The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-04-06

open, and it's going TO stay open as long as the
majority wants it open. He believes. as his
profession proves. in putting a hold front
and taking CHANCES; men who are afraid to do
this and yet graft. be they policemen or poiiti-
clans. become for him 'unmugged thieves. y
In his book, Powers That Prey" Mr..
Flynt says concisely:
''The Platonic idea OF the case is that between
detective and criminal there exists natural
feud like that between the shepherd and the
wolf. The simlitude is perfect in hut
respect: both wolf and shepherd live at the ex-
pense of the flock
II is this condition of things which, in
the present article, is so frankly ex-
posed that it has made the Police De-
partment of New York very angry.
They say that the author has put
stigma on a whole body of men," This
is true; but if the stigma is deserved it
might as well be there.
Here is another interesting bit of de-
scription of the life of the Under
World in New York
mo one knows absolutely how guns
there in New York; the Front Office itself
could tell for certainty the number of first
class There's who the streets at this
among the guns themselves that every day in
the week there enough grnftcrs in the city
to people good-sized county seat. Collected
and classified the great majority would I've found
10 be rather small fry, hut 4 sufficiently large
number OF them would have to be included among
the Number One men. They live in the city
mainly during the winter and in the spring
jump out in 'mobs' to the various resorts
There is doubt that the privilege To have
home within the jurisdiction of the police costs
all the first-class men something, but ! am not
rod gfssgHN na fla.sf ft
prices The Power that Rules referred TO i'll
the beginning of this chapter i that |
know could be bribcd to keep quiet about a
thief's presence in New York, and II were
thief myself ! should not hesitate to offer him
twenty-five dollars when introduced to him.
and 'tenner from time to time during my
stay in town. For this remuneration | should
expect that he would refuse to tip me on
to his Superiors and shield from orders 60
call the Front Office. II he broke faith with
and l brought up on the carpet. !
should do what gun OF my acquaintance claims
is always his practice under such circumstances
-'squeal on the copper.
And here is a little English pick
pockets opinion of the duty of the po-
lice toward one joint"
% There amt use talkin. lie said after
we had been sitting quietly at table Tor a few
minutes. observing the antics OF the habitues
of the place, this is dead tough. ] wouldn't
allow this z | was the chief, I'll be - if |
would. | like open town where everything
goes all right enough. but I'd douse the glim
here. q ipmans got gall than ! have.
- Perhaps he can't help himself suggested.
There may he somebody over at the Hall that
stands for it
=. We'll. l wouldn't give a whether the
whole push at the Hall stood for it. I'd put
the lights out here as long as | was captain. and
the Comm issioners could switch me uptown If
they liked. I'm thief and a bad one. IL YOU
like. but no captain OF police has got any bust
protectin' this kind of joint, and know
it and you know it. I'd like to see this town
run by thieves once. Course they d graft
do. Do you know what the coppers cost TINS
berg? Wen, it's ten million punks easy And
what do the citizens get for it2 The Broadway
squad an a dead easy town to graft in
One may say that this is Satan rebuk-
ing sin. but it is undeniable that when
Satan finds occasion to do anything of
the sort the sin must be rather spectac-
ular.
There are dozen bits of testimony in
this article which bear evidence of their
truth on the face of them. One of the
incidents recorded by Mr.. Flynt con-
Germs the ''ex-gun" mentioned at the
beginning of the article. A man from
out of town was robbed of eighty dol
lars in circumstances which he did not
care to have published in the papers at
tached to his right name. The detective
in question made graft of the eighty
dollars and secured the release of the
culprit. the victim of the robbery not
being able to give positive and irrefu-
table testimony, and the detective re-
naming silent and non-committal. An
other interesting statement is made by
a well-known thief who makes New
York his headquarters, and says that if
the police force of that city chose to do
so it could give warning of his where
sbouts when he is doing business
elsewhere. He said:
Il am known in York as well as any of the
Yanderbilis are far the coppers are concern
ed, and they can keep track Of through mouth
pieces way out to Frisco. They don't bother me
when Pm out the road, cause don't bother
them here in town ] fence good deal of the
svag here, but they don't know where 1 do it,
and what they don't know they amt worryin'
about. Course they know more'n they ever let
the police think they know; that's good copper
doctrine; but the guns can give EN- cards and
spades an beat en- about KNOWN what's goin'
on. II leave town lookin' seedy an come back
swell. they know t I've made a strike some
WIRE but nine times out o. ten they don't know
where it came of. and don't care. II ! make
land me if they can; but / never done time
yet that money wouldn't "a got me out OF T I'd
had enough of it. Why, Walling himself the
old Superintendent. said in his book that there
wasn't crime in the calendar that Jay Gould
could be convicted OF u he waited to pony up
enough plunks. It's more less the way
with a gun II he's got enough fall money he
square the whole bloomin' town
And again:
zone Of the seyerest criticisms OF the detec-
tive department Of New York that ] heard per-
tanned to what gun described its four
fushn stunts.
The poor pub swallows the CUFF every time.
too. he went They make pinch o. some
second-cass old thief like Jim Mason or some
Of the have-beens o twenty years ago, and tell
the reporters that they've COPIED out the fyest
the turf. The pub don't hear
Of really good gun bein copied out in this
berg once In six months. Look at the police
ten pinches is East side door-mat thieves
% The pub doesn't hear Of many good touches |
in New York. either could not help SAYING.
g No. il you mean banks an ioolry places: |
but the Big Man fthe Pinkertons) 5 protectin' |
most o them; 'taiu't the Front Office. The |
guns leave the Big Mans territory alone. il |
they can. II there was two banks stand:n' close |
together. an one o them a member o. the |
Bankers Association an the other wasn't. |
the guns 'ud tackle the other first. The |
Big Nan protects the Bankers Association |
Banks "
All this is picturesque Information |
enough, and the public will be likely to |
ask who is responsible for the state of |
things According TO Mr. Flynt, the |
Under World" which should know best |
who are its worst enemies. deCiares |
that the captains of the precincts. /