Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-07-17
POLICE CAPRICE


street, to which their attention has
been called explicitly and repeatedly.
From general appearances one might
well imagine the police are trying to
dodge out of the necessity of investi-
eating the notorious resorts COM
planned of, instead of trying to help the
cause of morality and health by taking
the matter up and finding out definitely
who is responsible for the existence
and operation of these plague spots.
Oyer and over again the charge has
been made openly that these tenements
are owned by the Pioneer Truck Ahd
Transfer company. Of which Police
| Commissioner Charles H. Fuller is
president. However, a mysterious "W.
Cochrane," a nonresident, has made
an appearance in the controversy. or
at least an affidavit has been put into
! evidence. "Cochrane," the great I'M
known, claims he is in possession Of
the premises complained of and that
he evicted the wicked tenants. If
/ Cochrane's affidavit is meant as pro-
lection for Mr.. Fuller it is a boomer
ang, because it practically acknowl-
edges that when he took over the
premises from the Pioneer Truck and
Transfer company they were tenanted
| by a class of evildoers so notorious
that the new landlord had to evict or
dispossess them. We may say, incl
dentally, the evildoing of which the
tenants were guilty was of an I'M
usually loathsome and revolving de-
scription. In the realm of vice there
are depths and deeper depths, but the
offenses against society of which the
inmates of the houses were guilty, ac-
cording to witnesses, belonged to the
nethermost underworld, the deepest
depth of all. But even in his allega-
ton that the evil tenants who were
handed over to him along with the
property when he acquired it from Po-
! lice Commissioner Fuller's company
were dispossessed, the mysterious Mr..
Cochrane is mistaken.
! The tenants are the same who have
been there several years. And If Mr..
| Cochrane, and not the Pioneer Truck
company, is the landlord, then, in the
language of strenuous people, it Is up
to him" to answer a few questions.
BY what strange wizardry has he been
protected in his use of the premises
complained of? Whence does he derive
the power to charge enormous rentals
for these squalid rookeries? And, by
the way, what may be the amount of
the rental which it is Legitimate" to
derive from such curious places of
business? It is alleged it ranges from
$40 to $3.50 per month. But we would
| like to know the exact truth on this
point. How much is the rental, any
way?
To our esteemed fellow citizen, Com
missioner Charles H. Fuller, our
warmest, heartiest sympathies' flow.
We appreciate his indignation over the
fact that the moot question of the pro-
prietorship Of the malodorous houses
has ever been raised. The persistent
rumors with regard to the houses must
be exceedingly vexatious and annoying
to Commissioner Fuller, and one would
think he would leave no stone unturned
In the effort to acquit the Pioneer
Truck and Transfer company Of the
charge made publicly that 1t is the
actual owner of disorderly houses and
permits a disorderly business to be
conducted in said disorderly houses
with the knowledge and consent of the
president of the said company, who is
also a member of the department to
which is intrusted the duty Of sup
pressing crime and disorderly houses
in Los Angeles.
Never was man placed in such a
paradoxically awkward position as is
Mr.. Fuller. We hope he will take adj
vantage of The Herald's offer to give
him the use of its columns In making
a public denial of the scandalous as
sertions made from day to day that In
the police commission, charged with
the duty of cleaning up the city and
keeping it clean, he is furnishing re-
markable modern example of satan
rebuking sin" This is a very undesir-
able role for any one, but especially
for a police commissioner. When the
matter was laid before the chief OF
police he dismissed it airily with the
statement: IT do not care to detail
an officer on this case, BECAUSE
have at hand a statement from Mr.
Fuller which will prove he is not
, guilty of violating this section of the
, state law" 1t would appear from this
, that on occasion the chief unhesitat-
: ingly usurps the powers Of the judi
ciary, tries a case In advance of the
courts and acquits the accused. Tria
! by police has never been popular IN
countries which use the American OIL
/ English language. 1t is not at all likely
t to become popular in the United States
4 We believe we represent public senti-
:. ment when we say the good people Of
Los Angeles hope Mr.. Woolwine will
E succeed in accomplishing the task Of
e bringing about an investigation of this
= whole matter; that the investigation
will be thoroughgoing and far reach
ing, and will also disclose, for the In
formation of the public, the ownership
of houses of evil reputation on Jack
son street and will let the people o.
Los Angeles know whether any off.
Gals are interested in these dens.
LANDLORD TAFT