National Republican., 1877-05-02
DEPRAvITY OF DETECTIVES.

DFPRAVITY OF DETECTIVES.
The whole detective police system Of
this country Is an outrage upon law, jus.
tice and decency. From Maine to Califor.
mia, and from the Lakes 10 the Gull, they
seem TO be banded In brotherhood often.
sive and defensive-o offensive Of all that Is
right and just, and defensive in the inter.
est Of protecting themselves from punish.
ment, and thieves and scoundrsls OF all de.
scriptions who can fee them from the peni-
teutiary cells. The New York World,
commenting on the detectives, on Monday,
said:
Everywhere outside sf Brooklyn where they
call It mystery Promu5a,e theofy 81 srioid; I,
when confrSn,sd with : difi.uit case. to seek out
IT s
de-. Of the inquity upon him, and drive him with
awful ceremony into the penItenti.ry. This 10
done % long A. the close corporation Of THIEF.
takers, or, It might be better to say, thlefpAr-
takers. only considers the public, to u,c Lon
These remarks apply with as much force
to the detectives Of Washington as they do
to those OF any other city. Every business
man in this community who has ever lost
anything Of value which he desired to re.
cover knows that for the purpose Of re
covering property or apprehending thieves,
our detectives are worthless unless their
etching palms" are healed with q reward.
But offer reward, and they will be sure
to arrest some one.
While there have Of late years been many
charges made and proven which should
consign the whole detective force Of the
country. as at present constituted, 10 last.
ing infamy, the most startling Is that which
has just been reported from Vermont, and
in which detectives actually plotted to send
an innocent man to the gallows.
In the Windham County Court, JESSE II,
LEWIS was convicted Of the murder Of Al
BERT W. DEMINa, Of Mortified, Mass. The
testimony upoa which LEWIS was convicted
was that Of one WILLIAM A. ARLINa, who
testified that LEWIS administered morphine
TO the deceased. LEWIS was about to be
hanged, and his neck was saved in the
most providential manner. A gentleman
In Boston seeing an account Of the execu
tion that was to take place. the recsllectior
flashed upon his mind that on the very day
OF the alleged murder the party convicted
rode in car with him. He telegraphed L
the Governor OF Vermont, who fortunately
happened to be In the telegraph office q
the time, and received the dispatch only
few minutes before the time axed for tn,
execution, and he had barely time to tele
graph TO the sheriff We state this to shov
how near to death these heartless detective
had forced the innocent LEWIS.
4 And now ARLINa has made ful
confession, in which he says that his Who'll
morphine story was Q fabrication, devise,
by the detectives, who frightened him int
testifying to 1t that he never saw any mol
phine In any way. shape or manner unit
the detectives showed 1t to him In Fsyette
vile fail that the detectives told him this
LEWIS was about to turn States evidence
and that he must get shesd OF him to saw
his own neck that all sorts Of argument
and influences were used with him by ther
before and during the trial to keep up hi
courage that they also tried to bribe hi
sister, her husband and cousin to testify
} that they promised his release from iail q
, soon as LEWIS was convicted. ARLiNa
, corroborated by several fellow prisoners
; who say he told them the same story Sc,
J ersl times, and DEMING s old acquaintance
who say that the deceased habitually ha
fits, in one of which he probably died, In
stead of by morphine. There will also az
: pear letter from the Rev. DR.. TAYLoT
chaplain of the prison at Windsor, givin
q statement of convict RYAN that ARLIN
had made confession to him, and offere
him $50 to testify sgsinst LEWIS.
Ifthere ever was a doubt OF total d,
pravity in some men. the history of th
case must Of necessity dispel 1t. Her
were band of scoundrels who wei
charged with the detection OF crime an
the enforcement of the laws plotting th
3 deliberate murder OF an innocent maj
The subject is almost too disgusting an
outrageous for contemplation. and we onl
r publish 1t to call attention to the dang,
the country is in through the detecti,
r system. A reform oil over the country
imperatively demanded. Otherwise "
Q had better be given over at once to Il
g tender mercies Of thieves and burglar
= People would, In that event at least,
q forewarned, and would not be subjected
+ the dangers and deceptiops which detec
ives deem ii necessary to practice. und
the pretense Of ferretipg out crime al
bringing criminals to justice. We ve
ture TO say there is not penitentiary
I the land that does not contain crimins
! who are lees deserving OF punishment thu
/. the detectives who arrested them.
a THERE is nary an "r" In May, aud the oy