Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-08-11
POLITICS IN CHICAGO.
ITS PERFECT CONTROL OVER THE POLICE
DEPARTMENT,

DEPARTMENT..
| The Pool Room Fight Brings Out the Trutf
Mayor CregIer Calls n Consultation
The Chief of Police Says He Has No
Power.
ESPECIAL TELEGRAM TO THE DIsPArcHl
CHICAGO, August 10.-Ed Corrigan's
sensational attempt to close the downtown
pool rooms and thereby confne that species
of gambling to his Westside race track,
may have some permanent results after all.
His persistent raids on the downtown gam
5lers has called public attention in the most
forcible manner to the fact that public gam
bling exists, notwithstanding official state
ments to the contrary, and his audacious
charge that the Mayor of the second city on
the continent was sharing in the profits of
the houses as price of protecting them, has
had the effect of fastening the responsibility
on the Mayor, as it has never been fastened
on any Mayor before. His Honor evidently
feels very uncomfortable.
As means of escape from the irving sit
uation in which he found himself placed,
Mayor Cregier called a sort of council of
war of leading citizens, including several
newspaper proprietors, at his office on Fri
day, and laying the whole case before them,
and protesting his honesty of purpose and
his desire to execute the laws, asked for
their opinion as to what ought to be done.
He said that he had selected for Chief of
Police an officer of the regular army in the
hope of securing perfect discipline and the
highest efficiency, and that he had given to
him positive orders to enforce the law
against gambling. Reports had been made
to him from time to time that gambling had
been suppressed, and yet there were lndica-
tions on every hand that it was not sup
pressed and that it was in existence and as
virulent as ever.
The Chief of Police, too, was there. In
reply to questions Captain Marsh said that
he had issued orders to his subordinates to
close all public gambling resorts, and he
had been informed that those orders had
been carried out, but in some cases he had
found that he had been deceived. A few
of those cases, he said, he had Investigated,
but when asked what punishment he had
given the offenders, he was silent. That
seemed to fasten the ugly responsibility on
the shoulders of the Chief, and it was his
turn to feel uncomfortable under the bur-
den. To-day Captain Marsh unbosomed
himself and made frank statement of the
rock bottom facts to a newspaper man. He
declared that the Chief of Police of Chicago
is chief only in name. Politics has got
into it, and it is run by the man with a
pull" to such an extent that it
is really controlled by irresponsible out
side parties with local political influence
The Chief declared that he could do little
to improve it, as long as the present system
is in operation. His entire time during
office hours, he says, is taken up with dele
cations calling upon him for the appoint
ment of this man, or the reinstatement of
that and the only time he could devote to
his duties proper is during the hours when
was in politics he should not be held re-
sponsible for it. "But," he said, 'take
politics out of the force and can make it
efficient. As it is now politics kills discip-
line and efficiency, and causes the demoral-
ization which we all know exists. The
remedy for all this lies in the appointment
of men not because of political influence,
but because of competency. There should
be an examining board to examine appli-
cants, and recommend appointments and
at the discretion of the Chief.
Police appointments are not what they
should be, and they never will be any better
until we remove politics from the force.
81 have had ORDERS" continued the |
Chief, "and still have orders to suppress |
public gambling. L believe that has not |
been done as thoroughly as it might have |
been. I shall see to it now that such orders |
are carried out to the bitter end and if 1 am |
interfered with in the performance of my |
duty hereafter am through with the Office |
of Chief of Police"
"What will be your first move?''
"We shall pull every gambling house we
find OPEN"
Mayor Cregier. having been informed by
his law department that the use of private
detective agencies by private individuals
Tor making arrests is illegal, proposes to
put stop to that method of warfare be-
tween opposing factions of the gambling
fraternity. 1t is also current rumor that he
is about to revoke Ed Corrigan's saloon
license at the race track, and, under the ad-
vice of his Official attorneys, to break up
pool selling there, too. If this programme
IS fully carried out during the coming week,
he enterprising Mr.. Corr1gan may realize
hat he has bitten off more than he can chew
n trying to work up a corner on the pool
ceiling market.