New-York tribune., 1919-01-25

, supreme national cause that was
being menaced by sediton and dis
loyalty you contributed to a fund to be held
and dsburscd by me in the defence of news
dealers who, refusing on patriotic grounds
to sell the Hearst newspapers, were threat
ened and actually injured in their business.
There were two classes of these newsdeal
crs. Some did business in their own stores,
and these were injured by the conspiracy
and combination of the newspaper publish
ers, the Publishers Association and the
American News Company (the distributing
agent of the publishers) Others did busi
ness on the public streets, at the entrances
10 the subway and elevated stations, in the
public parks and under the terms Of priv
ilege extended to them by municipal author
ity and for the public convenience. Sus-
tanned by the money that you and many
others provided for the expense of my work.
l feel that I should now report to you its
result.
Out of hundreds of instances l took two
typical cases, and brought three actions in
the Supreme Court. Williamson held
license from the Department of Parks of
this city, granted to him at nominal fee,
to conduct a newsstand at a much fre-
quented place under the Jurisdiction of the
Park Commissioner in Brooklyn. At this
stand Williamson did lively business, near
a subway entrance. Under a similar license
granted to his brother for a stand say, $50
feet away from Williamson's, at another en-
trance to the same subway, that brother
having enlisted and having gone to the war,
Williamson arf his father did prosperous
business for that brother and for the sup
port of that brothers wife and family
Williamson's grandfather was killed at
Gettysburg. Williamson himself, while con-
Quoting these stands, was United States
hfesaver in the coast service, and in a
period Of seven years had dragged out of
the ocean scores of men and women who
had become helpless in the undertow From
these various services he was earning, for
his own family, his father his soldier
brother and the soldier brothers family,
matter of S1,S0O a year, or thereabouts.
In the summer of 1918, and after his
brother had been sent abroad, and while our
troops in Europe were making the successes
that decided the war, Williamson refused to
sell Hearst papers, and under his inspira-
tion and that Of other newsdealers a con-
siderable number of ncwsdealers came to
the same determination. Thereupon Mayor
Hylan issued an instruction to the Police
Department, the Department of Licenses
and the Department Of Parks directing them
to take away their privilege from news
dealers who conducted licensed business
unless they sold the Hearst papers He did
not put his direction in exactly those terms,
but that was what it involved
Under the instruction of Mayor Hylan the
Commissioner of Parks in Brooklyn, by his
secretary, IS Acting COMMISSIONER re-
scndcd Williamsons license. That license
was good until December 81. 1918. brought
an action to enjon the Commissioner from
interfering with Williamson during the
period of his license and got temporary
injunction, returnabe in a few days be-
fore another judge. That other Judge heard
the argument on both sides and all sides,
and made q new ORDER with the result that
Williamson held his license to the end of its
term.
About three weeks before this term ex
pired the Department of Parks advertised
for bids for Williamsons stand and tho
stand of his soldier brother, the terms Of
the bids requiring that the bidder to whom
the licenses were granted should sell nj, tbo
newspapers in general demand and that the
Commissioner should prescribe what news
papers were to be sold I opposed that
proposition, obtained temporary iniunc-
tion and argued that such a proposition was
dangerous abuse of discretion: that - +h.