New-York tribune., 1905-02-14
Inr TELEGRAPH 70 THE rnIBusE. ]

rector Of Public safsty.--tP tPreSentmeht u
County Grand Jury
PbiIadeIpbin Feb 18-About the head OF this
Director of Public Safety, David j. smy'n, s "o~
raging storm of moral reform, SUN % " :,
character and effects has never DeioIe DeSN So
the staid CITY Of Brotherly Love. He IS assaHsu
from, all sides by ministers and associations OF All
kinds who in resolutions, have demanded OF Mayor
Weaver that he remove this Official VINO eoh'r"iS
the police force -,,.
Snvtb the nrotege of the organization leaders
who forced him upon the Mayor as the price Oh
the Iatters election. does not deign TO reply 10 te
mass OF facts that have been unearthed ana whose
publication threatens the life of the machine or
ganizaton itself. He thinks that he holds the Key
TO the situation and that there is no power strong
enough to GUST him. Erstwhle member OF the
legislature and Assistant DISTRICT Attorney OF the
city this man has advanced by rapid steps in the
confidence of the machine leaders until now ne
stands at the head of organization which is as
powerful It seems to be imperyious TO all as
saults
Sitting in the MayoraIty chair, his superior in
law but not in fact, is John Weaver, who was
nominated and elected by the machine in the be-
lief that he too would be their humble servant.
But they calculated without their host His ad-
herents quick to perceive his change OF front,
and the Mayor, who is Englishman by birth,
now finds himself in the Mayoralty chair deserted.
without friends and advisers. cheekmated at every
step, a pygmy arrayed against the giant politics.
For the Mayor is not graduate of the political
school. and he lacks that experience which would
dictate to him the measures that would make him
feared If not respected by his opponents Unlike his
Director OF Public Safety he has not advanced step
by step up the political ladder. but he emerged
from comparative political obscurity to take the
place Of District Attorney, which he vacated only
a few months later to become chief executive of
city of million and quarter population. As
public official expressed it the other day, Hes
not next"
Standing out In contrast to these two men Is
D. Clarence Gibboney. secretary OF the Law and
Order Society, organization composed Of purity
loving citizens who have for years supplied the
funds necessary 20 carry intermittent war
against vice. With corps of only fifty men he
has been steadily but surely getting TO the root
OF the matter. gaining familiarity with the
methods and the personality Of the vice system
which is now standing him in good stead.
Sometimes in person and again through his
agents. he has conducted raids in the shadow OF
the ''Tenderloin" police stations. exposing the
laxity and inefleiency OF the police IN these dis
tricts to such extent that Mayor Weaver, In
the hope Of staying the mighty wave of public pro-
test. has transferred bodily the police OF the
'Tenderloin'' districts to stations embracing the
fashionable residence region, bringing those
into the districts embracing the Tenderloin." Such
a thing unprecedented, and IL has resulted in
a Generalization IN the police force which IL will
take months to overcome.
But Secretary Gibboney does not rest with MAX
ing raids. Himself member of the bar he follows
his work 10 It's conclusion py pressing Lne cases
in court, and by his presentation of evidence OF an
unmistakabls character he is every day securing
convictions.
Where the three thousand policemen and two
hundred odd detectives failed Secretary Gibboney.
with his small staff has succeeded so well that
those who have basked under the protection OF
the police in years past now fleeing from the
city lest they too should follow in the footsteps
of those who have fallen into his hands
Every mail brings a letter threatening his lie,
all ntrchr ~
and spurning to carry a weapon for his protection,
Secretary Gibboney has continued to carry on his
work In the ''Tenderloin until at the present time,
he is the man most feared by the purveyors OF
vice In the city.
Time and again the Mayor has ordered "clean-
up" His neutenants have reported to him that
their districts were clean and, acting on this, the
Mayor has announced publicly that the city is
"closed tight And lol the day Secretary
Gibboney has started out and In the course OF a
few hours filled every cell in the big prisoners
room in City Hall with offenders against the
moral code.
In little dingy office the second door of a
building in walnut-st.. In which Secretary Glib
honey has only desk room, this man who has
brought on the crisis continues to direct his work
He Is Iowan by birth. and the bulldog deter
minaton of the Westerner is in every line OF his
face and every move of his lank, bony frame. He
knows mode of action but complete eradication,
principle but firm determination to 'clean up
the town.
The grand jury's findings were presented 10
Judge Audenried. sitting in the Court OF Common
Pleas who received the document without extend !
ing the usual thanks to the body for their work
and curtly ordered the court crier to dismiss the
eighteen from further service.
Some further excerpts from the presentment be-
sides the at the head OF this article which pre-
cipitated the present crisis. follow:
The grand jury also learns and believes to be
true that the patrolmen on these beats have regu
ing the law. These reports made to their
superior officers the eutenants of their districts
the exception of an occasional raid from which
very rev indiGtments were obtained on account OF
from evidence produesd that the reports Of the
stence of these houses In their districts bays bes
made to the Superintendent of Police. and have
been at the disposal OF the Director OF Public
the Director of Public Safety has had his personal
existence have been offered him for his use -
we nave reason to believe and &c know that in
Ger Of the Department Of PuSe safa Sr other her Off
dered house to be closed the order has been SUI
showing plainly that the Police ne TesS Sa
easily within Its power the means to close every
The testimony given to the grand Jury on oath in
it reveals condition Of sirs ,c 9rought before
the oipSn or shame to any respectable citizen and
has been disgraced and Inundated by those Who
allow the continuance OF such conditions OF aairS
evidence it has heard that vice nonrisbs rom @ Ge
eEeases because II Is protected countenanced bv
those high in authority and leaders in Certain GS
wards and political clubs. - Certain
The publication of this document broupbt q s+orr,
or protest from all quarters Scathing serr,ors
denouncng the Director of Public Safety and cam
ing on the Mayor to dismiss him were preached
from scores of pulpits. but all to no effect
seeking vainiy for solution OF the problem the
NJ A11rI.