Boss on the Stand

STATES & CITIES

Last week John Francis Curry, foxy little boss of Manhattan's Democracy, emerged from Tammany Hall to face the Republican-controlled legislative committee which has been investigating the municipal government. From the outset Boss Curry had resisted this inquiry as a piece of partisan politics. As a matter of party duty his Tammany henchmen blocked, balked, thwarted and nullified the committee's efforts to probe the scandals of New York to the bottom. Now Boss Curry was summoned to explain and justify his opposition.

As he calmly took the witness stand, applause rang out from his friends packed into the court room. Waiting to question him was large, pontifical Inquisitor Samuel Seabury, the committee's counsel, spearhead of the forces of Reform. The subject of the interrogation was a telephone call made by Boss Curry last month. The committee had got a horse doctor named William Francis Doyle sentenced to jail for contempt because he refused to answer questions affecting Tammany officeholders. Boss Curry had telephoned Appellate Justice Henry L. Sherman, vacationing at Lake Placid, and induced him to hear a petition which resulted in a stay of Dr. Doyle's sentence. With much sparring by the witness and many a loud gavel rap by the committee chairman, the following colloquy between Inquisitor Seabury and Boss Curry occurred :

Seabury: You are interested in Dr. Doyle? Curry: I am interested in any Demo crat in the City of New York . . . but in Dr. Doyle not any more than I would be in Brown. Jones or Smith. Seabury: You were willing to aid any body who would challenge the power of this committee? Curry: Absolutely. . . . This is a crucification (sic) of the Democratic party of the city. It's nothing but persecution.

Seabury: When did you first decide to interest yourself in Dr. Doyle?

Curry: When I received a telephone call from a reputable lawyer, Alfred J. Talley, and he told me he would like to secure a judge before whom an application for a stay could be made.

Seabury: And did you get busy right away trying to find a judge?

Curry: Absolutely.

After Boss Curry described how he telephoned Judge Sherman and arranged for Doyle's counsel to appear next morning at Lake Placid, the questions-&-answers continued:

Seabury: What license did you have to inject yourself into getting a judge for Doyle's lawyer?

Curry: Because they were going to test the constitutionality of the committee.

Seabury: Did you consider that any part of your political duty?

Curry: Yes, a matter of political duty.

Seabury: You were glad to oblige?

Curry: That has been my motto since I went into politics.

Seabury: Don't you think it is a great piece of impertinence for you, simply because you are the leader of Tammany Hall to oblige lawyers about locating a judge for them?

Curry: That's the first time I've done such a thing.

Before Boss Curry was examined, Inquisitor Seabury called from jail Horse Doctor Doyle whose contempt case had developed into a test of the committee's powers. Mr. Seabury asked Dr. Doyle the one question the Court of Appeals had ruled he must answer: "Did you bribe any public official?" Replied Dr. Doyle: "No." Mr. Seabury and the Republican Committeemen were astonished by this answer, suspected Horse Doctor Doyle of committing perjury. Though the committee voted he was still in contempt, "Doc" Doyle's lawyers got him out of jail on a writ of habeas corpus.

Fortnight ago in the Doyle case the Court of Appeals issued a ruling which severely limited the committee's powers to compel reluctant witnesses to testify with immunity (TIME, Aug. 17). The whole future course of the investigation depended upon broadening the committee's authority to get information under threat of contempt action. Therefore last week the committee petitioned Governor Roosevelt to summon a special session of the Legislature to pass a bigger & better immunity bill for its use. Within 24 hours the Governor as a matter of "clear duty" issued the call for this week.

As an addendum to the committee's petition Inquisitor Seabury expressed publicly for the first time just what he thought the investigation was heading into: "Corruption in the government of New York City is widespread. . . . This corruption could not exist on so large a scale if the sinister forces who are profiting by it were not afforded protection. Their identity must be established if this system is to be broken down. . . The committee has been met with every obstruction which it has been possible for the beneficiaries of this vicious system to throw in its way."

The Democratic Governor's call for a special session to arm its foes, Tammany construed as an unfriendly and disloyal act. Its leaders cursed him under breath, publicly declared that he was putting himself and his party "into a hole" Tammany's men in the Legislature were prepared to fight the immunity bill to the death, or else turn it against the Republicans by starting investigations of upState, Republican-run cities. Friends who are managing his presidential candidacy hoped Governor Roosevelt had helped himself outside New York City by showing his independence of Tammany dictation.

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