The Topeka state journal., 1897-04-28
CATCH ONLY SMALL FRY
Policemen Arrest a Young Girl
for Trifiing Offense
While FOotpads and Burglars
Hold Sway.
The Worthlessness of the Political
Plan of Organizing a Police Force
Again Shown Up.

Mary Wakin, 16 years of age, and
native of Syria, is in the city jail for
peddling goods without city license
Her folks keep a store in North To-
peka and she has been going from house
to house selling dry goods and notions.
She is a young and pretty girl VINO
seems to have been carefully reared.
She is in Jail with two disreputable col
ored women.
The arrest is simply an outrage of the
worst character and is what might be
expected of a police force which cap
lures only small boys and law breakers
OF little consequence and apparently
is never able to lay hands on the high
Waymen and burglars who continue to
ply their business in Topeka.
While a young girl is arrested for a
trivial Offense. fOotpadS are holding peO-
pie up, and making good their escape.
The policy of the police department is
TO keep its head in the sand. ostrich like
and suppress news of these crimes in
the vain magininE that the public will
not find out that the force is largely
composed of persons incapab bic of feret-
ing out criminals.
The police board itself, as soon as or
ganiZed, deSenerated into mere poll
tical machine and has busted itself with
getting places for One-hOrse political
workers. An instance of the incapa-
bility of the force is shown by a recent
incident:
VIM. Daley, a young man who
short time ago was discharged from the
United States army at Fort Riley, came
to this city a few days ago and was
visiting JanitOr Laptad, Of the court
house. Sunday night he was attacked
by highwaymen as he was in the alley
near McCurdy'S livery barn and beaten
and robbed. When found he was in an
unconscious condition and when he
came to he was greatly frightened. The
police We're notified and Chief Steele
went to see him. AS usual the chief
encx fasel1a 10 10 IF q knl6
up should be suppressed. He at first
pretended to doubt the young mans
story but was later forced to the con-
cluSiOu that the statement was true.
OF course the men who slugged Daley
have not been apprehended. Although
it was within half a block of the police
station and the same distance from Pa
trOlman Fieger'S beat, nothing was dis
covered. There have been more hold
ups and bUrglaries in the city since
Chief Steele has had charge than for
long time before and IN but few cases
if any, have the guilty parties been
brought to justice. It is true that few
dive keepers have been driven out of
Smoky Row, to which fact Steele refers
with pride, but the big joint keepers
keep on as before.
Chief Steele appears to manifest in
telligence enough to suppress all news
of the real crimes that take place in
Topeka while his force is unable to
stop them and is making a sorry spec
tacIe in his office.
The POpulist police rule in this city
is doing about much as anything else
to bring about the old fashioned Re
publican majority of so 900 in 1898.
Then we shall, we suppose, have a lot
of green Republican ineffective police
officers on the police force instead of
lot of green Populist 'ineffectives.' -
Partisan rule means poor service
What the city of Topeka wants. is the
right to select its own police force, and
to select them under civil service
rules, without regard to whether they
are Republicans or POpulists. The citi-
zens of Topeka pay for the police force,
but they don't have a voice in selecting
it; nor should the selection of the force
be left to a political party.
a municipal league for securing q thor
oughly non-partisan police force would
be the proper thing for Topeka; but it
would have to be a municipal league
organized of citizens who could rise
a bove party to such an extent that they
would seek police force as absolutely
non-partisan as the fire department now