Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-08-28

FlV II OEN ID.
! games, and 1 have kept them shut.
which is more than any of my predeces-
sors ever did; and challenge contradic-
| ton on that point"
WHAT THE PEOPLE THINK.
In Democratic circles, and among the
fairest minded men in the community
the opinion is general that this is mere
political trick. There is strong desire
on the part of the politicians who run
Moral Ideas to get control OF the police
office. 1t is claimed that If Cuddy is put
out the officers who make these innuen..
does are to be rewarded for their services
by being put in charge of the Office. One
Is to be Chief and the other Captain.
Then one OF the Councilmen who is .,
leader in the party of "All Decency' wants
to be Mayor if he can. The police Office
under such moral sway as he and his
sort exercise is supposed to be worth
thousand votes. These are needed for
Harrison, Morton and Morality, and for
the ambitious candidate who wants to be
Mayor. Democrats point to the debate
in the Council and say that no such pro-
y
fair and honest purpose. The effort was
then to force it through without que5-
ton. The members of the committee are
both hard-working Republicans, and
if they are not branded as unscrupulous in
their own acts, they are the companions
of the most unscrupulous Republican
workers in the city. Mr.. Lowell creates
the impression that the political camel
which he would gag at, if for the good Of
the party, would have to be equipped
with more than one hump. Mr.. Teed,
the other member of the committee, has
never acted with his colleagues in this in
vestigation, and citizens who care not
straw for Mr.. Cuddy personally say il
an outrageous proposition of these two
Councilmen, Book and Sinsabaugh,
to have their partisan report adopted
without question. The idea is abroad.
too, that this so-called evidence was ali
cleaned from the very disreputable class
which the report with such snug COM
placency condemns.
Every fair minded man spoken to says
the Chief should be confronted by his
accusers; that the witnesses should be
made to testify under oath, be subjected
to cross. examination, and their testimony
impeached if manifestly bad.
Surely these are fair propositions, and
these are all any one demands.
LAWYERS VIEWS.
A legal gentleman, who, as friend to
MIR. Cuddy, has looked critically into
the charges, sends us the following:
The report of the Committee of the
Council, composed of Messrs. Sinsa-
baugh, Book and Teed, regarding the
Chief of Police, is most extraordinary
document. Its peculiarities are not al
together patent, one must read between
the lines to read the truth. The charges
made by these gentlemen against Mr..
Cuddy are important, and, if sustained
by proper testimony, would place the
head of our police force in an unenviable
position. The public, however, should not
condemn Mr.. Cuddy without a full and
fair hearing. Messrs. Sinsabaugh and
Book are Prohibitionist-R Republicans of
the ultra type. To expect fairness from
them would be to expect tears from
granite. Mr.. iced, when appointed
member of the committee, openly de-
clared his incapacity to serve because of
his bias against the Chief. But the
singular portion of the report to which
we have alluded does not consist only in
its conclusions, but in the method in
which the findings were arrived at. Mr..
Cuddy had no notice of the time
when the matter would be heard.
He did not know what wit
nesses would be presented against
him. He had no chance to cross-exam-
inc his accusers, to prove the falsity of
their statements, or to impeach their
testimony in any respect. He knew
nothing of the nature of the charges
against him, except in the case of the
ex-convict Chinaman who seems to have
been a consort of the Committee, and
even in this instance he was not per-
mitted to know when this vagabond Nom
golian would testify before the Commit
tee. He has had no hearing of any char
acter and the Committee attempted to
take snap judgment against him
without any opportunity to vindi-
cate himself from the foul
aspersions contained in the Committees
report. This conduct is inconsistent
with fair play. The piety of Mr.. Sinsa-
baugh, and that for which Mr.. Book is
noted, should have impelled these gen.
tlemen to do to Mr.. Cuddy as they would
be done by. They absolutely ignored
the defendant in the case, gave full Gre
dence to the prosecuting witnesses, sub
jected them, it must be supposed, to the
mildest kind of cross-examination, and
then became very indignant when Mr..
Cuddy requested the Council to listen
for few moments to his attorney.
1t is said that the ordinances and reso-
lutions of the Council do not give the
Chief of Police the right to be heard.
Assuming this to be the fact, though we
do not concede it, the fair and manly
course to pursue would be to accord to
the accused the privilege of meeting his
accusers. This ought to be considered q
matter of right in all cases. 1t is mani
testify so in the present instance, where
the numerous crimina with whom the
head of the police department is daily
brought in contact, would naturally
make all sorts OF accusations against
the officer who had made their
calling Improbable and unpleasant. But
upon the testimony of the Chinaman,
upon the evidence Of pimps, blackguards,
and other members of the criminal ele-
ment, corroborated by that of disgruntled
officers, who desire election to the posi-
ton of Chief or Captain of Police, this
Committee proposes to render final and
conclusive judgment.
Because they have the power to black
en- character, they propose to blacken it.
Nav IL not he that there ia a noJitical i0h