The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1895-01-01

of men. The personal element does not
enter into the question with us. There is
a particular line which our society has laid
down for itself. and particular ends which
have been for considerable iiae prose-
cuted, and in all our efforts personalities
are merely an incident.
IF the readers of this statement will
put themselves to the pains of recalling
what transpred last spring, they will re-
member that at that time the writer of
this statement and few associated with
him were the only ones who believed in
the honesty of purpose Of the Senate COM
mittee.
1.-THE newspapers were almost unit in
their conviction that to rely On Mr.. Lexow
and his colleagues for our municipal de-
liverance was to lean upon broken reed.
l remember very we'll saying to Mr.. Lexow
at Albany, in the presence of all his as
sociates. that had just come from New
York, where the entire atmosphere was
pervaded with utter distrust of him and all
the members of his committee. l became
convinced, however, by my personal asso-
citation with Mr.. Lexow, Mr.. Bradley
and two or three of their col
l6dRu66, LUdG Lub CUulu
be counted upon TO do honest and faithful
and thorough work clear up to the end. l
gave to them my entire confidence. l used
my best efforts so down the spirit of distrust
which prevailed, and, in conjunction with
the other members of the executive COM
mittee Of the Society for the Prevention
of Crime, put at the service Of the Senators
the entire resources of our office, and thew
awaited themselves of these resources up
to Saturday night last. We have watched
the actions of the committee with the
keenest and unqualified assurance. They
have bored into the rotten tissue of the
police department with utter Indifference
as TO the character. political or otherwise.
of what they struck. Knowing their re-
port would have to be rendered the first of
the new year, We became little solicitous
lest they were not allowing sufficient time
for examining their officials, but sup
posed they knew what they were about.
and that they would not do ANYTHING that
would even look like stopping their work
without finishing it.
MATTERS had been for so long time
conducted in entire thoroughness that we
had even forgotten that we had ever been
distrustful, but late in November the in
dicatiOns were clear THAT the inveStiga-
ton was not TO be pushed to its close In
the same energetic and unsparing manner
that had been followed up to that date. A
good many DAYS went by in cases that had
been discussed which wearied the public,
which made no substantial addition to the
knowledge already gained and which
were already frittering away the time that
we knew ought to be spent upon the in
spectors and superintendent. We knew
the character of its chief and his imme-
date subordlnates, and that however
many captains might be smirched and
however many sergeants might be
cashiered, the genus Of the matter would
not be reached until we arrived at the
quality of the five men who together con-
stitute S executive headship.
''I1 view of all this we are justified in
saying that while the committee sod up
to the rack magnificently through all the
other portions of the investigations they
flinched at the crisis. As long ago as when
Mr.. Moss undertook to adduce evidence
against Mr. Byrnes in direct manner
the investigation committee sprang to
DHEDeS dSSl5LduCcs NOWs 10 IIdb uOb u
thing to be debated? Their attitude was
instantly recognized by those in attend
ance and distinctly stated in the journals
of the next morning. The pursuit of lines
that might possibly have conduced to the
real inwardness of Byrnes' conduct and
character was discouraged-discou as
it has been discouraged in the case of no
other man.
snow, there was q reason for that. We
are not saying just yet that there was any
thing that could be proved against Mr..
Byrnes. We are saying hat the committee
withheld their support from efforts made
to show that there was something that
could be proved against Mr.. Byrnes. We
are not saying there was anything in the
Marett case that vas discreditab!e to the
Superintendent, but we are saying that the
committee was indisposed to have the
matter thoroughly ventilated in order to
discover whether there was anything in it
discr editable to the uperinteDdent. Their
thoroughuess broke down at that point.
They stumbled just at the completion of
their work The chairman of the CON-
mittee will not dare to deny that it is
policy q have used that word advisedly.
and he will recognize what refer toy that
controlled him in his handling of Mr.
Byrnes and not desire to act in view of
all the possible or ascertainable facts in
Mr.. Byrnes' case.o.
"Now, the presumption is on the side of
the Superintendent being as criminal as
any other member of the force. so that the
tendency to handle him as Williams was
handled could not proceed from any prior
conviction of his innocence. Wherever
they have stuck in their fork they have
found rot, and whether Byrnes be rotten
or not he has been in the rot for thirty
one years and has been the executive head
for rot for the last two years. The pre-
sumption, therefore, was against him, so
the inGisposition to handle him thoroughly
must have been grounded on other consid-
erations than that of his presumable IN
nocence.
There are two ways in which Mr..
Byrnes has put the committee under OBJ
legations. and to that degree destroyed
their independence. He put them under
obligations by consenting to help defeat
Tammany Hall. and it is to be remem-
bered this committee is first and foremost
an anti1ammany committee, and came