The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-03-31

IN" nj. In, avery mort made by the Gran
JIry 10 TX the re-pons illlty, Tor 'rlnlInn,
neglect nron ne Official, ~ hgn no" "3 wi u" y IN,
Police DcIartmcut ha, been i"fslstehty us
c%ourngcl and headed of, ,. ,,n, r. rr,
The Graul jury wcru IN duty, buunl W. !ll'
,nd'ntmnnp ms so aivIsci by the District At'"r'
neg agains' u comrtrotlycl, nron-plcnnut
"niciol' bu, they wyr'S, zoe o,Lhn n s III
of1cihl was guilty Of Grim inil negligence ia
permitting open violation OF law o. iourish IN
hi rrccincf, his suprriOrs wer" "rIinlnhly re-
srnnliblp, even To- "A greater lrgrer, Tor inc "X'
istrncc Of such conditions, tn" Disirlrt AuHr,
nry IN reply 10 onr sp'ninr %fo,"n whIch
M, hrrrlnnitrr referred to. thnt no eonpiaiht
In Icrn madc nor dit he Know oI any VIoIa'
non oi law AMI that he hat no evidence, W.
t'n.rnt on TINS question Of the responsibility
al A higher on 'IaL. During the term 81 thrlr
service conferences wrr" h'ld hhI WLlteu oon,
muntcations we're exchanged with me DIstrIrt
Attorney upOn this subject o., INJURY anu
while the Grand Jury prpree "l A. lar rs tIet
could and used all the lnranS a. ,nrr 1.Sto.HI
nminrd certain witnesses, u becaine apparent
that with the attitude malntnined by me DIS
trct Attorney, nothing definite could De ac-
cOmplished IN that direction,
INsINcERIrY BROADLY LIMITED.
AT no time during the term did the Grand
Jury in any way interfere win the hlstrlct
Attorney in the rXerti,e 81 wnht nn "a,,r y, mI
times with The Grand Jury except only IA the
case OF two witnesses who requested prFmIs,
sion 10 MAKE IitlI Nll'Ilil'lN w ~ '"' ,
Jnry without the presence or Interference Of
The District Attorney. 10 the request Of these
two witnesses the Grand jury, conceded: as "a
their opinion the giving o. their evidence ~
the manner desired by them, was likely 70
further the understanding by the Jury o, TIE
matters under con silaration;. The right OF the
Girand Jury to exercise this discretion IA such
cases has been already determined by TINS
Court. In all other cases, ana IN Ieiation 10
every subject Of inquiry. the District Attorney,
has been afforded full opportunity. not only OF
being present and exam ming witnesses, but
he has been urged and regue;teh to prGan ce
and testimony he could secure, IT,,
From the evidence presented to the draild
Jury and from all he facts and circumstance
which have appeared, II is their Juigme.;
that with "A capable and earnest Dlstrlct A.
torney who would not sphsmoll rhlly. hut n
sistently and persistentlv, take adequate
measures for the collection Of e%viaenc" OF
violations of laws. and who would prosecute
such v%ioIators, with expeditIon ant WIN ~ IiHa
officials whose duty / IS to eh,nrre tne Inw
should do their full duty, me Io,lre iepar,,
10 permit or 10 tolerate certain conditions. in
our city which are almost ilagrant in their de-
tiance OF law and order.
THIRD AVENUE MATTER PIT ASIDE,
BEFORE entering upon its labors the Grand
Jury was charged by the Court that an investi-
cation was called for into he status OF the
Third Avenue Railroad COMPANY, RESOLUTIONS
were adOp'ei requesting the Ilstrlct Attorney
TO secure Information In regard 10 the manage
ment Of the finances; the construction and tho
general business oil the c~OllfallY ana Idltlcu-
harry with reference to the record OF the opera
tiOns undertaken for changing the motive
power Of the company; the relations OF tho d.
roctor- of the company with the contractor who
had charge Of this work and in regard t. tho
method Of the contractors themselves during
the progress OF the work IN question, lnlor-
nation was also required from the contracting
concerns who entered into competition Tor IN"
contracts for such work and from the, officials
of the company and from the officials on the
city In regard to the records for the issuing Of
permits Tor the opening If the streets in, con-
ncction with such work. The District A'tor-
MY was requested further to submit 10 the
jnry the names ~ any persons. officials Of the
ThirI avenue road ur 9th r.. whose testimony
would be- liable To- prove srryiceable n such in
VpStigatiOn a. was proposed.
