GOVERNOR DISMISSED.

Press, Volume XLIX, Issue 14833, 26 November 1913, Page 4

GOVERNOR DISMISSED.

SULZER OF NEW YORK,

HIS TRIAL AND DISGRACE

(FnOM OUR OWN COREEerONDENT.) SAN fcRANCISOO, October -o. For tlie first time in the history of | the State of New York, its Governor lias been impeached, tried, and dismissed from office. Perjurer as William Sulzer was , proved io be, and utterly unfit in many ways to hold the high office of Governor as the evidence portrayed him, the thing most certain abont his disgrace is that he offended Tammany Hall and that Tammany went for his 6calp and got it. This alone has causedi revulsion of sympathy for the ousted politician, and everywhere he goes—to the theatre; upon the streets, or ai> public meetings he is greeted with fervid demonstrations of approval. Three days after his dismissal from omee he was the nomination of the Progressive Party for Assemblyman from the Sixth District of New York, and as ho always has been popular, in this locality, it seems to be accepted as a certainty that he will be elected to the State Legislature. It was in 1899 that Sulzer began his public career as a member of the Assembly. In starting once mor& from tho lowest rung of the political ladder, tho er-Governor announces it as hia firm purpose and ambition to ascend again by way of the Speakership to his late poat of Governor. As long as Sulxer was a "good dofr of Tammany, as he was during his entire political'career until elected Governor, that corrupt organisation helped him along. It was when he broke away earlj , in the present year and exhibited signs of independence that ho sowed the seeds of his downfall. The situation developed is a very confusing one to the citizens of New York, in that, while tho established facts show Sutzcr to have been guilty of many wrongful nets, his disgrace is the direct result of the only really creditable part of his public career. For. that he strove to eliminate Tammany from its corrupt control of State affairs from tho day of his inauguration is undeniable; and had ho not done so he would still have been Governor. "Bass' , Murphy, of Tammany Hall, under Governor Dix, had been in the habit of dictating appointments that Hβ in the provinco of the Governor's duty. Subior made his own appointments, and mortally offended Murphy. Tho ottence was added to by the vetoing of. Bills passed by tho Tammany-bossed Legislature, 'i hen came a fierce fight over the primary Election Bill. Sulzer stumped the State in its favour, end in order to defeat it the Tammany members of tie --egislaturo had to form an alliance with the Republican machine. This public flouting of his authority -was too much for Murphy, and the Appointment of a committee to investigate the Governor's campaign expenditure and receipts followed. The committee met with far more success than it or Murphy Bad dared to hope for. It was supposed had not accounted for all the contributions to bis campaign fund, but that he had used large ■ part of the fund to speculato on.Wall street was a lucky find that surprised everybody when it came to light in the course of tho investigations. Many and various charges were levied against Sulser by the committee ot impeachment, including: oribery. larceny, and perjury. On three ha was found guilty by the court of imoeachmeat, which court* consists of the State Senate and . the State Appeal Court sitting together. It was decra>d by the court to have* be«n established, that. Sulzer use*? funds contributed for campaign* purposes for stock gambling; that ho per-

jured himself by making j> false statement to the Secretary of State of liis campaign receipts and expenditures, and that he suppressed evidence by means of threats to keep witnesses from testifying before the Legislative investigating committee. Of theso offences, the first two were committed before be became Governor, and many people hold that on this account he should not have been removed from office. But the law undoubtedly gives the Court oi Impeachment the right to remove a Governor from office for any cause it professes to find sufficient. Sulzer's defence was practically a plea for mercy. He did not testify. Tho vote by which Sulzer was removed* from office was forty-three to thirteen, two members not votingAmongst the minority was the presiding judge, Edgar M. Cullen. It was within the power of the Court to have disqualified the ex-Governor from ever again holding public office. This, by an almost unanimous vote, tho Court refused to do. Sulzer's silence during the trial is said to have been upon the orders of his lawyers. He himself apparently was more than anxious to take the witness-stand and attack Tammany. Now that his muzzle has been removed ho is loquacious enough. The tribunal which removed him he denounced as "Murphy's high court of infamy." He declared that "Mr Murphy controlled the Assembly and ordered the impeachment. He controlled most of the members of the Court, and dictated tho procedure and wrote tho judgment. Ho was the- judge, the jury, the prosecutor, and the bailiff." The ex-Governor cries out that he is the victim of a "political lynching," and parodies Wolsey in the statement that had ho but served the boss with half the zeal he did tho State he never would have been impeached. _ Sulzer's departure from Albany, the capital, was a melancholy event. Not a friend accompanied him to the railway station. But upon arrival in New York City a great crowd met him, and in an automobile he was taken to Tammany Hallj where a stop was made in the street and a dramatic demonstration took place. Frantic Sulzer sympathisers ran to Tammany's doors ami shook their fists at the famous headquarters. As to the ex-Governor'n political future, while his election Co the State Assembly is practically conceded, there seems no possibility of bin reaching the Speakership. Tho body of men that impeached him will scarcely elevate him to the most honoured post in its gift. The man is rained financially. He probably will accept sornn highly remunerative* lecture engagements that have boon offered him, and evntufllly will drop out of prominence in political affairs.