The New York herald., 1920-01-17

traitors to our government and therefore
personally unfit to sit In our Assembly.
Resolved. that this association, consist
Ing Of members Of the legal profession
from all over the State. hereby heartily
approves of the course Of the Assembly
in making such inquiry. and hopes that II
will continue 1t, to the end that if such
five persons are not guilty OF trea sonable
words and acts, they should be SO de-
clared and admitted to their seats, and II
guilty. they should be adjudged disquali-
fled from taking part in the making OF
our laws"
In seconding the resolution Mr.. Forster
said he had attended the meeting OF the
City Bar Association at which the Legis-
lature was condemned for it's action He
said he had gone prepared on that pc
casion to talk in opposition to Charles
e. Hughes, but added that ne did not get
the opportunity.
Several OF the few attorneys present
when the resolution was introduced de-
clared that in their opinion the time was
not propitious to consider so important a
matter. Henry W. Taft the chairman,
said that Mr.. Hughes, who had been pres
ent earlier but had been called to Brook
lyn, had requested that IL the matter OF
tho Socialist custer is presented it be
held for discussion until he could be
present
The resolution finally vas referred to
the Executive Committee. which later in
the day announced that it would be made
a special order at this afternoons session.
The five Assemblyn.en issued state
nlent denying a report from Albany that
they had signed tentative designations
prior to their election liz accordance with
the precepts of the Socialist party. which
were to become effective in the event OF
their failing to carry out the orders Of the
N11n cfa q a.
ment follows:--
"None Of us ever signed any designations
in advance Of OUR election. Tho provision
in the constitution, while its original oriSi-
nal purpose was wholesome, has long
ceased to be more than an empty Tor
mality.
"It should DO understood. however how
the provision regarding it came into the
constitution. It was adopted by the So
cialst party because Democratic and Re-
publican politicians had SO consistently
deceived the people the Socialists sought
to bind their candidates in some way that
would be convincing to the electorate.
Its purpose was purely propaganda, and
was intended to serve as an assurance to
the people that the Socialist party was
doing all in its power to insure the loyalty
of its candidates, when elected, to the
things ttfe party stood fer and for which
power resides in the party to enforce the
constitutional provision in question. In
the last analysis it is entirely UP to the
elected official to decide whether he will
quit his office or not
Arrangements are heing made by the
Committee Of Seventeen, representing
eighty labor and civic bodies who have
Joined hands with the Socialists in the
fight to reseat the suspended Assembly
men, for a mass meeting Of labor dele
gates, which will be held in Albany next
week
Another meeting will be held in this
city, probably at Madison Square Garden,
in the near future. The principal speak
ers, the Socialists declare, will be three
United States Senators who are reported
to have denounced the action of the State
Assembly in letters to the party leaders.
Judge Richard II. Smith, of the City
Court, last night introduced resolutions
condemning the action of the Assembly
at meeting of the Cleveland Democracy
in the Lincoln Room of the Park & Tilforl
Building, Lenox avenue and 12oth street
The resolutions, which were unanimously
adopted, characterized the expulsion OF
the Assemblymen as contrary to law
and an infringement upon the liberties
Of all the people Of this nation"