The evening world., 1894-05-30
FOR BRIBERY, $y7,5OO.
The Policemen Are Raising the
Fund to Pay for the In
crease Of Salary Law.
EACH NAN Is ASSESSED S2b.
Ordered to Hand II Over to Their Rep
resentatiVeS In a Lump Sum
Next Pay Day.
MOST OF THEM ARE MAKING PROTESTS.
They Arc Told that II They Refuse They
Will Be Hounded and Havo to Pay More
in Fines to the Pension Fund

Every police patrolman in the city
has been ordered to give up s25 out Of
his May salary to certain delegates Of
the Patrolmea's Benefit association.
For what? Well beginning next jan
uary. the patrolmen will have their sal
aries increased at the rate Of 5000 n
year. Various Legislatures have been
asked to pass the salary bill, but 1t re-
mained for the Legislature of 1894 to
make 1t a law. The police force of New
York is in debt to the Legislature OF
1894, and $25 per man will cancel this
obligation Of bribery.
This Is the announcement that has
been carried into every station-house
in the city by committee from the
patrolmen's secret organization. 1t has
been received in some houses in sullen
silence, and in others with hard, earn
est kicking. The assessment means
positive hardship for many of the men.
Besides that there is more or less gen
eral feeling that the Doodle fund thus
projected is too large. and may put
temptation in the way OF those who
should not get any OF this big bribe
for the passage OF the bill.
The story was in Albany. when Sena-
tor Coggeshall, OF Oneida, introduced
the bill and steered 1t through the Sen
ate and Assembly, that one McGonigle
was looking after its interests from a
vantage ground beyond the Sergeant
at-Armss rail. Patrolmen. with whom
World reporter talked yesterday. said
that ex-Assemblyman Van Allen was
the lawyer retained by them to watch
the bill at Albany. A committee OF
eight policemen went to Albany one day
to do what they could. and in various
other ways expenses were contracted
which. OF cou Sc. the force as body
was expected to pay. Twenty-Five dol
lars per man. however, strikes the blue
coats as excessive.
All the patrolmen belong to the Pa
trolmen's Benevolent Association. which
has been in existence for many years.
The men In each precinct are divided
into two sections the day men and the
night men. and each OF these sections
has treasurer Every man has been
paying 25 cents a month to the benevo-
lent fund. and whenever a patrolman
died his widow has been given 800.
There was a good-szed balance in the
treasury when the year opened, be-
cause 50 annually from each OF over
three thousand men means nearly
$4,000. enough to pay 100 death bene-
nts 1t has always been understood
that when the salary bin finally became
an established fact. there would be an
extra assessment. but now that the
assessment is levied II comes hard"
A patrolman in a downtown precinct,
whose name for obvious reasons he
declined TO allow to be used. said to n
World reporter last night:
THE committee is going to every
sta ton house in the city and notifying
the men that s25 must be paid by each
one out OF this months salary. That
means II fund OF over $780, 900. Our under
standing all along was that the whole
business cost only $4,000. and we want
to know who is going to get the rest OF
this money. Whenever they struck
very hard kick the committee said the
money was wanted to build a club house
somewhere uptown. We don't want any
club more than we have had. The
meetings In the Turn Verein
Hail. on Sixty-seventh street. when the
from the station houses were
turned over, have answered us well
enough so far.
How much time have got TO go to
club when ! am OFF duty? It's little
enough / see OF my family as II is. The
only club a policeman needs 10 what
he carries in his belt The club busl-
ness is all q blum. It's well enough
TO talk about club In case any one
Is caught with money sticking to his
fingers, but II doesn't go down with US.
Suppose We give up s2S to this commit