The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1903-03-02
.REvELLEO IN
CORRUPTION
ACCOUNT OF RE-
MARKABLE SYSTEM OF BLACK
MAIL AND ROBBERY.

The recent apprehension Of A. A.
Ames the former mayor of Minneapo- F..
lis forms part of probably the most
remarkable instance of wholesale
brazen police corruption and robbery
that has ever been known i'm the his t.
tory of the United States. Under the I.
administration of Mayor Ames the en- f.
tire city of Minneapolis was given up
to a systematic scheme of blackmal
and robbery in which the police depart .
ment aided the thieves and gave them
willing protection i'm return for bride
money.
Through the courage and determina-
ton of Hovey c. Clarke the foreman
of the grand jury the corruption of
the gang was exposed and the thieves
run to earth. Mayor Ames was him
self indicted on various counts, and his
brother Fred Ames was sentenced to
serve half a year i'm prison. Lincoln
Steffens has written a highly enter
tanning account Of the operations of the
thieves and the final breaking up OF
the gang. His article was published
in the January issue Of McClure's Ma
gazine.
Ames had held office a number Of
times and through his genial ways had
succeeded in securing quite a follow
ing He fell into disrepute on account
of his immortality but later reformed
and was reelected to the office of
mayor Of Minneapolis i'm 1900. Excerpts
from Mr.. Steffens article follow.
Immediately upon his election. before
he took office (On January Tth), he or
gained cabinet and laid plans to
turn the city over to outlaws who were
to work under police direction for the
profit Of his administration. He chose
for chief his brother, Colonel Fred w.
Ames, who had recently returned UNI
der a cloud from service in the Phil
ippines. The Colonel had commanded
a Minnesota regiment out there till he
proved coward under FIRE; he escaped
cOurtmartial only on the understand
ing that he should resign on reaching
San Francisco, whittier he was imme-
diately shipped This he did not do,
and his brothers influence at Wash
ington saved him to be mustered out
with the regiment, But he was
weak vessel for chief of police, and the
mayor picked for chief Of detectives an
ADLER man, who was to direct the more
difficult operations. This was Norman
w. King, a former gambler who knew
the criminals needed in the business
ahead. King was to invite to Min
niapolis thieves, confidence men. pick
pockets, and gamblers, and release
some that were in the local Jail. They
were to be organized into groups. ac-
cording to their profession, and detec-
tives were assigned to assist and di-
rect them. The head of the gambling
syndicate was to have charge of the
gambling, making the terms and col
lecting the graft" just as King and a
Captain Hill were to collect from the
thieves. The collector for women Of
the town was to be Irwin A. Gardner, a
medical student in the Doctors office,
| NulN.. a.. IT.
the purpose. These men looked over
the force, selected those men who
could be trusted, charged them a price
for their retention and marked for dis
missal 1O7 men out of 225 the 107 being
the best policemen in the department
from the point of view of the citizens
who afterward reorganized the force
John Fitchette, better known as Coffee
John" a Virginian Cwho served on the
Jeff Davis jury the keeper of a nOto-
rious coffee-house, was to be a captain
of police, with no duties except to sell
places on the police force.
And they did these things that they
planned-all and more. The admins
tration opened with the revolution on
the police force. They liberated the
thieves in the local Jail, and made
known to the Under World generally
that things were doing" in Mnnea-
polls. The incoming swindlers report
ed to King or his staff for instructions
and went to work, turning the "swag"
over to the detectives in charge. Gam
bling went on openly, and disorderly
houses multiplied under the fostering
care of Gardner, the medical student.
But all this was not enough. AmeS
dared to break openly into the NUM-
cipal system of vice protection.
There was such a thing. Minneapo-
1fe al - -. e.. l. .gGf
which are inevitable, then regularly
permitted them under certain condl-
tions. Legal limits, called patrol
lines" were prescribed, With which
saloons might be opened. These ran
along the river front, out through part
of the business section, with long arms
reaching into the Scandinavian quar-
ters, north and south Gambling also
was confined. but more narrowly. And
there were limits, also arbitrary, but
not always identical with those for
gambling, within which the social evil
was allowed. But the novel feature
of this scheme was that disorderly
housese were practically licensed by
the city, the women appearing before
the clerk of the Municipal Court each
month to pay a fine" of 800. Unable
at first TO get this graft Ames' man
Gardner persuaded women to start
candy stores, which sold sweets to chill
dren and tobacco to the lumber Jacks"
in front, while a nefarious traffic was
carried on in the rear. But they paid
Ames, not the city, and that was all
the reform the administration cared
for. -
In a general way all this business
was known. 1t did not arouse tho
citizens, but II did attract criminals,
and more and more thieves and swind-
lers came hurrying to Minneapolis.
Some of them saw the police, and made
terms. Some were seen by the police
and invited to go to work. There was
room for all This astonishing fact
that the government of a city asked
criminals to rob the people is fully
established. The police and the Grim
mails have confessed 1t separately. Their
statements agree in detail. Detective
Norbeck made the arrangement, and
introduced the swindlers to Gardner,
who over Kings head took the money