Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1894-12-31

In New York at $50 o'clock Satur-
day night the Lexow committee ad-
journed.
Superintendent Thomas Byrnes was
the last witness before the commits ee.
At the conclusion of his examination
the investigation of the police depart
ment was ended.
Justas he was through answering
Mr.. COTS questions Superintendent
Byrnes handed letter to Chairman
Lexow and said it was a copy of one
he had sent to Mayor.elect Strong early
this month. 1t was his resignation
from the force, of which he has been y
member for the last 80 years.
The Superintendent said that on two
occasions since he was appointed in
Superintendent Murray's place he had
been on the point of resigning, owing
to Il Q continual conflict between the
commissioners and himself. 81 feel
assn ed" said he, "that the COM
mssioners wanted to get rid of me, and
| wanted to retire, but l refrained from
sense 1sseT Ct duty to the citizens of New
York. The views of the con- mjssiouers
do not agree with mine." He saicl ne
had waited, hoping that something
would turn up, end it turned up last
election day. He admitted that the
present condition of the police depart
ment is bad, and that it is practically
impossible to better it under the exist
ing form of organization. He gave
instances Of alleged interference by the
commissioners with his attempts to
enforce the laws and said that F'resi-
dent Martin had said "whaJ was not
true" if he swore Gas he did) that the
Superintendent invited the commission
er to address the police captains in that
notable meeting for instructions on the
Sunday preceding the election of 1892.
The Superintendent, he said, should
have absolute charge of the discipline
of the department, but that all his
efforts in that direction were frustrated
by the commissioners. The depart
ment was honeycombed with abuses,
which had been growing for 80 years,
and they could only be remedied by
radical legislation.
Local politicians, he claimed, were
the curse of the department, and as
long as politics was factor in the force
such state of things would exist. Al
though he did his utmost to procure
substantial information as to corruption
and bribery, he was unable to get it,
and the whole department. was impreg-
mated with the belief that promotion
had to be bought and and merit was OF
no avail. He claimed to have, done
good deal toward helping to bring
about the exposures.
Mr.. Byrnes paid tribute to DR.. Park
hurst, who, he said, manufactured pub
lie sentiment, without which it would
have been impossible for the committee
to have acquired the information it did.
He declared however that even with
out the Intervention of DR.. Parkhurst
and his society or the Lexow committee.
he himself would have collected by this
time fully three-ffths of the evidence of
police corruption that now stands pub
licly recorded.
Concerning his personal affairs he de-
clared that his wealth amounts to $3.50
600, and 'defied any one to show that
he had come by one dollar of it dishon-
estly.
He mentioned real estate and in.
provements he owned, which cost him
$4,000, and which isin his wife,s
name, and said that aside from a ynn-
cular inheritance of $4,000, his fortune
had been laid by an investment made
for him by Commodore Vande.bi and
builded to its present proportions by
investments made for him by jaw and
George Gould, for all Of whom be had
done fayors.
Hls purchases Of real estate were also
very profitable and he cl4imed not to
have bank account.
Mayor-elect Strong declinsd to say