New-York tribune., 1910-10-04
that the gamblers and prostitutes 'ooN
advantage of the situation.
"Despite Orders to Contrary

| After recalling that actins 1"as %
Mitchell on being Informed OF tiiS ''A'e
of affairs refused leave for tne u'e -
plainclothes men, but sent OUT III
spectors from the office of the ooniiiii'-
sioner of Accounts, the CommisSiohei
continues:
| about ten days ago. despite your or
ders to the contrary, I assigned TO duty
| in plain clothes eight members oi 'he
uniformed force for the purpose OF iooh-
| ing up the gambling situation anu Vi
obtaining evidence wherever it was pos-
sible. The result Of the work Oh 'leSe
eight men has been seen within tiie 1851
| few days. Seven places were entereo' d.
rests made and gambling parapnerhaha
seized
After recalling that Mayor Gayhor
early in the year insisted that MS al
ministration was to be one of laws anu
not of men, and that no arrests snouio
be made without legal evidence, Coin-
missioner Baker goes on:
To some extent this was revoluuont
ary move SO far as the Police Depar tliinn ,ie
would have to be had to these various re
sorts of vice and proper evidence obtainefu, f,s
application made for warrant ana natie lie
warrant served This takes consideraple
time. In the old days the police at TIMES
were not so careful, and on many occa-
sions broke into places without iegal eVi-
dence but the same result was obtained
l. e., the abolition of the gambling or dls"
orderly house. The present way, 1nauGu-
rated by Mayor Gaynor, is the right way
and the strong Endorsement of his admin
istration by the people shows that the
present legal method has their approval
In regard to prostitution, that is ques-
tion that is as old as the world. 1t was
here before you and 1 were born, and will
be here after we have departed from this
world. The proper remedy for regulating
il, as far as this state is concerned. has
not been found. Many clergymen and
citizens of the highest character have
conferred with me on this subject. 1t Is
admitted that we have great many pros
titutes in New York, and the great prob
lem is what we are to do with them AS
yet none of these men has suggested a
remedy. You order them driven off the
streets; you also order houses of prosti-
tuition to be raided- If We drive them off
the streets they go into the houses, and
vice versa This subject has been brought
to Mayor Gaynor's attention number of
times, and under date of June he wrote
letter in answer to citizens complaint
against prostitution in this city which
gave his idea of the matter. ] have dis
cuSsed 1t with him myself and he has
promised to take 1t up in orderly way.
ana l. am sure tndI the result OF DIS
method will be satisfactory to the public
at large
You will recall that when you asked me
to return from my vacation (Which was
my third trip to New York during the
month of AugusD in connection with
matters at Coney Island-when you found
that Inspector O'Brien had six plainclotheS
men at work under my order-you requested
me TO at once Countermand the order and
return these men to duty in uniform.
This was done Immediately.
There are many problems in this great
city which are more important in the line
of police work than the regulation of the
morals of the community by the police
Tonight will end the weeks festivities at
Coney Island, called the Mardi Gras, to
which il is estimated from two to four
hundred thousand people visited nightly,
and up to this time no serious injury has
happened to any one of this great number
This is remarkable when you consider the
small area of territory to which the festi-
val is confined. and the greatly congested
railroad terminals. The detective bureau
is kept busy ferreting out criminals. pre-
venting crime and protecting law-abidinS
citizens from the many vicious people, muir
derers robbers, pickpocketS and those who
live by their wits. Criminals flock to New
York City from all parts of the world, and
1t requires the active vigilance of the menl-
bers of the detective bureau to know what