Arizona republican., 1902-03-12
WAR ON NEW YORK POLICE.
District Attorney Jerome Scores the
 Captains for Discrimination.

laDlllnS TOT District Attorney Jerome, in decla-
 ration in open court yesterday. opened War upon the police. charging them
 with discrimination in making excise arrests in favor of members .. the Liquor Dealers association. He. threat i ened to have negligent police captains
 indicted.
 The district attorney made his attack in the court of general sessions. He personally examined two "plain-clothes men, attached to the East Thirty fifth street police station. The hearing
 was in the case against Herman GoetZ. saloon keeper of 492 Second avenue, who was arrested last Sunday for al-
 legged violation of the liquor law. At the conclusion of the eXamina- ton MT. Jerome charged that the ar rest was made unjustly and simply be- cause Goetz was not member of tho Liquor Dealers association. The pris- oner was fined the nominal sum of $1
 The district attorney then addressed the justice as follows:
 There has developed sufficient in this case to show a state of facts ; which is very extraordinary. I think that you gentlemen all feel that the excise law is unwise.
 But so long as this unfortunate law , is kept upon our statute books and we are sworn officers of the law, we have got to enforce that law. It should be enforced so that it may be enforced indlscriminately, if it is enforced. It should not fall heavily on one class and light upon another. Police officers should not be permitted to pick and pl, x,-In
 bers of the Liquor Dealers association or those not of the association, whether they will arrest German and not Irish men, and vice versa.
 "Now, that law has come to be a per feet farce; the saloons are open on Sun day. and open all over on Sunday I propose to enforce it.
 q am in receipt Of this communica- tion from the governor of the state on the subject:
 Dear Sir: I have been informed by the Society for the Prevention of Crime of the city of New York, of which the Rev. C. H. Parkhurst is chairman, that of the 1.261 hotels in which liquor is sold in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx, investigated by the detec- tives of said society during the past three months, only 31 per cent conform ia all respects to the requirements im- posed by the liquor tax law. Your attention is hereby called to this complaint. You are the public prosecutor of the county of New York and you are therefore expected to use all legitimate and necessary means within your power to secure the arrest, indictment and punishment of these persons who may be guilty of the crime specified in the complaint of said So- ciety.'
 Tt IS not the province Of the district attorney to go out and discover where this law is being violated in detail. The city pays large sum to the police to do this. l cannot discharge the pri- mary duty that lies on the police. but can discharge the duty of indicting police captains who do not see that the law is enforced in their precincts. Now, the present commissioner of police has brought the greatest good faith and considerable experience to his department. out he was unfortunate enough to find the department much t,emoraliZed and disorganized. He is renedying that rapidly as he can. sixty days have elapsed since he has come into power. and I merely want to say iiON tiidl HUH lHlS lilIle OIl II lllt captains in the several precincts do not enforce this law I shall promptly pre-
 sent cases against them for neglect of duty"
 Police Commissioner Partridge said: If the district attorney succeeds in
 closing every saloon in the city next
 Sunday I shall be glad of it-very glad
 of it. l believe that MT. Jerome is working in perfect accord with my de-
 pertinent. I know of no quarrel be-
 tween us. Why, l have letters here
 from MT. Jerome in which he highly i comments the work of the police in | certain excise cases.
 | As to next Sunday continued the commissioner. with an angry ring In
 his voice. "I shall do just what 1 have
 been doing-namely, the very best that
 l can do. I submit that this depart
 ment cannot be built up in a day,
 week or two months.
 ''The police are doing all they can do. We are making arrests that will hold,
 and to do this we are getting evidence
 before taking action.'
 What have you to say about Mir. Je-