The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1909-11-13
THE POLICE CAMORRA
It's Code Of Stick Tossther and
Don't Squeal Inc
exorabIe.

w. b. Mallory, in Golfers: There
is no subject which engages the at
tention of the American people so
much as their police Take the small
est town in the United States, with
only a handful of bluecoats, and you
find that 'the force" n its uncontrol-
able bugaboo. Few municipal cam
paigns are decided without the police
being the ruling or one Of the deter
mining issues. Decent men are elected
to Office who hurl themselves at the
monster OF police corruption and graft,
chief or captain or patrolman, and
break" him, but when It comes to a
criminal prosecution and putting him
in stripes there is always a fly in the
ointment OF correction. They must re-
ly on the untrustworthy and preju-
selves or the vengeful tongues OF the
underworld for the convicting testi-
mony, and in nine cases out OF ten
the element of reasonable doubt
becomes the key OF a defendants es-
cape. In all the erform upheavals in
New York, only one police captain has
ever been put in stripes. He was a
man named Carpenter, who, after dis
missed from "4he force" pleaded
guilty to save himself the expense Of
a trial, and went to the county peni-
Tertiary for thirty days. The decent
men pass out Of ONCE, and when the
wheel turns around again and q new
set is elected they are confronted
with the eternal problem Of clean gov
ernment-the police.
What il true of San Francisco Is true
"a L. - t-EN Iii
pfia is true Of St Paul. What Is true
of Boston is true Of New Orleans.
What is true OF Chicago Is true Of
New York. The police are a law un-
to themselves. The system" is every
where. II is more an a system; it is
a camorra. The code Of stick togeth-
er and don't squea1" is inexorable
Few policemen have transgressed 1t
and escaped the penalty. Notably
among this few in all the history Of
the American police is Chief Inspector
Max Schmittb Jrger, Of Now York. He
"squealed" to the famous Lexow COM
mittee; he told how murh graft he had
collected, by whose orders J } collected
it, and with whom he divided It, He was
only a wardmAn when he made that
confession, but he has managed to
come along through the intervening
time and ranks to his present position.
have said that he has escaped the
penalty Of transgressing the code. So
far he has escaped it.
1t is in New York, with it's 10000
men in blue-the second largest force
in the world-that the police have
reduced, the government to an incorpt-
GRATED science. They go on ruling
themselves corruptly, confidently, and
insolently year in and year out, de-
spite administrations goods, bad and
Indifferent. 1t is in New York that
you find the police code refined to
the last degree; it is there that you
find organization intrenched and so
powerful that 1t has been ana is able
to invade the legislature with money
bags and impunity, and order the fate
OF laws, or falling, fout the jaws 1t
hates. This organization Of the po-
lice is a veritable camorra. In it are
such elements thatgiven the occasion
and a daring leader and New York
would have to turn to soldiers to pre-
serve it's peace, as did Paris a short
time since. when her municipal en-
ployes struck! 1t pays him a price
for losing his position through break
ing the law.