The Meeker herald., 1894-12-29

York Fore~--ReceIved Large Sums of
Hush Money and Divided 1t with HIS
superiors,
New York, Dec. 21.--Maximillian @.
Schmittberger, captain OF police and
now in command of the Tenderloin
district made q confession before the
Lexow committee to-day to the effect
that the entire police system of New
York with the exception Of Superin-
tendent Byrnes and few Others. was
rotten to the core; that blackmail and
bribery, extortion and corruption were
common crimes In the department; and
that mercenary methods alone actu-
ated his fellow officers. His charges
implicated Inspectors Williams and
McAvoy. ex-Inspector Steers, Police
Commissioners James B. Martin and
John C. Sheehan, Captains Price, Cast
lin and Martens, ex-Captain John uun-
ner and Wardmen Dunlap, Robert Vail
and James Canon.
Captain ScbmIttberger is under in
dictment for bribery. He had pre-
yiously refused to testify before the
Senate committee. Yesterday, how
ever he was rearreSted and his bail in
creased. To-day he took advantage of
an offer of Immunity OF punishment
held out to him by Mr. Goff, and agreed
TO make clean breast Of it
1.-The pillars of the church have fal-
len," he said, ON the witness stand
this afternoon, land deem it due my
conscience, my wife and my children.
to tell what know" Meanwhile dark
circles had crept under his eyes, his
face assumed sickly pallor, an air of
utter WEAKNESS and detection possess
ed him and he appeared, as he was, in
extreme mental torture and agony.
But no spirit of sympathy moved the
throng of spectators. Sneers and sar-
castle laughter instead, answered the
acknowledgment of his WEAKNESS
when Mt last Counsel Golf permitted
him to yacate the witness stand.
After explaining that officers obtain
ed easy positions on the force through
influence and the payment of money
Schmittberger went on to tell what he
knew of several dives in his precinct
which were frequented by all the Grim
inals In New York. He further said
that no pretense OF observing the ex-
else law at these places was ever made
and the fast women and criminals did
as they pleased.
would 1t have been possible for
these places to run open without spe-
cial arrangement with the policeT'
Certainly not"
"Do you know of any case where Il
policeman was instructed to cooper
ate with the keepers of these dives TO
crush out the facts about small
crimesT
Not personally, but it was under
stood that this was a fact"
Mr.. Con- asked about the famous
Clotelle and art gallery attached there
to, which became so notorious before
1t was suppressed. Witness acllnowl-
edged that the dive had not been
closed before because 1t was under po-
lice protection.
Witness reviewed his services as a
sergeant briefly and came to his APP
pointment as Il captain. He said Com
missioner Voorhis was honest and all
the charges against him false.
''Now, captain, about the time you
were In command of the steamboat
squad you learned, of course, that the
men on the docks had TO give up half
bf their salariesT
Eyes. Wardman Vail told me of 1t. /
told him l did not want to keep 1t up
and he told me that | was fool; that
men had just as soon give 1t up us not
and 1 might as well get it"
And you finally agreed to this?"
"Yes"
"And Vail was your collector, 1 be-
lieve"
Eyes, for about two months, and
then Cannon was appointed. / would
like now to brand Vail as a liar for
saying on this stand that wanted all
Of the money from the men,
"How much did Vail collect for you
each month";"
about $3.50"
"And did you never have to give up
any of this money to any other police
official?'
"No, / did not"
Witness then went on to say that he
had had q conversation with Inspector
Steers, who told him that there was
little in the precinct and that he could
have 1t all.
''Did you ever give up any money to
him|
mo, did not get enough"
Mr.. Goff led the witness to say that
ne did not like the precinct and was
transferred at his own request to the
Sixty -seyenth street station.
"Well, what were the sources Of your
revenue there?"
POLICY shops-nothing else
How many were there in the pre-
cinctF
"About ten Of them"
"And how much did you get from
each of these shops?"
'Twenty dollars each. The Bohc-
milan Liquor Dealers association paid
me about $50 per month"
"And how much of this did you getY
eighty per cent"
well, captain. in your collections in
that district, were you ever called up
on TO divide with anybody at all? Any
police ofIicialp