The San Francisco call., 1905-04-02
Grand Jury Finds Evidence of Collections
to Purchase Immunity From the Law.
Will Begin Crusade
to Close Gaming
Resorts.
Police. Judges Agree
to Impose Heavy
Penalties.

Foreman Andrews of the Grand
Jury made the direct charge yesterday
that large corruption fund had been
wrung from the poolrooms and ..other
places for months and that immunity
from arrest and prosecution had been
bought with it for the contributors.
He said the Grand Jury knew how
much had been paid for this purpose
and who had made the collections.
The question the body of which he was
the head had to solve was what Of
fcials received the money paid for
immunity.
The war on the poolrooms is to be-
gin tomorrow. The Grand Jury, the
Police Department and the Police
Judges have joined hands for a vigor-
Gus campaign and assurance is given
that the evil will be wiped out. De-
tectives are TO gather more evidence
to add TO that already collected by the
Grand Jury and arrests are TO be made
forthwith.
Foreman Andrews had planned to
have been employed to visit the pool
rooms and purchase tickets were on
hand. at.the Hall of Justice TO swear
out warrants-s But District Attorney
Byington advised a slight change in.
were postponed till Monday II ar
rests are not made then the delay will
be for the purpose of getting more
cases in shape for prosecution. 1t is
announced that during the week at the
latest the campaign Will be on in full
blast.
Over 100 poolrooms have been -four
ishing in the city for months past and
the administration has not raised a
hand against them. The plea of the
Police Department is that their efforts
have been nullified by the refusal of
the Police Judges TO impose sufficient
fines when arrests were made.
CORRUPTION FUND COLLECTED.
But the Grand Jury was not content
with this explanation. Night before
last the meeting with the Commission
ers was held and they promised that
the Police Department would do its
duty. Yesterday morning conference
was had with the Police Judges and
they declared themselves willing at all
times to levy heavy fines and make
punishment sufficiently severe 10 wipe
out the gambling.
Tribute has been levied on the
poolrooms and other places for many
months past" declared Foreman An
drews I'VE know who made the col
lections, how much was paid and that
immunity from arrest and prosecution
followed
"Where did the money go?"
Upstairs"
Where is that?"
That's what the Grand Jury has
been trying to find out. The puzzle
is, for whose benefit has this big cor
ruption fund been gathered ?"
JUDGES IN CONFERENCE.
The Judges present at the confer
ence yesterday were Mogan, Cabaniss
and Conlan. Fritz was unable to at
tend because of pressing business, but
in the structures that the Police De-
partment makes on the courts he had
not Jared so i'll as did the other
Judges On the contrary reference
had been made to the fact that he
fined a lottery offender $3.50. whereas
in another court in a similar case the
penalty was but S10.
The three Police Judges were boil
ing with Indignation yesterday morn
ing when they learned that the Police
Commission at the Grand Jury con-
ference the night before had shunted
TO their shoulders the blame for fail
ure to enforce the law against pool
rooms, sale of lottery tickets. liquor
selling without license, disorderly re-
sorts and for many other instances of
Iaches on the part of the department.
There was no measuring of terms
when they left their benches and went
into the conference with the grand
Jurors that Foreman Andrews called
yesterday morning.
In strong words the Judges passed
the buck right back to the Police De-
partment Never had they been un-
willing to do their duty. they asserted
The police had been fiagrantly negli-
gent in theirs. was the reply to the
commissions criticism.
The Judges explained that the rea-
son for dismissals and light fines in
poolroom and lottery cases was the
failure of the police to make out their
cases. The patrolman making the ar
rest would be woefully ignorant of
evidence when called to the stand He
would shy from giving testimony that
would justify conviction or severe
penalty. The 'stand-in' policy of the