the Deputy Chief of Police, the Inspectors of Police and to the Mayor, saying he knew of plots made by the lawless element in many election districts to intimidate legal voters at the polls, and to harass them in various violent ways in exercising the franchise. He called on the police, therefore, to enforce the law concerning the closing of liquor saloons on election day, as those places form rallying grounds for these ruffians. He also called on the police to defend the voters from rowdyism. On the evening of the 5th, the eve of the election, Mr. Waldron, one of the Governor's messengers, hastened to the city from Oyster Bay, bearing a personal letter from the Governor to the Mayor. He went to the Fifth Avenue Hotel, and asked for the aid of one of the employees of the Republican State Committee there in hunting for Mayor Van Wyck. The nature of the communication which he carried was not divulged at the hotel, but one of the employees at State Headquarters, who knew Mayor Van Wyck by sight, volunteered to help Mr. Waldron find the Mayor. They found the Mayor at the Democratic Club about 9 o'clock. The Mayor walked into the reception room to meet them, and there Mr. Waldron handed to him the Governor's letter. The Mayor broke the seal and read the following: "State of New York, "To the Mayor of the City of New York: "Sir:-My attention has been called to the official order issued by Chief of Police Devery, in which he directs his subordinates to disregard the Chief of the State Election Bureau, John McCullagh, and his deputies. Unless you have already taken steps to secure the recall of this order, it is necessary for me to. point out that I shall be obliged to hold you responsible as the head of the city government for the action of the Chief of Police, if it should result in any breach of the peace and intimidation or any crime whatever against the election laws. The State and city authorities should work together. I will not fail to call to summary account either State or city authority in the event of either being guilty of intimidation or connivance at fraud or of failure to protect every legal voter in his rights. I therefore hereby notify you that in the event of any wrong-doing following upon the failure immediately to recall Chief Devery's order, or upon any action or inaction on the part of Chief Devery, I must necessarily call you to account. "Yours, etc., "THEODORE ROOSEVELT." There were also duly delivered the letters following to the Sheriff and District Attorney. Letter to the Sheriff of New York County relative to the order of the Chief of Police to disregard State Election Bureau; "State of New York, "Oyster Bay, November 5, 1900. "To the Sheriff of the County of New York: "Sir:-My attention has been called to the official order issued by Chief of Police Devery, in which he directs his subordinates to disregard the Chief of the State Election Bureau, John McCullagh, and his deputies. It is your duty to assist in the orderly enforcement of the law, and I shall hold you strictly responsible for any breach of the public peace within your county, or for any failure on your part to do your full duty in connection with the election to morrow. "Yours truly, "THEODORE ROOSEVELT." Letter to the District Attorney of New York County relative to the order of the Chief of Police to disregard State Election Bureau: "State of New York, "Oyster Bay, November 5, 1900. "To the District Attorney of the County of New York: "Sir: My attention has been called to the official order issued by Chief of Police Devery in which he directs his subordinates to disregard the Chief of the State Election Bureau, John McCullagh, and his deputies. "In view of this order, I call your attention to the fact that it is your duty to assist in the orderly enforcement of the law, and there must be no failure on your part to do your full duty in the matter. "Yours truly, "THEODORE ROOSEVELT." The letters have the ring of cold steel, bearing an edge, in a hand that would smite. It is said "a frown settled on the Mayor's face as he read his letter," and when the Governor's messenger asked the Mayor whether he desired to send a reply to the Governor, he gruffly said, "No, no," and left the messenger abruptly, "to take counsel with Croker and Carroll." As the Mayor was going, he was asked whether he would make a statement, and answered, "No, not a word." Mr. Carroll would not talk about the Governor's letter. Mr. Croker shut himself in his room upstairs, refusing to see newspaper men or answer their cards. Mr. Whalen said over the telephone that he knew nothing about the Governor's letter and could not talk about it. The Mayor was driven in a cab to police headquarters, where he arrived about 10 o'clock. He went into the office of Chief Devery fifteen minutes after the Chief had arrived in the building. The Mayor and Chief were closeted together for an hour, and no person was admitted or spoken to during that time. When the talk was ended, Chief Devery sent an officer to the newspaper men to say that the Mayor had something to tell them, and the reporters were invited into the Chief's office. The Mayor sat in Chief Devery's big chair, while the Chief himself said he had received an