The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1892-12-09
BYRNES MORE PACIFIC
He Replies to DR.. Parkhurst in
an Elaborate Defense.
HIS OPINION OF THE SOCIAL EVIL.

The superintendent Defics the Clergyman
TO Meet It-Says He Would Gladly Have
the Doctor for an AIly-Detectivo Gard
ner Indicted.
New YORK, Dec. 9.-The broadside that
DR.. Parkhurst poured into the Police De
partment in reply TO the pronunciamento
of Supt. Byrnes was among the chief top
les discussed in the metropolis yesterday,
and it seemed to be the common belief
that the superintendent had caught a Tar
tar
Some unpreiudiced observers thought
that Mr.. Byrnes was unwise when he
courted public controversy and tried to
measure wits with the clergyman. Then
again many held that the adroit reply of
DR.. Parkhurst had put the superintendent
in a defensive position, from which he
would find it difficult to extricate himself
with credit.
The more Supt Byrnes thought of DR..
Parkhurst's reply to his accusations the
more puzzled he became. He did not
know whether TO answer it or not. First
he would and then he wouldn't, and then
again he would. He reached the last CON
cusion last night when he issued a state
ment, addressed to no one in particular
1t was shown to DR.. Parkhurst later on.
He said that a previous engagement pre-
vented him from making answer to the
latest eifusion of the Superintendent of
| Police He promised to read it, and then,
if he thought it wise he would respond to
it tonight. He wanted it understood,
however, that he did not pledge himself to
reply to it.
In his statement of last night Superin-
tendent Byrnes says:
eyes, ] have read over very carefully
| the statements made by Dr. Parkhurst,
and, as far as / could expect, they cOrobo-
rate what have said about him and his
methods. 1 have to thank Dr. Parkhurst
for making the issue he has raised, at last
sharp and clear. ! had given him credit
| before-as it now appears wrongly-from
| his public utterances on platform and in
the pulpit, for being in the field to help
suppress vice and crime. That was what
! his 5, $ was organized for, and what
| his =. .,.sa-aor labored for. Dir. Park
| hurst a-. Ha.ly that is not his aim. He
is not tryiug to suppress gambling or to
repress the social evil. He is in the field
to attuc!i the police.
at is easy for me now to understand
/ why he has never asked my help or
offered to help me, a thing which has
never been clear to me before. He is not
an ally; he is an enemy"
The superintendent claims that the So
cial evil is worse in European cities than
here. He says that since the middle Of
| April, when he took Office, he has closed
| 44O houses of i'll repute, arresting 2.752
| inmates; "a gambling houses, with 2S6 ar
rests, and 30 policy shops, with 40 arrests.
The superintendent insists that to give
! unfortunate women a chance to reform is
the work Of Christian charity, not of the
| police
After agreeing to help the clergyman to
suppress any known place of i'll resort, Mr.
| Byrnes says;
! The doctor chooses to charge me with
! trying to shift the responsibility from my
| shoulders over upon his. ! will be char
| table. He does not know me, or he would
not make the charge. No one has ever
laid that to my door before, justly or un-
| justly.
''Ihere is a disadvantage in accepting
as true all the misinformation about a po-
| lice officer which sneaks and slandercrs
are peddling out to him daily, namely,
| that it leads the purchaser altogether Off
the track. Perhaps l should say that it
! would be disadvantage were he in the
| field trying to improve the morals of the
! community as well as he can, as [ am,
| because in that event he would lose an
ally by his course instead of gaining one
! But if, as he says, he is Just bent on at
| lacking the police, then, of course, such
mlslntormatlOn is useful and to the point. -