Evening star., 1948-01-24
|5trict Secrecy
Held on Murphy
Trial Farley
'Rotution' Issue
Discussion by Board
And Attorneys Seen
By NewboId Noyes. Jr.

BY NewboId Noyes, Jr.
Trial Board members and attor-
neys In the case of Fire Chief Glenn
ent Murphy today maintained strict
silence as to the subject and results
of their secret conference on the
decentralization" trial yesterday aft
ernoon.
Austin r. Canield, chairman Of
the special three-man civilian panel.
called it "a no-comment confer
ence-period." william p. Nc
Cracken, jr., and Joseph A. Wilmer.
his colleagues on the Trial Board,
were similarly uncommunicative, as
were Special Assistant Corporation
Counsel Daniel B. Maher. the prose-
cutor, and Defense Attorney Martin
F. O'Donoghue, who also were there.
None of the stenographic report
ers recording the trial was present
during the conversation, held in a
room down the hall from the Trial
Board chamber in the Municipal
Center Building. What transpired,
therefore, will not appear in the Of
fetal record of the hearings, which
are in recess until Monday.
Murphy Also in Dark.
Even Chief Murphy, who has been
defending himself since January II
against charges that he demoralized
his department and made it less eff
cient through his actions and pol
icies as chief engineer, was in the
dark last night as to the subject Of
the conference. Mr.. O'Donoghue,
he said, had told him it was "con-
fidential."
Speculation among observers CEN
tered around two possibilities. They
were:
l. The board might have sounded
out the opposing attorneys on an
attempt to simplify the trials cru
cial rotation system" issue by a
legal stipulation-an agreement be-
tween the parties as to the facts.
The prosecution says the system of
personnel transfers, established by
Chief Murphy, is inefficient. Chief
Murphy says the system has not yet
been perfected, although he contends
it has increased the departments
efficiency.
2. The board, which clearly was
impressed by Chief Murphy's de-
tense Of his transfer policy yester-
day, might have called the confer
ence to discuss possible dismissal
of the charges dealing with the
rotation system.
Conference Fails.
If the conference dealt with either
Of these subjects, it clearly failed,
for Chief Murphy continued his
testimony on the rotation system
when the conference ended, and
the hearing was resumed.
The first hint that the board had
something in mind on the rotation
issue came just before the luncheon
recess yesterday in a series of ques-
tions and comments from Chairman
Garfield which-in the view of some
sounded suspiciously like a preview
of the boards opinion on the rota-
ton charge of the indictment.
There still are bugs in the rota-
ton system" Chief Murphy was say
ing. 1--WE don't have it set up right
yet. We are trying to do it-in the
face of opposition" A formal pro-
gram and schedule for the transfers
has been under preparation for more
than year and still is incomplete,
the witness added.
Might Be Cleared Up"
Mr.. Garfield cut in. If this work
was completed, he said, the situation
might be cleared up" Some of the
battalion chiefs who testified for the
prosecution had expressed approval
of the rotation system in principle
and took issue only with the way it
now is being administered, Mr..
Garfield pointed out, adding:
Don't you think, if you and your
deputies and battalion chiefs sit
down together, that all this thing
could be worked out and
conduce to an efficient Fire Depart
ment, which is what the people Of
this city want?"
Chief Murphy said he thought so.
"You would be willing to meet them
on that basis?" Mr.. Garfield asked.
Absolutely" Chief Murphy re-
piled.
| While conceding the transfer sys-
TEN is not yet perfect, the fire chief
was outspoken in expressing his
opinion that the department func-
tions better because of the rotation
principle and other policies estab-.
lished in his regime.
I'm not here defending my job,
he declared. Il didn't ask for this
lob But while I have it I'm going
to do it the way know 1t should
be done" :
Says unrest" Exaggerated. IS
Chief Murphy said prosecution
witnesses had greatly exaggerated
unrest" in the department caused
by the tranfers. Discomfort. he
indicated, was confined to handful
of men, all of whom had testified
against him during the trial.
ION the whole, there isn't any
unrest about the rotation system"
he told the prosecutor. II can parade,
300 men down here who will tell you
that. You have been misled, Me.
Maher." a
The day was marked by an aston
ishing memory exercise on the part
of Chief Murphy; who spent hours
on the witness stand reciting the
reasons for all individual personnel
transfers about which the prosecutor
had questions to ask. On several
occasions, his memory proved more
accurate than Mr.. Maher's inter-
pretation of department records
supplied by three Fire Department
officers who have assisted him
throughout the trial.
Once, Chief Murphy snilingly
chided his dissident subordinates.