The New York herald., 1920-01-22

Ia power exercised upon an entirely diff
ferent state of facts for a different cause
and to accomplish different result.
Constitutional government cannot sur
vive, representative government cannot
survive il this power of suspension is to
be exercised as it was in this body on the
seventh of this month. How idle il is to
put into the statutes of this State the pro-
vision with which you arc all familiar
that either house may expel its members
after hearing before a committee. and
upon the report being made by that COM
mittee, If, without any hearing at all
without any debate, without any oppor-
tunity to be heard by any one. this House
can suspend by majority vote any or the
entire minority of it's members.
While it is true that it was just five
Socialist Assemblymen that were sus-
pended, You could just as we'll have sus-
pended fifty members as five, you could
just as well have expelled any minority
party as those that were expelled.
There is no precedent for the Assembly
procedure. All cases cited are far fetched
and only part of the facts recited. Never
until January in any representative body
in this country. was there such unlawful
abuse of power
Mr.. Roe went over the several cases
cited by counsel for the State, showing
wherein he thought each failed to serve
as precedent He continued
This proceeding 20 try title to the
seat OF five men in this Assembly, whether
YOU call 1t passing upon their qualifica-
tons or passing upon the question of their
Expulsion is to deprive these men of
their right 10 their day in court, it is to
deprive them OF their right as members
Of the Assembly to speak and to vote and
to confer with their fellows in the AS
sembly with regard to every step in this
proceeding.
''Thc appointment Of this committee, the
adoption of the rules, every step that has
oeen taken is vitiated. because men who
had the right to participate in that pro-
ceeding were excluded from that right,
and those are the very men that you are
mere investigating and it is upon your re-
port that the" will be reseated or unseated
in the Assembly. For the sake of keeping
clean our reputation as law abiding
State, 1 ask you to report back to the AS
sembly. af-er this discussion, which is the
first that will ever have been had on this
subject before a committee. that its act
vas unlawful and that these men were
entitled to their seats, and that because
Of their exclusion from this entire pro-
ceeding any judgment that you render
here will be a tainted judgment. IL a
mistake has been made, isn't IL much bet
ter to kill 1t at the start, upon the firm
Foundation, than it is to precipitate it
terrible results as this mistake does IL you
go through with it,
Answering Mr. Roe. Mr.. Stanchfield
said the investigation was directed at the
loyalty of the five men involced and that.
irrespe ctive Of whether or not there is in
the history OF the state OF New York
precedent. the occasion demanded and
required that the Assembly of this State
in defence of it's own dignity make a
precedent.
'We are not upon this investigation en-
gagged in a discussion Of the philosophy or
economics Of socialism," Mr.. Stanchfield
said. 1--WE are engaged in the investiga-
ton OF its tactics: into its methods. into its
practical programme. and those tactics
and those methods and that programme
call for the overturn Of the power OF this
State and its annihilaton. its utter and its
complete annihilation. That is the ques-
ton that is presented to you here.
II submit once and for all in answer to
this intermnable line of argument that
this committee proceed. on the author
ity Of the Assembly Of the State, to purge