The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-03-27

Announces for Chief of Il
I hereby announce my candidacy for
thu office Of. chief of police of the city
Of Birmingham, subject to the action of
the city democratic primary. l have been
urged to make this race by many friends
an5 supporters. who have promised to do
all they could to elect me, and have pred
icated their pledge upon the belief and
conviction, from the knowledge they have
of my official conduct in this position
heretofore, but before Greater Birming-
ham" and on their knowledge of my
fidelity and general conduct. appreciate
these expressions of confidence, and to
the importantly of these friends and sup
porters somewhat is due this final de-
termination to make this race. But there
is another consideration which moves me
also 1 have an ambition to fill this office
according to my idea of the way it should
be filed, and to serve the people of the
greater city by executing, all alike, the
laws and ordinances which have been en-
acted and are supposed to be in force.
This for me will be no departure; the
record of my past administration pro-
claims this as my attitude toward the
duties of the office And this ambition
is engendered and fostered by a knowl-
1.3,s of
the lax and indifferent way and manner
the laws are now enforced. IL it can be
said that they are enforced at ALL or
the apparent winlzing at. If not the actual
participating IN by the ones whose duty
1t is to see to their enforcement. the
violation of and utter disregard for the
laws and ordinances enacted for the pro-
lection of the people against crime in
its most insidions and dangerous gnises.
While the information as to the present
state of affairs is in sense general. yet
there may be who do not know
and yet would be glad to be informed
For the benefit of such l will point my
charge with Illustration and concrete
statement, and to begin with quote from
a. news item which appeared in The Age
Herald on the morning of March 25:
"CEAsE ALL PLAY
fSt.eneraI Word said to Have Been
Passed Around Among the Gambling
Henses''
cease all play" was the order said
to have been passed around to the
| dealers in the various clubs Included
in the alleged gambling syndicate late
yesterday afternoon Within five min
utes the usual busy rooms had been
vacated by dealers and players alike
and naught bat echoes were left
Could such a news item appear in pub
Tic print in any city on earth where the
laws against gambling were not almost
openly violated-violated within the
knowledge of some of the public, and
within the knowledge of the officers of
the city, whose duty and business it is
to know?
But the contents of the item the bust
ness syndicateds syndicated and this fact
4lSC kDOWn. HIS hnONlCdSb 10 hoi VII
fined TO The Age-Herald, the reporter who
wrote this spicy and significant item. nor
to the reading public. who got their in
formation from this paper.
chief Bodeker Also Knows
have in my possession an affidavit by
a man who says that between and %
O'Clock one night in February of this year
he went with a friend to find a man who
was said to be in a gambling house in
the city, and one of the places said to be
in said syndicate. and when they got
near the place they saw Chief Bodeker
and another police officer standing on the
street They went up to the gambling
Ing for and they saw about rs men gam
bling. They saw three craps tables and
two poker tables all in use. And this af-
faint says further that while they were
in this room one of the men said to be
interested in the place was called to the
phone and to whatever was said to him
from the other end. he said: "Al right.
Cap.v Another said to be interested in
I the place came in and had few min
utes' conversation with the one who an
Nswered the phone and went out for about
20 minutes. When he returned he said:
bSoys. YOU will have to vacate for about
Nm minutes. Don't cash in your checks,
hist nut them in your pockets" They
~ 90, out as fast as possible and the
Nam says he went down last and at the
Nm Chief Bodeker and the other po-
u an referred to got on the elevator as
II off. / have also another affidavit
,hich the affiant says.he was gambling