The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-09-07
POL|CE CHARGED
 WITH TYRANNY Illegal Arrests Are Denounced By Leading Writers THIRD DEGREE IS BRUTAL Police of New York Are Declared to be the Worst Offenders in
 Treating Persons Sus-
 pected of Crime.
THIRD DEGREE IS BRUTAL

CAN AAAotiOlA tto iiiAAiJ NiteNA AoooOo tO oC7 eide, and we habitually bewail the fact that the masses do not buckle to the task. It is the object of this letter to show that their courage and initiative is con stantly crushed by the illegal action of the police, just as the convicts will is broken in prison, and the man who packs his blankets Is turned into hunted hare by constables flor revenue only.' This is & feature of our national life that is bringing this country Into worldwide con- tempt, and a Prison Reform league, if 1t is to be worthy of It's name, must handle the subject without gloves. We deal 'n this letter with illegal arrests and the of the third degree.
 New York city had a great deal to say on the first of these two themes after the disclosures of the Lexow investigation, and Is now making herself heard once more. St. Louis, Mo, Is also at this moment much wrought up over the ques- tion. We select therefore, these two cities, for they reflect conditions that are prevalent, with more or less intensity. the country.
 In 1901 Hon. Frank Moss, former com missioner of the police department of New York city, wrote for the North American Review an article entitled, Ma tional Danger From Police Corruption" It begins with these words 'The corrup- tion of the police force of New York Is a fact that nobody in the city denies seri- ously It is believed throughout the na- tion and over the world" By numerous he explains how vast was the system of blackmail and extortion ex- posed by the police board and the Lexow investigation, and proceeds in these words: For three years there has been through the courts and the streets a dreary procession of citizens with broken heads and bruised bodies, against few of whom was violence needed to effect an arrest. Many of them had done nothing to deserve arrest. In a majority of such cases no complaint is made. If the victim complains his charge Is generally dis missed. The police are practically above the law"
 There was much discussion as to what the powers of the police in the matter of making arrests actually were, and the statement of Sir James Fitz-James steph- en, one of the most noted jurists England ever produced, was generally accepted as giving the rule for the police in this coun- try as throughout the British empire. It is as follows: "The police in their dif- ferent grades are no doubt officers ap- pointed by the law for the purpose of ar resting criminals. but they possess for this purpose no powers which are not also possessed by private persons. A policeman has no other right as to ask ing questions or compelling the attend ance of witnesses than private person has."a Such is, the legal theory. Beside the facts 1t looks ridiculous.
 Prevent Their Voting.
 In 1903 the North American Review pub lished an article by Justice William J. Gaynor of the supreme court Of the state of New York on "Lawlessness of the Police in New York; He cited the following case: "One recent instance sufflces to show the false idea of the right and power to arrest and fmprison without a warrant which exists in the police department of the city of New York In October last police captain came into a magistrates court with large batch of prisoners, whom he had arrested and locked up over night with out warrant. He told the magistrate that he wanted them all committed to prison until after election. The magistrate ask ed what charge of a criminal offense he made against them, and the response was that he made none, but that he feared they would register and vote if not locked up. Being asked If there was anyone to make any charge against them, he said No The magistrate said that he had no right to commit any one ex- cept on a charge of some criminal of fense made on oath, and discharged the prisoners Can any one imagine such an occurrence in England, or, for that mat ter, anywhere outside of the city of New York;"
 It must not be forgotten that New York is the second largest city in the world, and that examples set there are quickly followed by the authorities. in less important centers.
 We turn to St. Louis. There the lead ing clergy, backed by the women's clubs, are agitating for the establishment of Q night police court, declaring 1t against the principles of humane government to submit persons, many of whom are innocent, to the sufferings and disgrace of night passed in the police hold-over It Is pointed out of course, that the poor are the great sufferers. and that professional bondsmen grow fat on the wholesale arrests made by the police. In cases of homicide it is said to be the habit of the police in many places to arrest all witnesses, often holding them for weeks.
 Police Bitterly Attacked.
 The result of this agitation has been most lively discussion as to the ille- gality of arrests without warrant aud the administration of the third degree, the latter question having come promi- nently to the front, owing to the treat ment of a stenographer received in the endeavor to obtain from her informa- ton as to the whereabouts of her ab- sconding employer In this discussion the St. Louis Post-Dspatch, the Re- public, the Mirror, former Gov. Charles P. Johnson and many others have played prominent part. In a recent number the Mirror sums up the question so wig orously that we quote:
 "The issue Is not local. The police of every big city torture prisoners to extort information from them to be used against themselves or others. The police say they do these things only to the professional criminal. The an- swer is not good. The police have no right to abuse man or woman who is criminal. Even the criminal has rights. He cannot be deprived of life, liberty or property, except by due pro- cess of law. He cannot be compelled to testify against himself In England when a policeman arrests a man. he warns the prisoner that anything he may say will be used against him. This