Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1911-02-22

suit against the city. It's really q
test case that should interest every
citizen; a protest against the high
handed actions Of the police"
The banker elevated his eyebrows.
Indeed, he exclaimed. What
have the police been doing now"
The lawyer looked at his client in
surprise.
Why. my dear sir. you must have
seen by the papers what's been going
on In our city of late. The papers
have been full Of 1t. Police brutality.
illegal arrests, assaults in station
houses. star-chamber methods that
would disgrace the middle ages. A
state OF affairs exists to-day in the
city Of New York which Is inconceiv.
able. Here we are living In civil.
lied country. every mans liberty ia
guaranteed by the constitution. yet
citizens. as they walk our streets, are
In greater peril than the Inhabitants
OF terror-stricken Russia. Take a po.
lice Official Of Capt. Clinton's type;
His only notion of the law lie brute
force and the night stick. A bully by
nature. man Of the coarsest instincts
and enormous physical strength. he
loves to play the tyrant. In his pre-.
.cinct he poses as a kind Of GEAR and
fondly imagines he has the power to
administer the law itself. BY his
brow-beating tactics. intolerable UNI
der Anglo-Saxon government, he il
turning our police force into gang
of rufiians who have the city terror
stricken. In order to further his polit.
ical ambitions he stops at nothing
He lets the guilty escape when infiu
ence he can't resist is brought to
bear. but in order to keep up his rec
ord with the department he makes ar
rests without the slightest justifica.
ton. To secure convictions he manu-
features, with the aid OF his detec
tives, all kinds Of perjured evidence
To paraphrase q well-known saying
his motto Is: 'Convict--honestly, Il
you can-but convict"
1T is outrageous" said Mr.. JET
fries. No one can approve such
methods. or course, In dealing witt
the criminal population OF grea,
city, they cannot wear hid gloves. b,rl
Capt. Clinton certainly goes too far
What is the specific complaint cr
which the suit is based?'' 3
Capt. Clinton" replied the Judge
made the mistake OF prosecuting I
young woman who happened to be thu
daughter of wealthy client Of mine
One Of his detectives arrested her q,
a charge of shoplifting. The girl
mind you, is Of excellent family ast
irreproachable character. My clisp
and his lawyer tried to show Cart
Clinton that he had made serisul
blunder. but he brazened 1t out, claim
ing on the stand that the girl was :,
old offender. OF course. he wa
forced at last to admit his mistak,
and the girl went free, but think o
the humiliation and mental aneuisl
she underwent! 1t was simply
repetition Of his old tactics. A coLvic
ton. no matter at what cost.
What do you hope to bring akou
by this s,lit?" b,
Arouse public indignation. ant
II possible get Capt. Clinton dismisse.
from the force. His record is none to,
savory. Charges Of graft have beel
made against him time and tim,
again. but SO far nothing has beer
proved. To-day he is a man of wealtl
on comparatively small salary. D,
you suppose his money could hav'
come to him honestly?'
In another corner Of the salol
! stood DR.. Bernstein. the celebrate,
psychologist, the center of an excite,
crowd of enthusiastic admirers.
Alicia approached a group of chat
tering women. Each was more elat
orately dressed than her neighbol
and loaded down with rare gems
They at once stopped talking as thei
hostess came up.
ut was SO good Of you to come!
said Alicia affusively to a fat womal
with impossible blonde hair and
rouged face. II want to introduce Dl
Bernstein to you"
"Oh, shall be delighted" smile
the blonde. Gushingly she added