The evening world., 1894-06-09
HOW FAR DOES IT REAca'

There l. no one now whJ doubts. or
would seriously attempt to deny, thai the
police OF New York have been In the
habit OF levylng a tax for protection"
on the keepers OF Illegal resorte. The
plea that the witnesses who testify to
having paid the binckmail are lawless
and imm)ra characters, who cannot be
believed on oath. grows weaker AMI
weaker as Its lnsuficiency becomes more
and more apparent. II You ignore the tes-
tinony of such persons now. 1t would be
impossible to obtain any evidence OF the
wrong which undoubtedly exists. The
money IL in all cases paid by the law
breaker into the hands OF the police. No
third person Is present. Who. besides the
law-breaker, can testify to the transact
tion?
If a single person. or II two or three
persons should appear before the Lexow
Committee and swear to having paid
b!ood-moncy to the p).ice. 1t might be
possible to believe that they were perjur-
ding themselves for revenge or to escape
prosecution for their o~ffenses against the
law. But when numbers of Witnesses tes-
tify to the same thing, when their stories
tally in all the details, when they give
the correct names Of the officers to whom
they claim to have paid money, and when
their statements are corroborated in
many ways. the cry OF perjury becomes
ridiculous.
The fact Of systematic blackmail by the
police being conceded. the question is.
How far does 1t reach?
1t will be remembered that the man
prian thu Eaanar NJ a nopar "A atrant M
sort, testified that he had paid two thou
sand two hundre dollars for police pro-
lection In a single year, and that five
houses In the same block had paid about
the same amount each. The proprietors
Of some OF the other dens confirmed his
statement. So that from six houses In a
single block on one street. In that cheap
locality. the police received ut this rate
over fourteen thousand dollars In a year.
But the evidence fixes the fees for such
disorderly houses at fifty dollars n month.
with five hundred dollars for every change
OF Captains In a precinct. and one hun
dred dollars for a Christmas present.
Putting the average tax OF such places at
one thousand dollars n year. five hundred
OF them would yield an annual black
mail revenue of half a million dollars.
When to this sum are added the fees
levied on gambling houses. unlicensed ga
looms. policy shops and other Illegal pur-
suits: when 1t is remembered that the
tribute exacted from the gi,ded palaces
Of vice In the Tenderloin" and other
uptown precincts Is probably four times
as high as that demanded OF n Bayard
street bagnio. and when the number of
liquor-saloons placed under contribution
Is considered, II IL not surprising or ex-
travagant hat experts estimate the black
mail Income thus collected at from one
million five hundred thousand to two mill
Ion dollars yearly.
Is 1t reasonable to suppose thai this
enormous fund Is monopolized by the
thiriy-eight ward detectives and the thir-
ty-eight Captains of the force? Is It 10
be supposed that the ward man gets more
than a small percentage OF his collec.
lions. with II chance OF doing n trine OF
business in fves and tens on his own nc.
count In addition? The Captains are rich.
some OF them owning country houses and
yachts. on n small salary. But Is 1t to
be believed h a the whole blackmail
levy goes to certain Captains?
One thing Is quite certain. No portion
or 1t gets into the hands OF the patrolmen
who are the real guardians OF the lives
and property Of the people. II they obtain
an addition OF two hundred dollars a year
to their pay 1t Is against the wishes OF
their superior officers. n they are forced
to pay for the favor.
II the blackmail fund does not go be
low the ward man." how far does II
rise above him? 1t Is the duty of the in,
~vestlgators to follow It up Just as high al
1t reaches. That Is the point In which
the people are interested now.