SULLIVAN'S ARREST CREATES A SENSATION--HIS FRIENDS STAND BY HIM--THE
NOTED IRISH LEADER IN COURT--EFFORTS TO SECURE HIS RELEASE--JUDGE TULEY
GIVES HIM HIS LIBERTY--ARREST OF MARONEY AND MCDONALD IN NEW YORK--THEIR
EXTRADITION REFUSED.
Although, from the nature of the testimony before the coroner's jury,
and the numerous developments in other directions, the arrest of the
ex-president of the Irish National League of America was not entirely
unexpected, it nevertheless produced a profound sensation, not only in
the United States, but also across the Atlantic. By many of his friends
and acquaintances in Ireland, the news was at first received with
incredulity, and afterward, when confirmation had been flashed over the
wires, with expressions of astonishment and denunciation of the course
of the authorities. Men like Charles Stewart Parnell and Michael Davitt
were not slow or conservative of words in giving utterance to the
opinion that a serious mistake had been made; that Sullivan was an
honest man, a patriot, a true worker in the cause of Irish liberty, and
altogether a man whom it would be impossible to convict of identity with
a conspiracy to assassinate one of his enemies. Meanwhile the Chicago
friends of the accused lawyer were not inactive. Bright and early on the
morning following his arrest they were in conference, for the purpose of
determining upon the best course to pursue in order that his freedom
could be secured. As a result of their deliberations, Counsellor A. S.
Trude, one of the leading members of the Chicago bar, appeared before
Chancellor Tuley upon the opening of the court, and secured a writ of
_habeas corpus_, calling upon Sheriff Matson to produce his prisoner in
court at three o'clock in the afternoon. The news spread rapidly.
Popular feeling had been re-kindled by the events of the week, and, long
before the hour designated, the court room was besieged by a crowd of
people anxious to see the distinguished suspect. Sullivan was brought
into the court room promptly on time, under escort of the sheriff and a
couple of broad-shouldered deputies. Owing to some difficulty in
securing a vehicle, and the stoppage of the street cars through an
accident, the sheriff and his prisoner had been compelled to walk from
the jail to the court room, a distance of nearly one mile, and strange
as it may seem, although the route took them through a leading
thoroughfare crowded with people coming and going, not one seemed to
recognize the official or his companion. No one would have imagined for
a moment that the latter had been the occupant of a cell over night. His
linen was immaculate, and his attire--a neat fitting Prince Albert suit
of black diagonal, with a black cravat tied in a simple knot over the
snowy shirt bosom and the turn-down collar--was absolutely faultless.
The occasion was one to try the soul of a strong man, but as he looked
over the court room and glanced into the faces of many of his bitterest
enemies, his expression was stoical, and he shook hands in a cheerful
manner with several friends who were in court to show their allegiance
to him. As counsel, he had Attorneys Trude, Windes and McArdle--the two
latter his law partners--ex-Senator Duncan and Hiram Gilbert. The people
were represented by State's Attorney Longenecker and his assistant,
Frank Baker, the former occupying his favorite attitude of leaning over
the bar of the court while the arguments were in progress.
It was developed at the outset that the unconditional release of the
prisoner was not desired, but that it was simply sought to secure him
his liberty upon substantial bail. The proceedings opened with the
reading of the petition to which Mr. Sullivan had affixed his signature.
In this he declared that the evidence before the coroner's jury, and
upon which his arrest was based, had been wholly insufficient to warrant
that action; that there was no competent evidence, direct or
circumstantial, tending to prove that he was guilty of the murder of
Patrick H. Cronin, or an accessory thereto, or had guilty knowledge
thereof, or knowledge or thought of conspiracy to accomplish the same;
that the verdict was based upon a large amount of incompetent and wholly
irrelevant testimony calculated to create prejudice, and that the
verdict rendered, so far as it reflected upon the conduct of himself
(Sullivan) was the result of passionate prejudice, created by the
admission of such evidence. The document concluded with a declaration
that the petitioner was not guilty of the crime with which he had been
charged by the verdict, and that he had had no connection whatever with
the murder of Dr. Cronin.
ARGUING ON THE PETITION.
The arguments were begun by States Attorney Longenecker, who demurred to
the application on several technical grounds, dwelling especially on
the point that the question as to the guilt or innocence of the accused
was a question to be decided in another court. The statement of the
accused regarding the insufficiency of the evidence was, he urged, a
conclusion which he was incompetent to arrive at.
[Illustration]
Mr. Gilbert replied for Sullivan, saying that it would be a practical
denial of justice to deprive his client of the right to be admitted to
bail. Mr. Trude followed with a lengthy address, in the course of which
he said that the bill of rights which guaranteed the inalienable rights
of citizens, provided that unless there was positive proof or a strong
presumption of guilt, the accused should not be held in imprisonment.
Mr. Sullivan he said, had made no effort to run away. He had been at
home at night and in his office by day, and hence he did not stand on
the same footing as a felon who had been brought back from some State to
which he had fled. Further argument followed, and it was finally agreed
that the court should read over the evidence taken before a coroner's
jury, before announcing his decision. Sullivan was thereupon remanded to
jail. Here he was held for forty-eight hours, or until three o'clock of
the following Friday afternoon. When brought down to the court room for
the second time, he looked careworn and anxious, and there was no smile
on his face as he greeted his attorneys.
SULLIVAN RELEASED ON BAIL.
