The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1894-11-29
LAWYER GOFF
NEW YORK CITY'S RENOyATOR
INTERVIEWED.
He Says Every Business Man in New
York Felt the Power of Police
Blackmail-The Work to be
FINISHED by Jan. l.

Washington, Nov. 21.-John w. Golf
the prosecuting attorney for the Lexow
investigation committee, who is stonn;ng
IN washington for few days, has given
the Evening Star an interesting infer
view OF nearly three columns on the work
OF the committee. st was as YOU NAV
imagine" he said, "a tremndous task that
confronted us when we started the in
Vestlgaton. We knew positively that the
police department of New York, a mag
nlhcent organization as regards its
strength, was systematically blackmail-
ing, all classes. The tremendous mower
nad seized the community until it had oh
tanned complete possession. There
were Two distinct elements that prevent
ea at the beginning fair start and han
ulcapped us IN our efforts TO get reliable
testimony. These were first the fear
and second, the apathy of these citi1enS'
speak within the bounds of NV knowi.
cage when L say that there was not a
business man in New York who did not
1 deel the power of police blackmail.
1nere were, perhaps, very few instances
where honorable men had refused to give
their tlthes of illegal tax to the police,
nut almost without exception the men
were forced out of business. One pc
ccullar feature of the blackmail was that
It spared no one class, however obscure
lts calling. L have particularly in
among the most upright and honest peo-
pie In New York. They are mostly re-
tired captains-cOmmande of the old
clipper ships-who have been forced out
OF business by the introduction of steam
or by their sons. None of these honest
men dared to open their mouths and COM
PLAIN. SO the question was, what classes
should we apply to and appeal to in our
crusade! We were urged at times and
most inoppOrtunely to go higher and nail
the responsibility to the source of author
lty. On this question we held most earn
est consultations and finally decided that
it would not be wise to do that. Our
duty was to arouse the conscience of the
people of New York, which had been
long mothered-almost killed. The COM
mon people, the voters, the people who
most felt the oppression of the police,
would need to be aroused by different
methods. They were to have the i'll eff
fects of police corruption brought to their
hearts. The spectacle of a little boy sit
ting all night on the doorstep of police
station, crying bitterly for his father
who had been unjustly arrested and bru-
tally beaten by the police meant more
to those people than the demonstration
that Il captain had paid large money for
his promotion, or that the commissioner
perhaps had been bribed.
The common followers would not notice
such matters, but they would notice the
tyranny of police over the apple woman,
over the peanut rooster, over the boot
black, the newsbOy, the keeper of a
small soda water stand, the owners of
little restaurants, a great class ofhOnest
citizens, striving, struggling for n living.
The men at the clubs, the more idle
classes of the population, drinking over
the fancy bars of the uptown hotels,
and restaurants, dining at the cafes,
might possible be interested n the eX-
l@sure of the high Officials, but it would
not oSbock them, it would not arouse in
them such a feeling of personal Iesent-
and by their votes aid in decreasing their
power, which these things signifed. You
may be surprised when [ say that New
York, under the rule of pOnce dep1rt-
menr. as it was controlled by Tammanv
hall, was far worse as regards the midi
vidual comfort of citizens, than st.
Petersburg, under its most violent pO-
lice regime. This was accidentally illus
trated by Il witness who took the stand
one day. He was Pole who had been
sent to Siberia as a result of the Polish
instruction. He had escaped and reach
his arrival he was unjustly arrested and
hiss rival he was unjua'N arrested ami
trrtlly beaten.
His story was told with an irresistible
Quaintness and patbos. | cannot re-
produce it to you, as | have not the
power to initiate his peculiar dialect
and his earnestness that convinced
everybody. But when he was asked how
the police of New York compared with
those of st. Petersburg he answered
that the Russian police are gentle and
humane compared with those of our
country.
AS an illustration of the tremendous
power welded by this organization L
would refer to the difficulty we had in
obtaining witnesses to so upon the stand.
At first this applied to all classes, both
reputable and disreputable. When APP
pealed to they would claim if they
should testify the police would hound
them out of the city. When asked If
they could not 80 elsewhere and establish
themselves in business they replied that
the persecution of the police of New York
would follow them to every city IN the
country. The lower classes OF cltlzehS
were made to believe that backmall
was lawful and regular. They came TO
consider the captain of their precinct. as
n the source of all municipal authority,
u in effect he was such to them. This was
" Illustrated by the introduction OF the
NfSAsPantata" into our language.
a "You ask me if l think this power II
now crushed? | do, most emphatlcaily
think that the public conscience, haVlnt
once been aroused, the machinery Oh tn'
nauseous system proposed VIII perpel
ually guard against the development y
| such an organization in the future
consider the great danger to our Iorm U
government lies in the possibility Oh ulu
ncipal misrule. The tendency Is w
strongly toward the growth OF the urban
community at the expense of the rura
This feeds the machine that, II NJ
watched and checked, will grow, 10 sue
cOrrupting influence as that Whlch n W
have Just destroyed in New York. Cel
tralizatiOn, believe, as the lnVestlsa'iO
has proved is the danger OF the Day
believe that the example OF New III
will serve to check this tendency tow in
corruption and police domination; Ne
York has now been flushed by 1oou
sentiment, and the stagnant PROOF OF "
n Fuption, the masmitic machinery Oh &c
uallzed power has beer swept away.
l cannot answer the question Us
where the blackmail money went OF
What proportions it was distributed,
mat is personal matter which won
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