New-York tribune., 1920-02-23
Sweet Asks Aid
OF Tan1n1any to
Bar Socialists
Speaker and Barnes Rally
ing Forces in Assembly
for Purpose of Making
the Custer Permanent
Desperate Fight Planned
Committee Is Badly Split,
1t Is Said, With Major
ity Against Drastic Step
From a stor Correspondent

ALBANY, Feb. 22.-All the pressure
at the command of Thaddeus C. Sweet
Speaker of the Assembly, and his po-
litical partner, William Barnes, will be
brought to bear on the Assembly within
the next three days to expel the five
Socialists and do what is possible to
save Speaker Sweets political future
Help is being asked of Tammany
Hall. No stone is being left unturned
in efforts to swing the Tammany dele
cation behind Sweet in his determine
tion to throw out all five Socialist AS
semblymen as disloyal
of having the Judiciary Committee
which is trying the Assemblymen, file
majority report sustaining HIS sum-
mary custer.
AT the present moment, according to
trustworthy reports, seven of the thir-
teen members-a majority-are for re-
seating Assemblymen Samuel Orr and
Samuel De Witt, of the Bronx. Six
are for reseating all five.
"A seventh, before making UP his
mind, is waiting to hear Assemblyman
Charles Solomon, of Brooklyn, and AS
semblymen August Claessens and Louis
statements attributed to them by wit
nesses for the prosecution.
Speaker Sweets Claims
And practically all of the commit
teemen are disappointed with the
showing made by the prosecution, so
much so that at the end Of the presen-
tatlon of the case against the five the
committee considered recommending
reseatlng all five without hearing a
word from the defense. This, however,
was ruled out of order by Chairman
Louis M. Martin, who held that the
committee had no power to make any
recommendation until the defense had
put in its case
The split IN the committee is known
to Speaker Sweet and the rest of his
old guard following and they are now
bent on rounding up enough Assembly,
men to vote down any report the
Judiciary Committee may make which
will be to recommend the reseating of
any or all of the Socialists.
The Sweet-Barnes faction a week
ago was claiming that it had eighty
two votes, six more than the neces-
sary amount, pledged to throw out all
five Socialists regardless of anv report
filed by the Judiciary Committee.
The Republicans here who saw the
collapse, as they put it, OF the prose-
cutlon's case at the close OF the first
week of testimony, are now regretting
that they did not go through with
their program to move to reseat all
five.
Colonel Theodore Roosevelt was to
have made the move. But Roosevelt
and the Republicans lined up with him
were pleaded with to wait. They were
promised that the prosecution would
present evidence supporting the trea-
son charge made by Martin w. Little
ton in opening for the prosecution, and
that the personal guilt of all five would
be proved.
Roosevelt and his friends here now
realize that the promises were not
made good, and all are convinced that
not shred of evidence Or testimony
warranting the expulsion of a single
member has been presented, although
the prosecution closed it's case ten
days ago.
But these men, who cannot be con-
trolled by Sweet, and who are being
guided solely by the testimony pre-
sented, will not let Sweet again STAN
pede the Assembly and remain silent.
They have mapped out plan of cam
paign which they believe will result in
seeing that justice is done, even at the
expense of Sweets political future.
They can count on the support of
the Democratic minority leader, Charles
D. Donohue, who originally voted for
the custer, but who later said on the
floor of the House that he and the
other Assemblymen who voted for the
custer had made mistake and asked
that the five be reseated.
Thirtv.fya namocr.+c
The Democratic delegation consists
of thirty-fve. Unless word comes from
Tammany Hall, twenty-nine to thirty
the reseating of all. From three TO
six of the delegation made up their
minds on the first day that regardless
of the evidence they would vote to
sustain Sweet.
The trial, which will end this week,
has wearied nearly everybody. Few
have their good temper left. Quarrels
are not uncommon among those con-
cerned in the trial. Counsel for the
prosecution are quarreling with one
another. They criticize one another.
Members Of the committee are the
same way, and when they are not quar-
rellng among themselves they are quar-
reling with counsel.
his displeasure with counsel for the
prosecution on numerous occasions,
and on Friday this led to words being
passed between him and Martin Con-
boy, on whose shoulders the brunt Of
the examination of witnesses for
the defense has fallen.
Some of the counsel for the prose-
cutlon openly condemn both Speaker
Sweet for ousting the Socialists in the
manner he did, and those who mapped
out the prosecutions case for lack of
strategy.
There is considerable criticism, too,
among the members of the committee
and the counsel for the prosecution
tor the brief filed at the close of the
prosecutions case.
Some of the lawyers for the prose-
cutlon are at work on a second brief,
to be filed when the entire case is in.
Whether they can prevail upon Chair
man Martin to allow this is a quest ton.