New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-08-12
THE Law And THE FACTS.

The letter sent on Thursday by the Society
for the Prevention Of Crime to Captain Devery
Of the Eleventh Precinct and his superiors and
the statement by DR.. Parllhurst which accom-
named il must have given official circles in
this city "A disagrccable surprise. The special
value of the letter referred to was It's SPECIFIC
defamation of more than threcscorc disorderly
houses and gambling shops in the Eleventh
Precinct. The extraordinary merit of DR..
parkhurst's statement is the power and pre-
cision with which he recapitulates facts which
every observing citizen knows to be true, and
which a fearless Grand jury has made the
basis Of a damning alignment.
IL is interesting TO know that Captain Dcvery
has returned TO the city for the purpose OF
meeting any charges that the reverend gentle
man NAV be willing to make against him.
He scarcely seems to be aware that charges
which he needs to meet in an explicit and de-
cisiyc manner have already been made with
tremendous force. Those charges are that In
Captain Dcvcry's precinct vice and crime Hour
ISL openly, dcfantly and trlumphantly, with
the full knowledge and consent of those who
are sworn to enforce the laws. Citizens Of
Ncw-York. and especially those whose homes
are surrounded infected and dcSolated by the
poisonous traffic which Dr. Parkhurst de
scribcS are deeply concerned To know now
CaltIin Dcvcry intends u meet these charges
Thus far he seems To be content To meet them
with the old. shameless subtcrfugc which has
been omplo}cd eyer since the Society for the
Prevention of Crime began aggressive work
"Why doesn't DR.. Parkhur>t come to me with
'h.f - TN :
HimSv and di,ingcnuous response 10 a terrific
indictment.
If this is the only way in which the captain
Of the Eleventh Precinct means TO meet the
charges he might better have stayed out OF
town and kept silent. DR.. Palkhurst and his
society have gone 10 him with their evidence
II is i'm his possession nj this moment in com
pact documentary form. He has no excuse for
not acting on it, He had no excuse for not
acting long ago and continuously on evidence
brought T. his knowledge in other wa.S-by
his own eyes. by the reports of his men, by the
communication Of common experience, by the
very aspect and atmosphere of his precinct
If he imagines that the inhabitants Of this city
are dcudCd for an instant BY the pretence that
he did not know or could not prove the things
which Dr. ParlhuSt specifies and locates he
is among the most conspicuous fools of this
generation. The whole community is pervaded
by a knowledge of them. The truth Is com
mon property, shared by young and old by the
innocent and the guilty. Nor is there any
faint lingering doubt in the mind of intelll-
gent men and women that this shameful, de-
porablc, dcmoralizing state of affairs exists
simply because the privilege of existence Is
maid for: that it is officially protected and pro-
NOTED because official protection and promo
ton are profitable: that individuals within and
without the police force are made opulent by
blackmail that a more comprehensive system
of corruption was never employed under any
form of government on earth for the malntc-
nance of "A political dcSpotism and the enrich
mcnt Of conspiring officials
These are the charges which Captain Devery
is called upon t. meet. They cannot be refuted
by a sheer. He knows the facts and he knows
the law. We have heard what he chooses to
say. What does he purpose t. do?