Certain unavoidable delays in securing the
preliminary reports In reply t. these inquiries
at n%i,e6 S16ne of tha Grand a+,0 y ynry had IN ,at the t %irter val
been required for an investigation into the
management Of the Police Department. It did
nation Of the Third avenue road business
until the 27th Of the month. The inquiry
that was proposed at this late date was planned
to be United TO the history OF the awarding OF
the contracts for the change OF mott We power
Of the road. and one OF the more important
Witnesses ,sT y, win ri whn.e ,b lGGs''m Iny r ~ e ! o was
absent. Ill. Certain other testimony was &c.
cured. but the Grand Jury Vas unable 70 pro-
ceed far enough with even this limited division
of the proposed Investigation ~ be prepared TO
express any opinion whatsoever. IT leaves for
the consideration OF q speeding Grand Jury
Ntf WI " AilbN li'N Y z hN'l'h- Nv
and the records OF such evidence as has been
taken.
D~EyERY's REPORTS DOUBTED.
THE Grand Jury have obtained a consider
able mass Of testimony giving evidence OF the
eNi-tenca throughout the cry ota number OF
pace. more or less di-orderIy. classified In the
record book o, the Chief OF Police rs nool
rooms. gambling houses. concert halls, policy
looms. houses of prostitution and dtSurd ry
louses; On March lSthe t!ta) Iumber of places
throughout thn territory Of Greater New York.
Classel in the Chlel = book as suspicious, wds
iound to Ice 227. under the following headings;
pool rooms. ...... ........... 2?
Policy hops. ..........,.. .,.......,.... -
Gambling houses ..... 20
HOUSES ui IfO~utullpn., o., ,.,..,-,... ,,...'-..., 0D
Houses of designation .... ,,.,.,,..-,.... Is
Concert halls ........u. .......... 40
Disorderly h .u0 Sc. .....,.,.. ..-.. u
In connection with the other evidence that
has teen placed before them he luiy could not
hut arrive al the conclusion that TINS record Of
suspicious places for the entire city was very
ineom lrte and Inadequate, They had them:
selves had occasion 10 consider IN he coirse OF
gambling houses the reports before them be-
ing restricted to two or three DISTRICTS, than
were rerortet u the hiefs book for the whole
'@They were impressed also with the special
activity shown ~ The ,ro!l'e. D~rpartme1t dur
ing the month of March. that Il to say. during
the term of the pr sent Grand Jury. in regard
10 certain OF the places. They mud themselves
the record took Itself. The entries there date
from May ~. lStS. to March ~. 1900, but from
thp fr~-hupss OF the took and the uniformity
IN the general appearance OF the writing II
seemed possible to the jurors that an the en-
tries had been recently made, II this conclu-
sion could he well founded the book did not
represents AS II was sworn 10 represent, an accu-
rate record kept up from week to week. but u
record that hat been recently prepared with
reference possibly to the present requirement.
OF The Grand Jury. .
The Jury is II opinion that the present
practice OF bringing Indictments only against
tn actual managers of houses found to be.
under one hca NJ or another, disorderly. Is
inadeQuat" amt Ineffective, Tha nom ma re-
sIons bllity for the mandze ment OF such = aces
Is transferred from one lessee to another, the
ssusi OWNERSHIP, remaining Unchanged. The
Jury are Of opinion that II "A similar Indictment
could be found against the owner Of a building
when such ON uer could he det or In
the absence OF such Identification against
John Roe a. the owner of the building. In
such manner "a to constitute a forfeiture OF
license Tor the premises which have been
shown TO be disorderly, a more atlsfsc'Ory
result could be secured in bringing the null
sapce permanently to a close,
POLICE CKIMtNALIY NEGLIGENT.
"The iurv could rot but IL impressed with
the tact that miny II the officials Of the police
charged with the Supervision of these places
and with tho suppression ~ those ~ which the
law IL violated are apparently completely lg-
norant 81 the existence al such places
R0uudSnen. dcterrlvc-. captains. inspectors
and the 'hlet OF Police himself have all sworn
To The TAFT that they hai no knowledge OF the
existence Of aces concerning the Openness
OF which the Graud Jury had been able 10 Sc
cure adequate evidence.
We no charge and present that In their re-
lations to these places the officials Of the po-