Iowa County Democrat

MUCH INTEREST IN SULZER HEARING

SULZER

HEARING

Able Counsel Secured by Both Sides In Fight.

SEN. WAGNER WILL PRESIDE

Court of Impeachment Consists of Members of State Senate and Court of Appeals-Two-thirds Vote Necessary to Remove Sulzer Permanently

Albany, N. Y.-Not only the state of New York, but the entire Union as well, is eagerly awaiting the beginning of the impeachment trial of William Sulzer, which starts on Sept. 18. The accused will face the high court of impeachment on charges brought by the lower house of the state legislature. The hearing will be staged in the senate chamber of the state capitol at Albany.

This will mark the first time a governor of an American state has faced impeachment proceedings since the year 1876, when Adelbert Ames, then governor of Mississippi, was impeached. Ames resigned before his trial, thus bringing the proceedings to an abrupt termination.

State Senator Robert F. Wagner, president pro tempore of the senate, who became president of the senate when Lieutenant Governor Martin H. Glynn was automatically promoted to the position of acting governor by reason of the charges against Sulzer, will preside at the impeachment trial of the man who was chosen chief executive of the state of New York.

The court that will say whether or not Sulzer will be restored to the position or shall be convicted of the charges will consist of the state senate and members of the court of appeals. In order to impeach a governor it is necessary to have a two-thirds vote of the court. There shall be no appeal from the decision of the high court of impeachment, and this tribunal's decision will be absolutely final.

At the trial the accused governor will appear in person with his counsel and will try to disprove the charges brought against him by the legislature. If the charges be sustained and the governor is permanently removed from office then the acting governor, who in this instance is Mr. Glynn, will continue to act as governor until the next election.

Whether or not Mrs. Sulzer, wife of the accused, will appear in person as a witness at the trial is a question that is attracting wide interest here. It is recalled that just prior to the time a vote was taken in the assembly on the impeachment motion the wife of the governor issued a statement claiming to be responsible for the alleged deals in Wall street stocks and endeavored to shoulder the blame. It is likely that she will take the stand at the trial of her husband and repeat this statement to the court of impeachment.

Five of the most widely known lawyers in the east-former Secretary of State Philander C. Knox, former Judge D-Cady Herrick, former State Senator Harvey D. Hinman of Binghamton, N. Y., and former Judge Irving G. Vann of the court of appeals and former State Senator James J. Gay Gordon of Philadelphia-are attorneys for Sulzer. Besides these noted counsel Mr. Sulzer will have among his advisers former Judge Arnold and Louis Marshall.

To match the legal talent retained by Sulzer the board of managers appointed by the assembly has employed as counsel John B. Stanchfield, Edgar T Brackett, William Travers Jerome and Eugene Lamb Richards. In addition to this strong array of talent Acting Governor Glynn is also to be advised by ex-Judge Edwin Countryman and P.C. Dugan.

SENATOR WAGNER, WHO WILL PRESIDE AT IMPEACHMENT TRIAL, AND STATE CAPITOL AT ALBANY.

Photo of Wagner, © 1913, by American Press Association.