New-York tribune., 1918-04-17
Childs,
and Sulzer I'm
Fusion Inquiry
Grand Jury Also Charges
j. T. Newcomb With
Conspiracy

William Hamlin Childs. executive
chairman of the Mitchel-Fusion cam
pagn committee; ex-State Senator Jo-
siah T. Newcomb, nead Of the speak
ers' bureau. and Ex-Governor William
Sulzer, who got 5000 of the s2,O00,o0O
Fusion campaign fund for campaign
ing on the East Side, were indicted yes
terday by an extraordinary grand jury
on the charge of conspiracy. 1t is al
legged that they conspired TO conceal,
in the report of election expenses filed
in Albany. the fact that $4,000 was paid
to Sulzcr and that $4,000 was paid to
Misha E. Appelbaun1, head of the HUI
manitarian Cult, who spoke for Mayor
Mitchell and distributed copies of the
magazine published by the cult.
Justice Gof. who received the indict-
ments, arranged to have the defendants
in court tomorrow AFTERNOON, when
bench warrants will b. formally se1ved
on them.
Frame-up, Says Sul1cr
Suffers part in ttc conspiracy, it is
alleged, consisted in requesting Mr..
Childs and cx- Senator Newcomb to pay
him in cash insteao of by check and
to leave his name OUT Of the official
expense reports to be filed with the
Secretary Of State.
"It's just another Tammany frame
up" declared "the same old Bill" when
informed of his Indictment.
Mr.. Childs said he understood he had
been indicted.
"All | can say he added. "is that
am perfectly innocent of any wrong
brought to trial the better it will suit
me. If there was any violation of lavt
it was purely technical and there was
no desire on my part to conceal any
thing. l believe the payments to Sui
zer and Appelbaum were in the re-
ports. They may not have been under
the names of these men, but they we're
included in the list of expenses for
speakers"
At the home Of Ex-senator Ncwcomb
it was said last night that he was in
Washington on business.
Investigation Will Continue
Investigation Of the Fusion campaign
fund has been going on for nearly two
months, and the indictments handed up
Yesterday do not mark the end of the
it was learned last night
Justice Gof conferred with District At
torney Swami and Assistant District
Attorneys Alfred j. Tallcy and Edwin
p Ki!roe regarding the necessity for
maintaining absolute secrecy regarding
the work Of the grand jurors. None Of
these officials would discuss any phase
Of the investigation.
1t was reported, however, that
twenty one Of the twcnty-thrcc grand
Jurors voted for the indictment of
Mcssrs. Childs, Ncwcomb and Sulzcr
Nineteen Of the twentythrcc were in
court When Foreman J. Sinclair Arm
strong, Of 30 East Sixty-first Street,
handed up the true bill.
1t waa learned that the indictments
charge that Messrs. Childs, Newcomb
and Sulzer conspired to violate Section
751 Of the penal law, which makes it Il
misdemcanor to violate any one of the
sections Of the election laws. The max
imum penalty for such violation is one
wear in prison, q fine Of 1000, or both
The specific election law which the de-
PENDANTS are accused OF violating is
contained in Section SAG, whc: re-
ouircs that candidates and campaign
committees must file with the Sccrc-
tary Of State within twenty days after
election IL "truthful" statement Of cx.