Judge Tuley plunged into his decision without loss of time. He reviewed
the evidence which went to show that Cronin had been in fear of his
life, particularly from Sullivan, but held that there was no rule of law
which would admit this evidence before a jury. Sullivan, he said, had
not been shown to have been connected in any way with the obtaining of
the horse and buggy, with the renting of the Carlson cottage, or with
any of the other preliminaries of the crime.
It was shown, on the other hand, that Sullivan had resigned from the
Clan-na-Gael four years before-hand; and, if Cronin had been murdered
in the pursuance of the order of any camp, it was not very clear how
Sullivan, not being a member of the organization, could have influenced
that action. The judge went on to say that the protest made by Sullivan
against Dr. Cronin as one of the committee of six, showed the most
bitter and malignant hatred of the dead man, but the very fact that this
document was not made public until two or three weeks after the killing
of Cronin, seemed to argue that Sullivan was not connected with the
crime. It was almost impossible to believe that he would have
promulgated that protest two weeks after the murder, had he been
connected with the conspiracy. The evidence pointed to Sullivan as a
person who might have a revenge to gratify, but it failed to show any
direct act toward the gratification of that revenge. There was no doubt
but what the coroner's jury believed that Alexander Sullivan was
connected with the conspiracy, but it was largely influenced by hearsay
evidence. Striking out all but legal evidence, no impartial man could
think that it would be possible for any jury to convict the petitioner
on what remained, and as a man could not be deprived of his liberty on
the ground that more evidence would be produced to show him guilty, it
was apparent to him (the Judge) upon mature deliberation, that Sullivan
was entitled to bail. Upon the announcement of this decision there was
considerable discussion regarding the amount of bail, and in the end a
bond of $20,000 was agreed on by both sides. As bondsmen, there were
then presented Fernando Jones, a real estate dealer and one of the
oldest residents of Chicago; Daniel Corkery, a coal merchant; James W.
Touhy, an extensive dry goods merchant, and Michael W. Kerwin. The
state's attorney asked that they should be sworn and their property
scheduled. Mr. Jones affirmed that he was worth $20,000, and as his
wealth was in realty, estimated at about $2,000,000, the affirmation was
considered quite as good as an oath. Mr. Kerwin scheduled $400,000;
James W. Touhy, $175,000, and Daniel Corkery, $100,000. A bond was
quickly signed and Alexander Sullivan was once more a free man. His
friends crowded around him and congratulated him on having regained his
freedom. There were several minutes of hand-shaking, his countenance the
while expressing the satisfaction at the turn affairs had taken, and
then, with his friends and counsel, he left the court room. The bonds
remained in force until November the 8th of the same year, when, no
indictment having been returned against him, Mr. Sullivan appeared with
his attorney before Judge Baker and demanded that his bondsmen should
be released and himself declared discharged from all further connection
with the case. The State was at first inclined to resist the
application, but on the following day, finding that the law was entirely
on Sullivan's side, the objection was withdrawn; the bonds were declared
canceled and Alexander Sullivan, by reason of the failure of the grand
jury to find sufficient evidence upon which he could be brought to
trial, was legally declared innocent of all complicity in the atrocious
crime.
TWO ARRESTS IN NEW YORK.
On the same day that the coroner's jury returned its verdict, John J.
Maroney and Charles McDonald were arrested in New York on suspicion of
complicity in the murder. These arrests were made in accordance with
instructions issued by the State's Attorney and Chief of Police, of
Chicago, in the belief that Maroney was the man Simonds, who had hired
the Clark street flat, and that McDonald answered to the description of
the man who drove the Dinan rig. Both men had been prominent in the
Clan-na-gael, Maroney especially, having been one of the secret workers
for the "triangle." It was claimed by Luke Dillon that he had discovered
that Maroney was in Chicago under an assumed name from February 20th to
March 20th, that he reappeared on the morning of the day that the
physician was murdered under an assumed name, and that he left Chicago
for good on the following day. A complaint and information against the
two men was sworn out by John J. Cronin, the dead man's brother, and
upon this requisitions on Governor Hill of New York were issued by
Governor Fifer of Illinois, and entrusted to Detective Farrell. In the
meantime the prisoners had been arraigned at the tombs police court in
New York, before Justice Hogan, and remanded until the question of
extradition could be argued. This, however, did not meet the approval of
their friends, of whom over a hundred were in court, and the same
afternoon a writ of habeas corpus was applied for and granted by Judge
Andrews of the Supreme Court. The prisoners declared that they had been
in New York for weeks before and weeks after the murder of Dr. Cronin,
and in this they were corroborated by a large number of people.
Detective Farrell reached Albany on the following day, but Governor
Hill, upon looking over the requisition, promptly denied the
application, on the ground that it was not accompanied by an indictment,
and that no proof whatever was presented showing that the accused were
guilty of the crime charged against them. Upon receipt of this
information, Hatfield, the furniture salesman, Martinson, the
expressman, and Throgmorton, the real estate agent, started for New
York with a view of identifying the prisoners. Upon their arrival,
however, they utterly failed to find in either "suspect" the slightest
resemblance to the mysterious Simonds, and on the heels of this Judge
Andrews in the Supreme Court, handed down a decision upon the matter of
the writ of habeas corpus, ordering that the men be discharged from
custody, on the ground that there was not sufficient evidence produced
before Justice Hogan, in the police court, to justify their committal to
prison.