The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-01-03
Parkhurst, Lexow, Byrnes and Platt

Ttu niuiSt, LChO", Dy TICS Abu 7 ldtt'
In long statement recently given to
the press, DR.. Parkhurst makes some
very pertinent observations with refer
ence to the work of the LeXow commit
tee. After attributing to the committee
ample credit for the good influence its
work is having in stimulating the cause
of municipal publication throughout
the country, and commenting the fear
lessness with which the forepart of
that work was performed, he addresses
himself to the singular leniency dis
played by the committee in the closing
days of its investigation, toward Super
intendent Byrnes. Upon this point he
says:
We know that the character of the DO
zee force was a reflection from The char
cter of its chief executive and his i'm
mediate subordnates, and that however
many captains might be besmirched, and
however many sergeants might be cash
Tered, the gist of the matter would not
be reached till we had arrived at the
quality of the five men who together con-
stitute its executive headship. We are
not saying just yet that there was any
thing that could be proved against Nj.
Byrnes; we are saying that the commit
tee withheld their support from efforts
made to show that there was something
that could be proved against Mr. Byrnes.
Their thoroughness broke down at that
point They stumbled just at the COM
pletion of their work. The presumption
is on the side of the superintendent being
as criminal as any other member of the
force; so that the hesitancy to handle
him as Williams was handled could not
proceed from any prior conviction of his
innocence. Wherever they have struck in
their fork they have found rot; and
whether Byrnes be rotten or not, he has
been in rot for thirty-one years, and has
been the executive head of rot for the last
two years. The presumption, therefore
was against him, so that the indisposition
to handle him thoroughly must have
been grounded in some other considerG-
tion than that of his presumable inno-
Cence.
DR.. Parkhurst directly charges that
the consideration which shielded
Byrneswas two-fold; one, a pledge from
Byrnes to help to defeat Tammany last
November; and secondly, the giving to
the committee of valuable informGt ton
upon the implied condition that such
assistance from Byrnes would be prop
erly appreciated. Continuing, he says:
To the degree in which they obtained
help from Mr.. Byrnes they put themselves
practically under obligations to protect
him. This acceptance of 1t mortgaged
the committee to that extent and one
popularity of mortgage Is that II has TO
be paid or or foreclosed. Mr.. Byrnes as
q component element of the department
was to that degree defendant. By being
taken into the confidence of the prosecu-
tion he let himself out of the box and on
to the bench, where he could kick out
against the very men who were no more
the subject of indictment than he was
We are not saying that there was any
understanding, or at least any written
stipulation, that II he would tell what he
knew about other men in the department
that We're criminals, he should not ue
called to the witness stand, or II called
should be allowed to use the stand as u
histronic opportunity for eliminating his
official associates and celebrating his
own personal and official innocence. But
whether there was any such stipulation
or not, the acceptance of his assistance
practically involved the deal; and a COM
mlttee that came down from Albany with
the express purpose of investigating deals
ought to have been punctliously careful
TO avoid even the appearance of having
a susceptible side for the very sort of
offense that they were designated to de-
tect and adjudge.
Dr. Parlthurst reviews the endeavor
of Byrnes to block the doctors own ef-
forts, when first begun, at exposing the
rottenness Of the New York police; tells
how Systematically and persistently
Byrnes used his every power as the
head Of that police system to thwart
persecute and embarrass the workings
of the Society for the Prevention OF
Crime, and to cast opprobrium on Its
president, and then asks how such q
man, whether directly guilty of sharing
in the plunder of his subordlnates OF
not. can be credited with that rare re-
spectability and honesty of intention
which would justify the Lexow commit.
tee in taking him to its bosom. DR.
Parkhurst says II he had been lawyer
of Mr.. Goffs ability he would have put
Byrnes on the tosasting iron and broilet
out of him all of his official reputability
inside of one days session, provided
the committee had allowed him to do so
In conclusion DR.. Parkhurst say.
ByrnSs excuses that he could do moth
dng to reform the department were eva