New Britain herald., 1922-08-25
J.P.C0HALAN HURLS
 GAUNTLET TO PARTY
Refused Endorsement by C. 0. P. and lammany, Runs Independent

|
 New York, Aug. 25.-surrogate John F. Coholan, to whom was re, fused renomination by Tamman, and an Endorsement by the republi, can organization, announced vestcr,
 day that he would run for reelection Tn november on an independent ticket The Surrogate made this de
 c'sion after he had consulted with
 friends who strongly urged him tc
 make fight, and following the adop, ton of resolution by the non.
 partisan committee of lawyers urging him to .abnit himself as a candidate At ~e same time the non partisan committee sent letters to the Tam
 many and republican candidates for Surrogate, Corporation Counsel Johr
 P. O'Brien. and Frank Coleman Jr.
 asking them. if thSv believed in the principle of retaining good judges ir
 office, to withdraw their names as
 candidates and demand of their
 parties that Surrogate Cohalan' s
 name be substituted.
 Mir. Cohalan announced his jnten- ton to run independently in q letter to George L. shearer, chairman of
 the Non Partisan committee. In 1t he
 said:
 ''I have this day received the reso- lutions of the Partisan commit
 tee of Lawyers of which you are
 chairman, calling upon me to submit
 myself as candidate for reelection
 in the office of Surrogate of New
 York county.
 Deeply sensible of the great honor
 done me in this respect, and con
 scious of the duty which I owe to
 the people the bar and myself, I un-
 hesitatingly accept the call, and I
 hereby through you announce that
 anl a candidate for reelection and
 shall do all that in me lies to de-
 fend the principle enunciated by
 your committee namely the preser-
 vation of the independence of the judiciary.
 Opponents Asked to Quit.
 Stating that Section ? of Article II, of the Canons of Ethics adopted by the New York State Bar association in 1909 set forth that "it is the duty of the bar to endeavor to prevent political consideration from outweigh ing judicial fitness in the selection of judges" Chairman Searer in the let tera to Mir. O'Brien and Mir Cole man. Tammany and republican de- signees, respectively said:
 For a long period of years the bench and bar of New York city have insisted upon the principle that where q judge has demonstrated his fitness for the bench and by years of ex- perience has gained the technical knowledge and wisdom which accrues 'therefrom he should be reelected.
 "On June 5, 1922. the Bar associa tion of the City of New York, the New York County Lawyers associa- ton and the Woman Lawyers asso- citation of New York adopted resolu- Iuons recommending Surrogate Co., halan for renomination and re-elec- ton.
 Disregarding the action taken by those best fitted to know the needs of ! this community, the dominant par ties have refused to renominate Sur rogate Cohaan and you have been named as candidate by your party to succeed him.
 You are member of the bar of this state and of this city. If you be- l;eve in the principle of retaining good judges in office and if you sub- scribe to the canons of ethics of the bar, there is but one course open to you, which is to insist upon the withdrawal of your name as a candi- date for this judicial honor and de- mand that your party shall name Surrogate Cohalan in your place, I am sending you this letter with the knowledge and approval of the ex- ecutive members of this committee" {. Withdrawal Not Expected.
 Friends of Surrogate Cohalan ad- mitted they had little hope that either Mir, Coleman or Mir. O'Brien would | get off their tickets. It was stated that the surrogate had few friends | among the Tammany leaders and none who would brave the disap- proval of Charles F Murphy, while the republican leaders felt that MT Coleman had good chance to be elected, as with Surrogate Cohalan running independently the Tammany vote would be divided
 MT. Cohaan's friends are basing their expectations upon getting big vote for their candidate among Irish organizations, many of which have | already announced their intention to support him. Representatives of 165 i tranches of the Friends of Irish /, Freedom have served notice on the ! republican organization that if Sur | rogate Cohalan is put on the republi- ' can ticket they will see to it that ; Charles F. Murphy's hand picked candidates will be defeated on Nov r"
 With Surrogate Cohalan definitely in the race for reelection. the Non- Partisan Lawyers Committee will f meet in q few days to arrange for a campaign. Some of the members of the committee, which comprises more than 600 lawyers, are expected 10 withdraw as the committee was in- formed before Surrogate Cohalan was turned down and when it was expect ed that he would be nominated by both the democratic and republican organizations.