Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-08-27
astiseellansuus Rsaaing.
GRAFT IN NEW YORK.
Ex-Poliee Commissioner Says Gotham
is the Most lawIess City on Earth.

Declaring New York to be in many
respects the most lawless city Oh eartn
and arraigning Tammany, the public
and the press in scathing terms as be-
ing responsible for it, General Theo-
dore Bingham, former head OF the
New York police, says In Hamptons
Magazine for September that hum
dred million grating, olackmailing
dollars change hands yearly In the
metropolis, and that he could easily
have made $1,00O,OO0 dishonesty any
year he was in office.
1.-The power Of Tammany Hall rests
and has rested for forty years upon
its ability to control the police by fair
means or FOUL" the former commits
sioner says. "A strong, honest, fear
less police commissioner, supported by
police magistrates of ability and In
tegrity and q mayor big enough to
conduct his office without fear or IA
vor, can sap and utterly destroy Tam
many influence in ten years or even
less, provided he is empowered to dis
miss or transfer his subordinates for
cause, without recourse to the courts.
| 81 do not believe am unfair In es-
timating that from $500 to 1000 men,
bers of the force are unscrupuious
grafters whose hands are always out
for easy money.
THAT this should be known to the
head of the department and apparent
ly ignored is hard for the average cit
izen to understand but" says General
Bingham in Hampton's, "the police
commissioner is only the nominal head
of the police department In New YORK
city, in that he is appointed and Is
subject at any time to removal by
the mayor. On the other hand,
policeman Is virtually policeman for
life; as, under the New York law, all
sentences of dismissal by the COM
missioner are subject to revision by
the courts. To make this palmer: The
men are pensioned off on reaching the
age limit, or for other legitimate caus-
es. and are required during their time
of service to contribute two per cent OF
their salaries toward the maintenance
Of the pension fund.
Discipline and the question OF
vested interest should be kept abso-
lutely separate. 1t is not hard to see
that the influence Of the commissioner
is tremendously weakened by such
situation. BY permitting these condi-
tions to exist the people Of New York,
through their legislators, are directly
fostering graft and blackmail.
~ am asked to estimate the money
value Of graft and blackmail In New
York each year OF course, no one
could make such an estimate with
anything like complete accuracy, but
my belief is that the total is not less
than $100,000,0O0 a year. In fact, this
figure, astounding in itself, is an under
rather than over estimate Of what Is
annually paid by criminals and crook
ed politicians, votes and immunity In
New York. In relation to this colos-
sal brokerage on crime, the profits are
proportionately large.
IF you will study the ordinances Of
the city Of New York carefully, and
analyze their meanings, you will come
to the inevitable conclusion that hid
den in most Of them is graft. The
great majority Of these city laws were
not enacted for purposes Of law and
order; they were not made to be obey
ed-they were made to be broken, so
that some one could make money from
the intentional or unintentional viola
tor Of insincere law.
During my first year at the head OF
the police department it would have
been an easy matter for me to have
made s600,00O in bribe money, and l.
OOO, 900 would not have been an exces-
sive figure at all.
Zone day shortly after my arrival at
police headquarters, an acquaintance
dropped into my Office.
Commissioner he said. there Is
house at - West Thirty-third street
run very quietly. 1t will be worth
$4,000 a month to you''-but the SEN
tence was never finished to my knowl-
edge.
| LAS a matter Of fact, the place had
never been opened, and the man had
been used as an agent to feel out the
department.
"A few months later I was offered
SIS, 900 in cash and $500 month merely
to be seen shaking hands with the
proprietor Of an upper Broadway cafe
Another instance Of the perplexity
with which the lower order Of GRIM
inal views an honest police administra-
ton was afforded by an East Side
dance hall proprietor. Following a
custom of years he had rendered his
usual quarterly assessment to the pa
trolman of the precinct. Turned down
in that quarter, he had gone to the
captain, then to the inspector, both Of
whom, to his amazement, were square.
He had finally come to me in despera-
tion, to learn who would take his
money in return for protection"
| General Bingham does not believe
gambling can be eliminated, but says
that "a reasonable law imposing a
heavy license on gambling houses and
subjecting the gambling evil to cast
iron restrictions whereby such resorts
shall be kept out Of general view can
be enforced by the police and gamb-
ling thereby reduced to a minimum,
provided newspapers are discouraged
from publishing gambling and racing
news and a way is found to prevent
the courts from rendering innocuous
nearly every legislative restriction as
is now notoriously the case"
Taking up the Rogues' Gallery con-
troversy which led to his removal by
Mayor Mcclellan, the former commits
sioner, in his article, cites a United
States district court decision and also
the following opinion, expressed by
President Taft when acting attorney
general of the United States, as to the
practice of photographing criminals:
THE photographing Of known GRIM
ino1S iS itIy Tho dppicinn nf