order from the Mayor, and he then read that order which related to Chief Devery's order to the captains on Sunday regarding the McCullagh men and voters. The Mayor's mandate reads: "William S. Devery, Chief of Police: "Sir:-You will at once revoke the order published in this morning's papers and issued from your office on the 4th inst., at 5:20 P. M., relative to the duties of the Police Force on Election Day, and you will issue immediately such further orders as will require your subordinates to co-operate with and assist in the execution and enforcement of the Metropolitan Election District law, Chapter 676, of Laws of 1898, and amendments thereto. "ROBERT A. VAN WYCK, Mayor." When the Chief had read the order to the reporters, the Mayor spoke to them saying: "There will be no intimidation or violence at the election tomorrow. It will pass off as quietly as that of a country village. It will be as quiet an election as was ever held in this city. The Chief of Police will take charge of that, and will preserve order. I have the utmost confidence in the Chief. He knows his duties better than I do. He is a perfectly efficient Chief, and understands how to maintain peace and order." Chief Devery then said that there would be no trouble whatever to-morrow, and that he would enforce the orders of the Mayor to the letter. Chief Devery sent out the following order late in the night: "To All in All Boroughs: "Pursuant to directions received by me from His Honor Mayor Robert A. Van Wyck, and because of the misconstruction placed upon the order which I issued at 5:20 P. M., November 4, 1900, commencing with the words, 'Tactics and methods of intimidation,' etc., you are hereby notified that said order is revoked. You will instruct the members of your command that it is their duty. under Section 7 of Chapter 676 of the Laws of 1898, as amended, to co-operate and assist in the execution and enforcement of the Metropolitan Election District law and render aid and assistance to the State Superintendent of Elections and his deputies in the performance of their duties when called upon to do so. Read this at the midnight roll call and at the roll call in the morning prior to the men leaving their stations for duty at the polling places. "WILLIAM S. DEVERY, "Chief of Police." The Chief said afterward: "To-morrow's election will be the fairest ever held in New York City. I will do all that lies in my power to see that that end is accomplished." The Chief then said "Good-night," and went home. It made a difference in the State of New York when the Governor came home, especially in the City of New York. There were no unnecessary words in the letter of the Governor of New York State to the Mayor of New York City, the evening before Presidential election day, November 6, 1900. The hours were swift and time was precious. The sequel appears in the public papers of Governor Roosevelt, page 202 of 1900. There is a statement of the Governor's opinion on the election case tried and decided in short order. "Matter of the Removal of District Attorney Gardner." "Executive Chamber, Albany, December 24, 1900. "The charge vitally affecting the conduct of the District Attorney is that which relates to his attitude at and about election time toward the indictment of Chief of Police Devery after the latter had issued a scandalously improper and seditious order to the police force under him. "When the conduct of the District Attorney of the County of New York affects elections, this conduct becomes a matter not merely of County, but of State and National concern. Fraud or violence at the polls in New York County in a National election may concern not merely the County itself, not merely the other Counties of the State, but also the other States of the Union. It is a mere truism to assert that honest elections, free from both fraud and violence, stand at the very basis of our form of Republican self-government. There is no use in discussing principles and issues unless it is settled that the conclusion which the majority reaches upon such principles and issues shall be honestly recorded in the election itself. There can be no possible justification for any man, and above all for any public officer, failing to do everything in his power to prevent crime against the ballot box. No more serious crime against the State, and in time of peace, no crime as serious, can be committed. "Before the election last November, there was the most open incitement by certain leading politicians to violence and fraud at the polls. In New York State in particular, this incitement took the form of a naked appeal to mob violence the leader of one of the two great parties in this State urging his followers in repeated public utterances to gather at the polls and criminally assault the officers of the law in certain contingencies. Utterances such as these, of course, excited great public uneasiness and bade fair to cause the most serious disturbances; but there was nothing to be done regarding them so long as they were only the utterances of individuals in private life. "When, however, the Chief of Police of the City of New York issued a public order to his subordinates in which he incited them to criminal violation of |