Jasper County Democrat, Volume 8, Number 52, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 March 1906 — PUTS IT TO THE TEST [ARTICLE]

PUTS IT TO THE TEST

New York Supreme Court to Decide the Legality of Political Contributions. GEO. W. PERKINS UNDEB ABBEST Habeas Corpus Writ Is Beady and the Case Goes Higher. T—\ Prisoner Gives All the Information Necessary for the Case, and Does Not Claim Immunl- . ty Under the Law. New York, March 29.—0 n a charge that his connection with the contribution of $48,702.50 from the funds of the New York Life Insurance company to Cornelius N. Bliss, treasurer of the Republican national committee in the campaign of 1904, constituted grand larceny in the first degree, George W. Perkins, a member of the firm of J. P. Morgan & Co., and until recently first vice president of the New York Life Insurance company, was arrested on a warrant issued by City Magistrate Moss. When a detective went to serve the warrant upon Perkins he found that a writ of habeas corpus had already been obtained from Justice Greenbaum, of the statesupreme court, and the matter was immediately taken out of the magistrate’s hands. Perkins Is Under Parole. Perkins appeared before Justice Greenbaum, and at the request of his counsel, the hearing in the .case was adjourned until tomorrow. Perkins was paroled in the custody of his personal attorney, Lewis A. Delafield. The warrant for Perkins’ arrest was applied for Tuesday by District Attorney Jerome. Magistrate Moss would not act, however, until affidavits were filed in the case. These were presented to him yesterday. They were signed by Darwin P. Kingsley, vice president of the New York Life; Edmund D. Randolph, treasurer of the company, and Thos. A. Buckner, also a vice president. He Admits All the Facts. Perkins’ counsel admitted to Justice Greenbaum that Perkins had advanced the sum named to Bliss upon the request of the late John A. McCall, president of the New Y’ork Life. He was afterward reimbursed through the action of the company’s finance committee. It was contended that McCall had executive authority to order the payment, and that if any crime was committed it was participated in by every member of the finance committee present when the matter was acted upon. GOES TO THE SUPREME COURT Perkins Surprised at the ChargeJustice O’Sullivan Active. The affidavits on which Magistrate Moss acted in issuing the warrant for Perkins’ arrest were forwarded to the supreme court on a writ of certiorari. The statement sworn to by Vice President Kingsley gives some of the details of the meeting of the New York Life's finance committee in December, 1904, when President McCall appeared and stated that Perkins had advanced certain large sums of money to Cornelius N. Bliss, treasurer of the Republican national committee, pursuant to McCall’s agreement to contribute $50,000 for use in the presidential campaign of 1904. District Attorney Jerome has made public correspondence between himself and Perkins which showed that upon the district attorney's request for information, and without promise of any immunity whatsoever, Perkins had supplied Jerome with all the facts connected with the 1904 campaign contribution. In concluding his letter on the subject Perkins wrote: “When I made the advances mentioned, and when I was reimbursed therefor, it never occurred to me that there could l>e any question as to the propriety of such expenditure, which I believed to be for the benefit of the company. It has come to me as a total surprise that the legality of such payments should be questioned.” Despite the action of Jerome in applying for a warrant for Perkins and thus taking the matter to the higher courts of the state Judge O’Sullivan, in the court of special sessions, again addressed the grand jury which is considering life insurance matters, and instructed it that it was its duty to continue the investigation to the end. He told the grand jurors it was their right to demand that the district attorney subpoena witnesses to be examined before them in any matter they may have under consideration.