Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-02-02
NEW YORK IN THE STRIKE,
And Some Instances of the Uselessnes
of Making Laws.

PRISONERS AT HOTEL INSTEAD OF JAIL
PAYING A LICENSE FOR PERMISSION TO BREAK
THE LAVA MOB RIOTS UNDIsTURBED IN
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS OF THE STRIKE
Correspondence of THE EVENING STAR
New YORK, Feb. /.
That portion of New York which behaves
itself has been wondering this week if it isn't
a useless waste of time. anyhow, to make laws
for the government of the people. There
seems to be not the slightest difficulty in break
ing or evading the law if one only knows how
Sometimes political pull will answer as a pre-
ventlve of the laws execution. In other in
stances it is money alone that saves a man
from getting his legal deserts, and sometimes
again, friendships, acquaintancesbips or fellow
ships in the same social organizations answer
the purpose of the law evaders
Two men charged with an enormous swindle
were arrested the other day. Their offense
was so great against the law of the land that
bail was fixed in their cases at the considerable
sum of S250,000. Under the requirements of
the law a man arrested under such a grave
charge is to be confined in Jail until bail is pro-
cured or the case is tried, and if Tom Jones or
Dick Brown are thus arrested the law is con-
strued IN its strictest manner But these
prisoners. for whom $3.50. 900 bail was deemed
a reasonable figure, were not Jones or Brown,
but Ives and Stayner, the Napoleon Of FL
nance" and his partner. Did they go to the
jail, as the law requires? Nary jail. They
went instead to a very delightful hotel on
broadway, where they had the company of a
deputy sheriff of most agreeable manners and
where they lived and entertained in most
luxurious style for days until their hunt for
bail proved all in vain, and only then were
they removed, with profuse apologies and
sincere regrets from the deputy sheriff. to
Ludlow-street Jail, where they can still live
like the bons riodnts they are until some clever
lawyer has devised way Of getting them scot
free.
In the Tombs is prisoner who was sentenced
last June to four years in state prison after a
conviction for graud larceny. According to
the law of the land he should have been taken
to Sing Sing or Auburn within two days after
sentence and put at hard labor. If Jack Smith
or Tom Robinson had been thus convicted the
earliest train next morning would have doubt
| less borne them sorrowing to the state prison
/ But this lucky fellows name was neither Smith
nor Robinson. He was Col. John D. Watson.
| and he had pull. Therefore he is serving his
term in the comparative luxury of the Tombs.
where he wears no striped uniform doesn't
have his moustache shaved or his hair clipped,
and he gets his meals to order from a famous
outside caterer
although the law says no beer or liquor shall
be sold on Sunday, nobody need go without his
nip if he will only try the side door of a saloon
at any time Sunday and tell the Cerberus who
opens the door that he belongs to the club"
1t isn't even necessary to say that .open
sesame" at half the resorts The saloon
keepers break the law once a week with unfail-
ing regularity. Why aren't they arrested2
Well, take the case of Peter Staudt. Peter was
arrested this week and was charged with
violating the Sunday law. He told an interest
ing story in court, and it has an aroma of
truth hanging around it. Peter SAYS that for
four years he paid "police license" of %
month to one Chester Southworth, and that
during that time he sold liquor openly every
Sunday, but the policemen passed by and
turned their heads the other way. After he
had falling out with Southworth and ceased
to pay his monthly tribute the police suddenly
took an interest in his saloon on SUNDAYS and
finally last Sunday they hired '.Dago" to get
pail OF beer, and then arrested the proprietor
who had sold it. Peter says 500 other saloon
keepers in his district also pay 90 month. and
he is going to prove it. Southworth has once
before had the same accusation brought againt
him, but it was hushed up, as this affair will
no doubt be.
The most notorious example of law-defyine
that has occurred recently, however, has been
the action Of mob of striking car-drivers ano
conductors in our neighboring city of BROOKLYN.
For days they have held all south Brooklyn in
complete subjugation. Whatever may be the
wrongs which they have suffered from their
employers the way to remedy them does not
lie in rioting, in cowardly assaults upon other
workingmen, and in destroying the property
OF the companies and of the citizens Of
Brooklyn. All this and more, too, they have done
in utter defiance of law, and yet the authorities
have set helpless and have hardly
made an effort to prevent it. On
Wednesday / saw man who visited
the car stables out Of curiosity assaulted by a
dozen OF the strikers on suspicion that he was
an applicant for work. He was beaten terri
bly,. his nose broken, and kicked 80 about the
abdomen and stomach that he vomited blood.
The cowardly mob chased this defenseless man
until he fell, too weak to rise, when they scat
tered and left him lying in the gutter. And
four policemen in uniform stood by and saw
this done, and never so much as lifted finger
to interfere. They even chuckled in apparent
enjoyment of the sport as the poor
fellow reeled about the street. Knocked
here and there by the buriy rufians
who wouldn't have dared to assault him single
handed. / saw dozen Of the same sort of
scenes on Monday and Tuesday of this week at
the same place and at another stable in Brook
made, although I understand there were
one or two prisoners taken. In all
cases policemen were scattered about
but they apparently did not care to interfere.
1.-The policemen are in sympathy with the
strikers, the authorities say apologetically.
Then call out the state troops, my masters, and
clear the streets Of both strikers and policemen.
IF you dare to print anything about this little
scrap" heard one rufian say to q reporter
Tor an evening newspaper, after q particularly
brutal and drunken brawl had been ended.
you'll catch just what that 'scab' did" read
the newspaper that night carefully Not only
was no mention made of the occurrence, but
the outrages committed by the strikers were
CLOSED over with half-apologetic, would-be
humorous air that made me long to help tar
and feather that reporter.
I believe the secret of the Brooklyn apathy
all lies in the fact that the strikers have votes,
and the authorities are too shrewd politicians
to antagonize several thousand voters.
We do these things differently in New York.
Here We have had since Tuesday morning q
strike on all the horse-car lines but three or
four, but If our policemen are in sympathy
with the strikers" they are not neglecting their
duty. Yesterday morning, when bowling mob