Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-10-24
DRAWN BATTLE IN
THE POLICE BOARD.

tons. no counts upon which testimony
could be produced and argument sub
m.tted AT the conclusion. DR.. Hawthorne
! Sald he had proven what he had under
taken, ana the board promptly disclaimed
! it
Chief Knew IT.
On The merits OF the testimony, DR..
Hawthorne established beyond question.
! as can be seen from the stenogra pfic re-
port that Chief Howard knew the places
! OF residence, the names of the proprie-
! tors. and the names assumed and real
/ OF every inmate OF the disorderly houses
! IN Richmond He also extract from the
| Shicf the statement that he the Chief
| was aware of the State law against the
existence of such houses but that in
! spite Of that law. he had not ordered his
| men to arrest the propretors. Chief How
I ara defended himself on the ground that
! he reserved his right of discretion IN
/ this matter. and DR.. Hawthorne came
back with the rctort that there was no
discretion permissible
DR. Hawthorne fired the signal gun Of
his attack when he produced several
typewriter sheets containing extracts
from the Code of Virginia and the city
fecting the social evil. and in order to
prove that the law was not enforced in
this city, DR.. Hawthorne turned to Chief
Howard and called him to the stand as
his principal witness. II the board can
be attributed with any weakness during
its session last night, it was manifested
in the attempt that was made to keep
Chief Howard from testifving on this
point The Chief said he was a. defen-
dant, and di1 not want TO testify 1t was
very evident from the outset that the
board recognized that Dr. Hawthorne
would undoubtedly establish his point that
the law concerning disorderly houses was
not being enforced Mr.. Bosher inter
rupted to say that the Chief would not
have to incriminate himself.
Wanted Specific Information.
Or. Hawthorne called Chief Howard's
attention to conversation that had TAX
en- place between Rev. Mr.. Goodwin, of
St Johns Episcopal church. and the
Chief concerning disorderly houses. Dur
ing this time Commissioners Welsh and
Jacob fired question at the minister, call
ing him to establish the statements that
he had made in his sermon as to
the specific number OF dlsorderiy
houses in Richmond. DR.. Hawthorne
replied that he was not going
questions. and he proceeded TO open up on
tho chief concerning the houses of Ques-
tionable reputation.
When the chief took the stand. DIR.
Hawthorne took position Immediately op-
posite to him. Cool and i!nperturbapie
with set eXprtssion and incisive diTectness,
the minister piled his questions Chlef
Howard said that he had not enforced the
law against the houses in question. Chief
~, - n no
rpen this question as it is viewed by ali
police authorities in the land. He con-
sidered that he did his full duty in keep
ing them under proper control, but he
freely acknowledged that he had not un-
dertaken to conform to the strict letter
of the law in enforcing il.
When He Was Weak.
Or this issue DR.. Hawthorne technically
scored his strongest point, namely; thal
he would prove that the police department
was not fulfilling its sworn duty When
they allowed these places TO remain open
with their knowledge The minister was
successful in this respect, but he dld not
introduce any testimony to show that
gambling was going on at the present time
nor did he present a single witness TO
prove that the Sunday law was being vlo-
lated The commissioners conceded to Or.
Hawthorne TINT he was right in declar-
ing that gambling had existed IN the city,
and that the Sunday law had been Vlo!at-
ed and would proba bly, continue to De Vlo-
lated but they insisted that the minister
should procure evidence OF a detlnie char-
cter to make good his statement that
there are 400 houses of questionable repu-
tation in the city, and that seventy bar
rooms are violating the Sunday law. This
the minister did not do. He said ne had
gotten his information on these points
from what he had heard, and from what |
he had read. This lead Chief Howard to
interrupt with the remark that he should
not believe all he read in the newspapers.
Fired at from all sides, DR.. Hawthorne |
sat through the target practice with COM |
plete self possession. He made the most |
of his witnesses, who were of the hearsay |
order. and was given every facility by the !
board TO introduce the witnesses at his /
command. Those who appeared at tie !
in this capacity were Rev. |
Mr. Goodwin Rev. W 3. Beauchamp, |
Captain Whtlock of the Third District, |
Police Justice Crutchtield, Secretary Me
l&ee of the Young Mems Christian Asso-
citation. Mr. Q. NJ. SmithdeaI president or
The Smithdeal Business College, Officer
Wyatt, and, primarily, Chief Howard
CrutchfieId; wyatt.
Justice Crutcil1ie1d caused the biggest |
stir in the session when he made his way
INTO the room and asked the privilege OF
making statement. He had already been
IN the stand, but his testimony had little
bearing on the issue. When he came in
he second time, he came to say something
about the alleged compromise III the
alleged gambling cases. He stated that
officer Wyatt the man who had worked
~ the evidence against the gamblers, had
.ome 10 him privately and asked that the
minimum punishment be Ineted out to the
gamblers Il dare him to deny this.'s
;aid the police Justice. Did you tell him
o fix a minimum punishment interrupt,
ID Mayor TAYLOR. Officer Wyatt said that !
Justice Crutcllfcld was correct, but he
idded that his idea of a minimum punish
ncnt was ten days and not one day in
n iail This little incident was
,bout the spiciest in the session.
When the matter OF the gambling cases
vas under discussion the board wanted
commemorative Attorney D. c. Richard
son to make a statement to the board.
Ir. Richardson responded He said there
lad been no compromise TO his knoWl-
,ice, as he never compromised criminal
.ases He explained that it was ques-
ionable whether all of the gamblers
ould have been convicted on the evil
ence at hand and he had instructed Of
icer Wyatt to swear out the new war
ants, upon which the gamblers plead