Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-10-20
WARES SUBPOENA
zoo INDEPENDENTS
Seek to Keep Town Meeting
Nominations Off the
Official Ballot
ROTAN RESERVES DECISION

NJ AN hEO EN- Ed DEClDlO4N
Subpoenas for more than 200 Of the men
who made affidavit as TO the authenticity
Of the signatures on the nomination papers
Of the various Town Meeting party can
didates are being issued from the Repub-
lican city Committee today under the di-
recton OF J. Lee Patton, counsel for the
committee, and are being served as rapidly
as they can be sent out by the writ-serNeIs'
The men subpoenaed are summoned to
appear in court on Tuesday when the Ware
organization will attempt, through the ma
chinery Of the law and the courts. TO have
the new party nominations declared invalid
and to prevent the printing on the official
ballot of the names Of any Of the candidates
Of the Town Meeting party.
The Republican city committee leaders
declare that the men being subpoenacd to-
day will be forced to admit that they sworc
to the authenticity Of the signatures on
various nomination petitions when they aC-
tually did not see these men sign. The
Ware followers also declare that some of the
signatures were not written in by tho men
whose names appear, and that the atlantis
therefore added perjury to forgery.
Thomas f. Armstrong and cyrus u. ross
,fr. acting for the Town Meeting party, ar
ranged today for at least twenty clerks 10
work in the County Commissioners office
an Of this afternoon tonight and tomorrow
copying names ON Town Meeting party
nomination papers, for use In the court pro-
Ceedugs
County Commissioner kucnzol at first re-
fused to see the independent party repre-
sentatives, but the arrival Of Commissioner
George T.. Holmes and Commissioner Moore
solved tho difficulty according To a STATE
mcnt by the Independents.
OBVIOUSLY ILLEGAL PIE-EMPTlONS
The attorneys who will represent the
Town Meeting candidates In the legal pro-
ceedings already have evidence, in at least
two wards Of obviously Illegal pre-cmptons
or attempted pre-emptions-ot the Town
Meeting party name the statement con-
tiuucd For the purpose uf completely
armtug themselves upon these and other inn
portant facts or information relating to the
court action. the request was made upon
the County Commissioners. Mr.. Holmes
who is president of the Board Of County
commissioners. readily aCCcdcd that this
was a legal right for the attorneys for the
Town Meeting party and issued an order
that the clerks they employed be given run
access to the desired papers and records
"As a result, a corps of twenty or moro
persons will he at work until Monday morn
ing copying the nomination petitions,
under direction of Robert $. Bright and
the town meeting law committee which he
heads, and William A. Glasgow, Jrr and
Thomas Raeburn White, who have been en-
gagged as special counsel for the proceed
ngs before Judge Davis. While this Is be-
ing done. scores of trained detectives will
canvass the city for evidence TO he used by
these attorneys when the case comes 70
hearing
ROTAN STILL UNDECIDED
The decision Of District Attorney Rotan
10 make formal acceptance or refusal Of
his nomination by the Town Meeting party'
as a candidate for recollection will not be
made until the last moment.
This was decided today when Mr. Rotan
declined TO announce his decision, saying
that there was plenty Of time"
DO you realize that Monday is the last
day?g he was asked.
"Yes, ] realize but IL gives me plenty
of time to decide" replied the District Al
| torney. He added that his decision would
| not be announced today.
Monday Is the last day upon which Mr..
Rotan can file with the County Commits
sioners his formal refusal of the nomna-
tion. Unless this is done his name will
appear on the Town Meeting Party ballot
as candidate for District Attorney, his
nomination papers having been filed by the
new independent party. Mr. Rotan, who
is candidate for District Attorney On the
Republican ticket also, previously said he
could not accept the extra nomination Of
ferod by the Independents ON the ground
that, although he was in sympathy with the
move for cleaner government, he had made
an agreement with his Republican running
mates to accept no other nomination unless
the entire ticket was included, His name,
nevertheless, was placed i'm nomination by
the new party over his unofficial refusal
The Town Meeting party committee to-
day retained William A. Glasgow, Jr., and
| Thomas Raeburn White as its attorneys to
| handle the protest on the nomination papers
that will be heard in Common Pleas Court
! No 3.
Naoffpur ovfy- 10 al Io,
| started counter-attack. They have no
| fear, they said that any Of the nomination
petitions will be rejected.
| The Town Meeting party committee today
| issued a statement in which it declared that
| the Republican city Committee had failed
to file the necessary papers in the protest
| against the Town Meeting candidates in the
! Thrty-eighth Ward.
The efforts of six officeholders In the
| Thirty-eighth Ward to intimidate voters
| and reflect upon the validity of the Coun-
| Cilmanic ticket in the bailiwicll died like
| a puff Of wind after the compainants had
| created a great splurge by serving copies
| Of the allegations upon those affected but
| entirely forgot to file the originals with
| the prothonotary until, under the law IL
| was too late TO do So" the statement reads
| John F. Bennett. clerk I'm the office Of
| Director Of Public Safety Wilson; William
| r. Dowdell clerk in the Department Of
| City Transit George w. Jackson, clerk in
| the Board Of Revision of Taxes; Charles
! SuddelI clerk in the office of the city
| Treasurer, and Simon Moore, clerk I'm the
| County Commissioners office all went be-
| fore Woodward Abrahams, notary and also
| r clerk in the County Commissioners Of
| fee, and swore to charges of illegality in
! the councilmanic petitions circulated for
the Town Meeting nominees in the Thirty
| eighth Ward
"They sent a copy thereof to each Of
| the defendants Everything was arranged
| for hrst-class contest. This moVing
! the accusers awakened to the fact that
| midnight last night was the final hour for
the filing Of such charges and that they
had neglected that small but necessary TECH
| nicality."
The statement was dismissed as a minor
matter" by ]. Lee Patton, counsel for the
| Republican city committee.
Il doubt II that paper was not filed, and
! I expect that It will be found with the
| rest" he said But in the event that it is
| found to be missing, II is a minor matter
compared with the fraud and forgery that
| will be shown in the courts next Tuesday
The latest move Of the Organization was
termed a bold political stroke, started
through fear Of the people at the polls-one
which is virtually a sign Of defeat