St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-12-04
sworn, and that he had testified that the
charges were false

ne uIu HOl ldll through showcase.
Now we want to prove that the next
charge is not true. We want to prove
the competency of Mr.. Mason as a de-
tective."
MIR. Doran did not think the commit.
tee competent to pass upon this partic.
nIar phase of the controversy. 1t was
largely matter of opinion. He asked
lne corporation attorney for an opinion
IN the premises. Mr.. Lawler thought
the proceeding would be entirely with.
in the discretion of the committee to ge
on with the investigation or not. Mr.,
Benedict reiterated that the charge OF
drunkenness had been peremptorily
settled and again inquired why the ac.
cuser did not come before the commit.
tee. Mr.. Doran thought Mr.. Daly's
letter should have some weight. If the
case is to be taken into court he could
not be expected to anticipate the evil
dence by making premature show Of
hands. MIR. DOran thought that the
committee was scarcely the proper tri
bunal.
Mr.. Benedict said that the defense
was there to prove that Mr.. DAILY did
not tell the truth, and, moreover, that
Mr.. Mason is
One of the Best
detectives in the country: that he is
one of the most accomplished. The
counsel here related peculiar experl,
ence. Immediately upon the charges
being made puLlic. Mr.. Mason had laid
the matter before counsel,and the latter
wrote a courteous letter 10 the mayor,
asking for an investigation. The mayor
tlatly refused to answer the letter, and
Mr. Benedict produced the letter tC
show that there could have been nc
olfense in it to the sensitive "reformer.h
The mayors private secretary curtly
Informed MIR. Benedict that the mayor
would not answer the letter
"Gentlemen of the committee" ex-
claimed Mr.. Benedict, "what do YOU
think of that? The chief of the police
department refused to answer letter
asking for an investigation when the
chlef of the detective department had
been charged with these Offenses.
That's the Kind of treatment Mr.. Masonsa
got from him. Now what we shall ask
is report to the assembly from this
committee"
Mr.. Doran returned that the commit
tee was willing to listen to the evil
dencc. and j. w. Lawrence, the Min
neapolis representative of the United
States secret service, was sworn. He
testified that he had come to Minneapo-
had brought here letter of in
PRODUCTION to Detective Mason. /
He had been informed that Mason
was an excellent detective, and his ex-
periences and relations with Mason had
substantiated the promise. lie had
found Mason more than he had antici-
pated. The accused had assisted him
in several cases of Importance, and he
had done clever work. Witness had
found him competent, reliable and a
gentleman.
There are no better men in the coun-
try" said he.
w. A. Scott, the general superintend-
ent of the Omaha road, testified that he
had seen a'great deal of Mason's work,
although he had never employed him.
He considered the accused "a very
shreWd and successful detective and a
very reliable man withal. In his mind
Mason ranks very high" -
This sort of evidence was given at
length.
ID. w. Lawler who had served as the
citizens attorney. testified to the com-
petent work done by Mason in the CEN
sus cases, and this was substantiated by.
o. O. Cullen, W. L. Murray and others
of that committee. Mr.. Murray thought
Mason would compare very favorabIy
with his predecessor as chief Of detect
ives. John f.. Hearn, assistant city at
torney, who has charge of municipal
court cases, considered Mason a COM
petent and successful detective. In
intelligence lie is superior to most de-
tectives.
WnsOn'S Revelations.
Mason was then placed on the witness
stand again. He testified that he had
been appointed to the position June 2S,
and that he had found a force of de-
tectiYes totally and absolutely ignorant
of the police manual He painted
deplOrable condition of affairs. He set
about at once to 'brace up' the de-
partment. tie found that the de-
tectives would go out and capture
q drunk and consider that they
had accomplished mighty piece of de
tective work. One of the provisions of
eligibility is that the detective shall be
able to read and write English intelligi-
bly,, and he procured record book. He
directed each detective to make daily
recC + | of his work therein, and he in
troduced the book for inspection. The
members of the committee struggled
to decipher the chirography, but aban-
dOned the job.
''lf you can make out by those records,
written by the men | was furnished
with. and know what they did. you will
do WELL" commented Mf. Mason, as the
committeeman pored over the huge
pages of the book.
The witness gave the men special in
struction, but he could never see any
improvement.
"Then What did you do?" asked Mr.
Benedict.
MY immediate superior was the
chief of police" replied the detective.
Il went to Chief Garvin and recon-
mended immediate changes. 1 asked
for intelligent men,"
''What did he tell you?"
"Wait till after election" answered
the witness. "YeS; that was the reply,
and Garyin represented the mayor"
Detective Mason continued his evil
dence at tlength. He showed that Lieut..
Murphy, who had been doing detective
work, had been sent back to police duty,
that one other detective had been sent
on a beat and that another had resigned
when ordered to don the uniform. The
witness exhibited specimens Of Detect
i've McGuiggan's bad writing, and said
he had considered them disreputable.
He asked the mayor to appoint Burns.
formerly boOkkeeper for BOWlan, and
now on the FinkcrtOn force
Did heubaye to wait till after elee-
tion?" sarcastically queried the counsel.
''He has not been appointed yet" re-
piled the witness.
"What else did you do?'
II indited letter asking for the re-
moval of certain men for incOmpe-
teney."
'sThat had to wait till after election,
too. | suppose"
Mr.. Mason here gave some statistics
showing the number of arrests made
under his regime. in comparison with
the record of his predecessor. From
Oct. % to June 6, period of 227 days,
the detectives made % arrests. OF this
number, Al were for vagrancy and 80
for other offenses. The subsequent ia
days the detectives arrested 1872. OF
which 46 were for vagrancy and 146 for
offences against the statutes and Ordi-
nanses, and the detective emphasized
the point by alleging that there is less
crime in the city now than there was
before.
The committee took the matter under
advisement. and will report at the next