The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1894-11-30
SHELTON MASON COUNTY, WASHINGTON NOVEMBER 30 1884,
Blackmailing is a Fine Art.

a lew days, has, given the Evening
Star an interesting interview on the
work of the committee.
eve know positively" said he, "that
the police department. of New York
was Systematically blackmailing all
classes OF citizens.
Il speak within the bounds of nv
knowledge when I say there is not a
business man in New York city who
has not felt the powers of police black
mail. There were perhaps very few
instances where honorable men had
refused to give their tithes of illegal
tax to the police, but almost without
exception these men were forced out
of business.
"One peculiar feature of the black
mail was that it spared no one class,
however obscure its calling. You may
be surprised when 1 say New York
under the rule of the police depart
ment as controlled by Tammany Hall,
was far worse as regards the individ-
ual liberty of the citizens, than St
Petersburg under its most violent
police rigiment.
GAS an illustration of the tremend-
Gus powers welded by this organiza-
tlon, | will refer to the difficulty we
we had in obtaining witnesses to go
upon the stand and swear to facts
they had brought to us in private. At
first this applied to all classes, both re-
utable and disreputable. When ap.
pealed to they would claim if they
shonld testify the police would hound
them out of the city. When asked if
they could not 60 elsewhere and es-
tablish themselves in business, they
would reply that the persecution of
the polio of New York would follow
them to every city in the country, and
gradually revealed the astounding fact
that the police of New York not only
dominated every city, but every large
community in all parts of tho
country. The lower classes of citizens
were made to believe blackmail was
lawful and regular. They came to
consider the captain of their precinct
as the source of all municipal authori-
ity. In effect he was such to them.
you ask if 1 think this power is
now crushed. I do most emphatical-
ly. 1 think that the public conscience
having once been aroused, the machi-
merry of this nauseous system exposed,
will be perpetual bar against the
development of such an organization
in the future. | consider the great
danger to our form of govern
ment lies in the possibility of munich
pal misrule. The tendency is too
strongly toward the growth of the
urban community at the expense of
the rural. This feeds the machine,
that, if not watched and checked, will
grow to such corruptive influence at
that we have just destroyed in New
York. Capitalization, I believe, as
the investigation has proved, is the
danger of the day. 1 cannot speak
too highly OF the composition of the
committee which employed me as its
counsel. Though appointed by re-
publican senate and containing ma
iority of the members of that body,
these men have acted throughout the
investigation like non-partisans and
they have upheld the counsel in every
move that has promised to demon
strate the problem that confronted US.
ri cannot answer the question as to
where the blackmail money went or in
what proportion it. was distributed,
for that is personal matter which
would force me to mention names.
There are still many points to investi-
gate, great deal of rounding up
finishing up AS it were. We will try
to finish the work by the first of Jam
uarv."