ship of stock of the Kings County Electric Light and Power company The investigation of the down-state commission has not been finished.