New-York tribune., 1922-10-18
show in this respect with the boss-aic-

show In this respect with the boss-aic-
tAtad nominees.
sDo the people wish to control their
courts or do they want the bosses to
eoastrol them? It is for them to say.
Do they want their Judges to hear the
tessimSny In court and have the de-
cisions rendered by the bosses? Do
outside interference and control---as
they largely are7 These are the ques-
tions for the voters to decide. The
issue in this campaign is wether an
upright Judge shall be deprived Of his
Office because the boss has decreed it.
'Murphy has sent his whispering
so,iad through the town saying that he
made me politically and judicia1lv.
Therefore, according to Murphy and hue
whispering squad, Murphy has the right
to unmake me. He did not make me.
The fact is that was nominated for
Surrogate not by Murphy but in spite
of Murphy I was nominated for Sur
rcgate by the people of the Bronx,
before the Bronx became separate
county.
Choice of Voters Only
'sTn 1905 the people of the Bronx
elected me to the Assembly as their
representative from the 35th Assembly
District. This was without Murphy's
support or approval. Shortly after
took my oath Of Office Murphy sent
word through his spokesman in the
Assembly how l was to vote on the
recount BILL informed Murphy's
spokesman that ! would take no orders
from Murphy, and against all the in
huence Murphy brought to bear on me
voted for the recount BILL being one
of three Democrats who dared to vio-
late his orders.
"The next year I went back to AL
bany as a Senator from the 22d Sena-
torial District in the Bronx, going
there again without the support or an
prevail of Murphy. I continued my
fight in the Senate for the passage Of
year before.
at was in the midst of a speech
moving Cor the discharge of the Senate
Judiciary Committee from further coli
sideration of the recount bill--a mo-
tion which | made-when I was inter-
rupted by the announcement that the
secretary to Governor Hughes was pres
ent with special message from the
Governor certifying that the immedi-
ate passage of the measure would be
in the interest of public welfare. The
opposition to the bill then quickly
faded away and the measure was I'M
nlediately passed and became law.
Unmolested Four Years
II took Office as Surrogate on Ja1u-
airy /, 1909. For four years I was
practically unmolested by the boss. In
1913 Murphy asked me, as he pu. it,
to help him get The New York World
off his neck.
About ten days prior to this occ.-
sion called on Murphy at the sugges-
tion of James ]. Frawley, then mem
Der of the Senate, to inform Murphy
chat he had a misconception regarding
the provisions of bill which had
passed the 1911 Legislature and which
passed the Senate the following year.
The bill IN question provided that
the transfer tax appraisers should be
competent persons appointed by the
Surrogates and not by the State Comp
troller. Under the system which the
measure sought to correct, the State
Comptroller-a party to the proceeding
in the fixing of the disappointed ap-
praisers regardless Of their qualifica-
tlons and, in many instances. these ap-
polntments we're of men utterly unfit.
In word, the purpose of the bill was
to prevent large estates from lodging
the inheritance tax through incompe-
tents or worse and thus depriving the
state of it's just share of the estates.
Differed on Bill
x saw Murphy, and after we dis
cussed the merits of the bill he said
that his advisers had told him that it
gave everything to the lawyers. 1
pointed out to him that such was not
the case; that the bill provided in this
regard that competent persons, regard
less OF their calling, should be ap-
murphy then asked me So write him
a letter, addressed to his home. in
which ] was to explain the provisions
Of the bill. as he and his advisers in
tended to take up the question the next