OCR Text |
Show 178 Al'PE~DIX. have no desire to appear in;" but, in a manner which brought the insinn~· tion more directly home, they add that, "if the Mayor has not done Ius duty, il does not lay with them. to impeach him<' . . The Committee were unwillmg, Without specml wstruct1ons from Coun· cils, to institute themselves into a committee of inquiry into the conduct of the ]}fayor,., or of any other officer;. the dut.r ass-igned to them .was merely "to investig<Jte and report to Uounclis the Circumstances attcnd1ng and connectrd with" the disturbances of the peace. They therefore again applied to the Managers of the Hall; not for a communication in writing, which the Managers had alleged \~ou!U take a .few days to prepare; but they invited them to attend at an adJourned meetmg, to be held on the 12th, to give to the Commillee such evidence as they may themselves possess, or as may be obtai.n~d by them from others, t? enable the Committee to discharge the duty enJOined upon them by Counc1ls. It was the personal attendanre of the Man<1gers and of their friends which was requested, so as to obtain from the1n, verbally, that information which the Committee were required tn proeurc. The Committee did not invite them to come forward as accusers,t but as witnesses-and, lest these gentlemen should be deterred from appearing by the apprehension that questions of an embarrassing character would be asked, they were. informed, that if they thought proper to be altended by their counsel, the Committee desired that he might also be invited to appear. And as it became evident that the information of which those gentlemen were possessed, was, i~ their opinion, calculate? t? impl.ica~e the character of the city authorities, tt was deemed an act of JUStice to 1nvlle the personal attendance of the Mayor on the occasion. It was 1wt as one accused that he was invited; but as one who, from his official station, was probably possessed of much information in relation to the recent disturbances, and who, as the Chief Magistrate of the city, was most deeply interested in any investigation connected" with di~turbances _o_f th.e _peace," an~ best abl? to vindicate the charucler of the czty aullwntzes, tf tt was U.1JJU:stly assatled. He was also informed, tf•at if he chose to be attended by his counsel he was at liberty to extend thP. invitation to him.-(Copies of the Resolutions and letters addressed to the Managers and to the Mayor are annexed-see Appenclix E •no F.) On the 12th the Committee again met, and after they had proceeded somewhat in their business, they received a letter from Mr. Neall, dated the 12th. (See Appendix G.) From this lcuer it seemed that the Managers declined making any communication, wrillen or verbal, to the Committee; they say, they •• donbt whether the period has yet arrived when the history of the short existence, and destruction of the Pennsylvania Hall, would be dispassionately read and coolly decided upon. Of the time and manner of making such publication, we request to be permitted to judge hereafter, according to existing rirr.umstances." In a subsequent part of that leuer, the Managers seem to ha,,e assumed that the object of the Committee was to call for information in relation ... to an investigation into the conduct of the Mayor of the city ;:t: although the Committee had carefully avoided alluding to this aubJect, both in their resolutions and correspondence, as they did not deem it within their province to institute such an investigation. The Managers renew their disclaimers of any wish to become informers and prosecutors, and they repeat some of the views expressed in their former letters. • See the :i\hyor'a Canl, page 175. t See the lcltcr of their 14 Cbermn," dAted June 7th. * Ha1l we not a right to assume this from the Maym·'s own published urtl! llF.l'OR'f 01-' TJIJ-; I'OLICE COM~II'f'fEE. 179 The Committee, finding that the Managers were not willing to communicat~ at this time the information in their possession, made no further applicatron to them. The Mayor attended in compliance with the invitation that had been sent to him; and when asked by the Chairman of the Committee, whether he had any communication to make, he declined making any; stating that he had attended on account of the invitation; that if any charges were made against him, he was prepared to meet them, and to defend himself against all charges or insinuations; but that he claimed the privilege of all accused persons, that specific charges should be made, and the prosecutors' names reveal ed. 'fhe Committee informed him that they had not been appointed to investigate his conduct; that no distinct charges had been made against him; that 1to one !tad chosen to assume the altitude of a ]Jrosecutor; but that they would cheerfully recei\'e any information he had it in his power to give them, which would facilitate the investigation imposed upon them by Councils. Mr. Swift, then, not as Mayor of the city, but as a citizen who had witnessed some of the circumstances attending those disturbances, communicated to the Committee, verbally and unoflicially, such circumstances as had come under his notice; he also placed in their possession certain letters which are hereto annexed, (marked H, I, K, L, and M.) This communication, together with the publications made by the Managers of the Pennsylvania Hall Association in the newspapers, as well as the information derived by the members of the Committee from other sources, has enabled them to prepare the annexed brief statement in relation to the recent breaches of the peace. The Committee have endeavored as far as possible to avoid the introduction of any controverted facts. They are aware that a statement prepared as theirs is, without the advantage of an examination of witnesse~ upon oath, must necessarily be imperfect. The Mayor, it is true, expressed his willingness to be sworn to the truth of the facts stated by him; but the Committee declined hearing him upon oath. Aware that they were invested with no judicial character; that they had no authority to require, and to compel the attendatw.e of witnesses; that they could not rightfully administer an oath or affirmation; that none administered before them by a magistrate, extra-judicially, would have any legal sanction; and that no deviation of the truth, however gross or wilful, on the part of a witness so sworn, would make him liable to the pains and penalties of perjury, the Committee thought it better not to attempt even the form of a judicial investigation; and, as they could not hear other witnesses upon oath or alfirmation, they declined the Mayor's oO'er i not doubting that any statement made by him without an oath, wou!J. be the same as if sworn to. The Committee deem it unavoidable to dwell for a moment upon the causes• which produced among a certain portion of our community that deep excitement, which, breaking through every bound, and setting at nought the dic.tates of law, reason, or right, doomedt to destruction a large and costly edifice, but recently erected in our city, and dedicated to "liberty, and the right of free discussion" upon a11 subjects. It would ill become this Committee to utter a single word in palliation of the deep stain which the character of our city has received from this violent outrage upon *1'hcy were appointed to investigate, not the cauus, but the circunulances attending and connecte- d with the destruction of the Pennsyh·ania Hall, and other co?l$eguent di8lurbance1 of the peP.ce, t ICF" Doo:ron:n to clestruetioo, |