The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1892-11-29
O'NEIL'S OPPORTUNITY.
What a Sheriff Can Accomplish if
He Will.
Some Very Important Facts and the
Lesson They Teach-Read
and Ponder.

half-column Of complaint about the
criminal element of this city and the APP
parent license it enjoys from police sur
veilIance. You very pertinently ask,
HAS not this thing gone far enough"
If the unanimous verdict of the tax
payers and law-abiding citizens is de-
sired their answer would be, sit certainly
has"
am only surprised that patient and
Iong-suftering populace has not sooner
propounded this query, for the present
outrageous condition of affairs is not of
recent date. For many years Sacramento
City has struggled under similar yoke.
As a physician would say: ''A patient
who does not improve must grow worse;
a corporal or physical ailment does not
long remain stationary; it must find re-
lief, else tissue after tissue becomes in
volved until the wasted and neglected
body succumbs to the inevitable conse-
quence-death.'
What may be said of the physical body
is equally applicable to the body poll
tic" When the officers of municipality
neglect to properly discharge their du-
tles-let incompetency, negligence or dl-
rect malfeasance be the cause-and the
ClN4LOIlo VI lllttL SOllA-
munity fail to sterniy apply the proper
remedy, then, as in the case of a neg ected
patient, matters go from bad to worse,
until moral wreck, instead of physical
dissolution, is the result.
The executive officers of city cannot
be expected to rise superior 10 the condi-
tions which encompass them, nor the
moral forces at their back. That the po-
lice force of Sacramento with a fe spas
modic exceptions) has been and is dis
grace and living reproach, is fact that is
too well known to require advertising.
True, in few instances, good men and
true have been elected TO the Office of
Chief of Police, whose sincere efforts at
reform merited ali praise, but which same
were nullified by the actions of minor
officers appointed against the protest of
their superior, and who, as a conSe
quence, ignored their Chiefs orders, tax
ing their cue from the pull" that ever
present adjunct of depraved and rotten
system that ignores the voice of respect
ability and truth.
With a Chief powerless-or at least
lacking the determination, if not inclina-
ton, to assert himself-personal en-
counters between himself and his men
have been OF frequent occurrence within
the sacred precincts of the police head
quarters, both in the past and the present.
Jealousies, petty chickering's, personal
anu IL GOletl 1dCh Ol ulSCl-
pline, have been the chief characteristics
of the police department of Sacramento
for the last fifteen years. This is the eX-
perience of the writer.
Under such circumstances, is it any
wonder that in this city crime finds con-
genial soil? Is it surprising that burg
lars, robbers, garroters and murderers
recognize in the capital of our State their
Utopia, the thieves paradise, and that
with perfect immunity from molestation
assured them, they proceed against her
citizens as legitimate game for their
larder?
Although this is certainly a most de-
plorable state of affairs the police is not
the only one upon whom rests the blame.
for the recognized and tolerated system
under which it is organized is most per-
nicious one. The man who realizes the
responsibilities of the office, and the man
ner in which the tenant of it will be handi-
capped, must be brave and determined
man lit an honest one to dare assume it.
Unable to execute the law, abused from
without and betrayed from within, unless
possessed of more determination and
stamina than falls to the lot of the average
man, his difficulties terminate in disgust,
and he parts with his manhood ana repu-
taUion when he succumbs.
l do not intend to pass from this branch,
however, without paying my tribute to
that good class of citizens, the business
men, for the part they have played in pro-
ducing this state of affairs. In various in
stances Chiefs of Police have been elected
pledged to stop the gambling evil. Upon
their accession to office, determiuedly
and in good faith these incumbents have
attempted to wrestle with it, when, behold!
five months later during fair time these
same good citizens, these identical bust
ness men-or at least the majority of
u fNafifinr1 ha
misoners to 'let gambling CO." and it
goes.
You cannot handle filth without be-
coming defiled. GU cannot be a sinner
to-day and saint tomorrow, or vice
versa.
When you not only throw wide open
your doors, but placard your invitations
to welcome all the opium fiends, pimps.
thieves, sure-thing gamblers, Migrants
and hangers-on who follow the circuit of
the fairs, then, if not fool, you must ex-
pect this gentry to appreciate a hospitality
to be found only in sacramento; and, like
the tabled viper, when they are warmed
into life and activity, then look out for
the Venomous tangs and concealed poison.
Is this an oyerdrawn picture? Does
not the very lament to which this is the
answer prove the cause?
I agree, however, with the RECORD
UNION that the police force, as at present
constituted, is unequal to the emergency,
so let us look for remedy for an evil that
can no longer be tolerated.
The law vests the Sheriff as the chief
executive officer of the entire county. 1t
is his sworn duty to preserve the peace
and protect the person and property OF all
the citizens, as well in the CITY as in the
county. 1t has been the rule in this
county for the Sheriff to ignore criminal
matters within the city limits: possibly
aH in nj
between the Sheritf's office and the Police
Department. However that may be, it is
an absurd and ridiculous position to as
sumo.
Who ever heard of the Police Depart
ment of the city of Stockton? Who knows
or cares who is Chief OF Police in the
"City by the Slough"
3wenty-one years ago the people of San
Joaquin County elected an unknown and
untried man to the Office of Sheriff. He
was young, active, cool-headed, brave.
and above all, conscientious. He knew
nothing of crime or criminals, ana the
CITY OF stockton and county of San Joa-
gum were then in condition similar to
our Sacramento of the present day. This
young harness-maker made a study of
the Penal Code, and resolved upon max
ing war upon all who violated its provi-
sions, be their crimes committed Within
the city limits or in the broader expanse
OF the county at large. a thlef was a thief
to him, so long as he remained within his
bailiwick. OF course, a perfect howl Of
indignation assembled from all the Grim
inal Threats, great and small, THE Sheriff
is exceeding his authorityn' "He is
ignoring the Police Department." Wen
get even with him at the next electionI,j
etc. These denunciations filled the alr of
the surrounding country.
Well, ten elections have come and gone
since brave and honest man grasped
the reins of government, yet Tom Cum
ningham has been ten times reelected
by an ever-increasiHg majority, and his