The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-10

TINE days axe am East S,dc IN
r. dcrtakcr called up the District
Attorneys office.
81 want the homicide hu-
r,au." he said and when he had been
.anncc'cd with Assistant Dis,rrt At
.orrcy Lucicn :. Breckenridge he con-
Gled:
Mr.. Breckenridge. there's wound
800 the head of man whose body !
nave hcra-lnd il looks like murder To
nae. The Coroners' office closed the
use as one uf Brights disease, but I'm
cared Of IL. wish you'd look into it,
Mr.. Brcykcnridg. did As result
o. careful Investigation strong cyl
Ga1ce was adduCed that Edward Sea
nan, the dead man, had been MUIR
Uorcd IN his room on New Year Day.
N il was murder the conclusion reached
10, the Coroners office gave IN" muir
uarer four DAYS TO escape, 20 cover
rs trail and 20 prepare a false ann or
e. perjurcd defence.
This very recent and striking in
lnce will show better than any mass
. testimony why hill has been drawn
loo abolish tine Coroners' office in
Greater New Gork. az ii has been
1poushcd in Boston and throughout
Massachusetts. as il has been eNtin-
.ltshed ln Buffalo and the rest Of
Erie county in This state. 1t viii make
a1duy comprehensive Mayor MltcheTs
Motive early last June directing the
Dmmissioner of Accounts, Leonard NJ.
Wallste.n. 20 investigate thoroughly
conduct of the CoronerS' office.
From that investigation. pursued
rhom rest for six months, came a
port 60 the Mayor by Commissioner
Na'Istein which constitutes the wors'
ndictmcnt uf any public office in this
ty in years
A. result NJ the Commissioner Of
'.Dount~'s inquiry many agencies have
cen STE, actively 10 work To rd the
~ OF such officials az Coroners. The
\ 10 abolish the office was drafted
. conferences at the city club ana
,seWhcrc in which the Commissioner
of Accounts. officers Of the City Club
nd representatives Of the Police De
ur'mcn and the District Attorneys
office all took part. The bill submitted
.o Mayor Mitchell will in all likelihood
no approved by him,
It is not unreasonable to infer that
his measure was one Of those pieces
u' legislation affecting Greater New
York discussed by Mayor Mitchell and
GOV. Whitman a few days before Gov.
Whitman took office and that the bill
met with Mr.. Whitman's unqualified
pproval II so, there should be no
nnIh, Of ts passage by the Legislature
md the replacing of Coroners in this
~ by a medical examiner, appointed
probably by the Governor Of the State,
thoroughly trained pathologist who
Nil not be guilty Of the Carelessness
nd ignorance which Coroners' physi-
.'aUs have often shown and which have
''.,itated the Concealment of crime.
Commissioner Wallstein, in submit
0g his eighty-two page report to Mr.
NJ tohel on January ?, remarked:
Three hundred and ninety witnesses
I've been examined under oath and
Ner 5000 pages Of testimony taken
The Investigation is not yet completed
500 10 has proceeded far enough to
mlnd a report at this time since
10 Is clear that legislative action alone
IN furnish any thorough remedy foi
lie wretchcd situation which has beer
'rlnd'
After five months Of private hear
ngs Commissioner Wa;stein held pub
ID. hearings for a month at which h,
save the Coroners a chance to explain
ne evidence which he had taker
"Nalnst them. II Is possible that h
may resume pubic hearings at any
--Ane, particularly IL fresh and hagran
buses develop in the Coroners worl
underground opposition to the bill
.. abolish the office appears at Albany
".a' are the salient things shown
NY the WallstcIn inquiry?
or the sixty-nve men who have beer
'Ioncrs since Greater New York wa
,'rmod not one was thoroughly quail
"'' Tor his work, Mr., Wallstein con