The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1895-01-01

be rendered AT the first Of the new year.
we became little soiicitous that they
were nct allowing sasfscient time for ex-
afnining their officials. but I supposed
they knew uhat they were about ana
that they would not do anything that
would even look ike stopping their work
without finishing it Matters had been
Tor so .eng time conducted In entire
thoroughncSs that we had even forgot
ten that we had ever been dlstrussfas.
but late in November the indications
were clear tha. the Investigation was not
10 be pushed to It's close In tho same
energstic and unsparing manner that
haa been followed up 10 that date. 4
good many days went by In cases thar
mad been discussed. which wearieSi the
PUBIC which made no substantial asi-
di'ion to the knowledge already granted,
and which were frtttering away the time
mat We knew ought to be spent upon
the inspectors and superintendent. We
knew the character Of the chief and his
hhiiieoaate sabordiEases. and that. how
ever many captains might b. sznirched.
ana however many sergeants might be
easnsefed, the root Of the matter would
not be reached unal we had arrived at
f
constitute its executive leadership. In
View or all this we are justified ia say
ing that while the committee stood up Co
the rack magniacently through all the
other portions OF the Investigation. they
dinched at the crisis.
As long aSo as when Mr.. Moss UNDER
took 20 aisiIce evidence against Mr..
Byrnes ina direct manner, the insestsgat-
ffSaa
ance. Now that Is not thing to be de-
bateyi. Their attitude was instantly rec
ognized by these in attendance. and dis
tinotly stated in the journals Of the next
morning. The pursuit OF lines that might
possibly have conduced to the reaa i'm
wardness of Byrnes' conduct and charac-
ter was discouraged, discouraged as Ii has
been in the case of no other man. Now
there was q reason for that.
I'VE are not saying just yet that there
was anything that could be proved
against Bswnes; we are saying that the
committee withheld their support from ef-
forts made to show that there was some
thing that could be proved against Mr..
Byrnes. We are not saying there was
anything in the Marett case that was dis
creditabie to the superintendent, but we
are saying that the committee was indis-
posed to have the matter thoroughly ven
ulated ins order To discover whether
there was anything In it discreditable
to the superintendent Their thoroughness
broke down at that point. They stumbled
just at the completion of their work The
chairman OF the committee will not dare
to deny that 1t Is policy II have used
that word advisedEy: he will recognize
what refer to) that controlled him In his
handling OF Mr.. Byrnes. and not desire
to act in view of all the possible or as
certaInable facts in Mr.. Byrnes' case.
Now the presumption is on the side of
the superintendent's being as criminal ns
any other member of the force. SO that
the hesitancy to handle him az Williams
was handled could not proceed from any
prior conviction Of his innocence. Wher-
ever they have stuck to their work they
have found rot, and. whether Byrnes be
rotten or not. he has been in rot for thlr-
tv-one years. and has been rhe executive
head OF rot for the last two years the
presumption. therefore, was against him.
So the indisposition 10 handle him thor
ouglaly must have been grounded on other
considerations Chan that OF his presuna-
able ipnocenre.
There are two ways In which Mr..
Ryrnes has put tho committee under OBJ
legations and to that degree destroyed
their independence. He put them under
obligations by consenting TO help de-
feat Tamanany Hall. and II is to be re-
membered that this committee Is first
and foremost an anti-Tammany commit
tee, and came down here for anti Tam
many purposes. We are not saying IL
was stipulated that IL he would secure
an honest election 1t should be remen,-
bered In his behalf. but In the very ma
ture of the case fayors have TO be re-
ciprocated. We are not going 10 dis
parage Mr.. Byrnes' good offices at the
election. although 1t is TO be remembered
that he did nothing more than he ought
TO have done without being asked to do
Ii. and nothing more than he had the
same authority 10 do In previous cleo
tIons. II he had only had the official
courage to use his authority. The Sec
cnd way In which the committee put
themselves under obligations 10 him was
by taking him into their confidence and
allowing him to become a confederate
with them In breaking down the force.
To the degree In which they obtained
help from Byrnes they put themselves
practically under obligations to protect
him. Now know the language that
Byrnes used touching precisely this point.
and when I heard II knew everything
was up, so far as a square investigation
OF him was concerned. This acceptance
OF IL had mortgagesi the committee to
that extent. and one popularity OF a
mortgage is that IL has to be paid of
or foreclosc1 In this connection 1t
ought to be stated that Mr.. Moss de-
clared he never knew or suspected that
Hyrnes was furnishing information to
the committee or counsel. and 1t was
well known that he would not sanction
any such action. Mr. Byrnes has fire.
quensly attempted to play the Same
game with the Society for the Proven
ticsl OF Crime, but We have refused TO
ally ourselves With n man whom we be-
heve to be- more than any other man,
responsible for the condition Of the de-
partment. If we had consented to do
what the committee and It's counsel have
done. we would have thereby surrendered
our point OF vantage, sacrificed our pres
tige. and the I>exow committee would
never have been heard OF. We are not
charging the committee or !'s counsel
with a dishonest intent. but they blund-
cred, and they bimnderei badly.
TO EXPOSE TAMMANY'S ISYAMY.
Other Departments to be Investigated