The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-01-27
TMMTGRANTS AND CRIME.
Denial by the Chicago Chief Of Police
OF Criminal Tendencles OF PnIcs.

To THE EDITOR or THE SUN-Sir, In a late
number OF Golfers Wcekly is a rabid attack
by "Broughton Brandenburg" under the
heading, Our Imported Criminals" on al
most all the non English speaking national
tiles in the United States with tho exception
OF the German. This para phi IS the qun-
tessence OF Brandenburg's article:
OF the relative vlciousness OF the criminals from
the several countries, considered with the numbers
of their In the country 1t Is dlflcult to say
anything uat will generally apply. Conditions
are coastan ~ VARYING. Among themselves the
Italians are he most vicious and dangerous. Their
crimes of .lolcnec rarely extend outside the limits
OF lhc!I owu people. but their stroke Is deadly.
swift and certain. and Witnesses OF crimes are cX-
cecdlngy retIccnt because they are afraid OF
vengeance from which the frish and German police
OF American cities have shown themselves abso
lutely unable to protect witnesses, In some parts
OF Italy. where the police are corrupted witnesses
lust as retccni.
For arrogance. lAwlessness aud prediction for
dcbaucbery tho HungArnns and the Poles arc
noteworthy, The Poles are the most cold blooded
assasSins of all our aliens, aud human life Is held
almost as lightly among them as with the Chinese.
CHIEF o'Ncll OF Chicago has a particularly bad
hand OF them To handle. lie says unhcsitatlngly
that the young Pole who has been In this country
long enough to be fully Amercanized is the most
dangerous specimen OF humanity he has ever Gu
countercd. Ruined In principle hy soclastc
and anarchiStlc traditions and literature. and
nrcd by jesse James literature and Theodore
kfemcr drama, he Is defiant. reckless and
altogether bad. The car barn murdcrcrs. who
Killed men and officers without culver. were the
three worst criminals OF this day In America Sew
eral OF the men shot down rs them were killed
withou, any ecessity No sooner were they hanged
than another mo Of young Polcs began 10 initiate
them. hut were caught up quickly. Now the
police arc paying more attention TO the breaking
up OF budding criminal gangs among young Poles
and NpFu La In tn any 9TH
feature OF their work Despite all this PR ssure and
prccaullon Chief O'Ncll declares that the future
Is fun OF trouble.
As In this para grnp phi and IN hi4 whole article
the author vents his virulencc especially
a gain-t the Poles Of the United Stat es the
latter are Wroth with him The Polish Jour
nails denounCe the anthor IN the sevcrest terms.
characterning his attack as ignorant foolish
and mendacious
The Z8odG Concord OF Chicago. which
il the most moderate in Its denunC lation
points out that whatever public opinion may
charge the Poles with. i cannot charge them
with propensity 10 Cri ne. since the annual
criminal stat isttcS each year giving the num-
Der OF persons arrested and convicted to-
gcthrr with their crimes and their nationality
always show hrst. that the percentage 81
Polish Grim lnals is lar lower than that OF the
German aud other more desirable nationaii-
ties and secondly that the crimes OF the
Poles are chiefly petty offences
That Mr.. BrandenburR has not only a
queer notion Of the effects OF Amcricnniza-
ton, but also peculiar notion OF truth the I
following letter from the Chicago chief OF
police will clearly show:
CHICAGO. Dec H. 1904
M Hdtfar Perk0rskL Ner YORK
DEAR SIR The article In COVERS iTeskfy To which
you object was called 10 my attention hy Polish |
citizens Of Chicago. and 10 them TO you dlscAln
any responsibility Tor the statement made In said
paper I have no recollection OF being interviewed |
on that subject and certainly under coudi-
lions. ever cast any reflections TIC Polish people
or on imported criminals on the contrary / |
have Frequently stated that criminals are |
largely American born. While those who have emf. !
grated from Europe to America hrc frequently az
gressNe In The matter OF labor troubles, they are
not BY any mems criminals but as a class hard |
working people.
have answered your communication because | |
presume YOU Pole whose national or racial |
pride has been hurt by the statements In tho paper
above mentioned. Therefore In Justice To you and |
your nationality viii state that am too much |
Of cosmopolitan 20 make any such state ments as
have been attributed 10 me You must be aware |
that II II not uncommon thing TO quote public |
men. especially those IN the police department. !
without authority, and IN numerous cases without
foundation. Yours respectfully
FRANCIS O'NEu.
General Superintendent OF Police
Thus II is that the anti-immigrHtion artcles |
are written by the American patriots
WACLAw PEHKOwsKI
NEW YORK. Jan &c,