The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1912-08-30
Whitman, GOff, CuTran and
BuCkneT Constitute tho
Big -Four,
By JAMES A. HDGHRToN.

WV thing Ia so bad that It needs
investigation the public Is
entitled TO It's own conclusions. Some
will oplne that the abuse In question
must be very bad indeed, and some
others Will shut one optic and remark
that a good, stiff coat Of kalsomine Is
about to he applied. These two views
are not as inconsistent as they would
seem, for the worse the conditions the
more need of whitewash. In case
things are so bad that even whitewash
will not cover them something else
may be necessary. Two or three
scapegoats may be trotted into the
wilderness, and there may be reports
and doings of various kinds. But the
System" can stand things OF that sort,
as 1t has stood them before. The "sys-
TEN" has more lives than a cat, for a
cat can be killed, but no one has yet
killed the system" Lexow thought
he had done so, and other investiga-
tors have harbored similar delusions,
but the System" has only shifted its
base and continued doing business
Publicity is great corrective, and
some people believe It sovereign rem
edy for most of the ills that afflict us,
including graft, bribery and all the
brood springlng from the union Of
crooked politics and crooked business.
Investigation is a form of publicity
at least sometimes. At other times it
is method Of satisfying the public
and holding matters in allegiance until
the thing blows over. It all depends on
just how much the dear people are
aroused.
Publicity may not make people good,
but it at least makes them careful.
That is the effect It is having in New
York. Since the Rosenthal murder there
has been one continuous scream of pub
licity about protected vice and police
graft with the result that the under
world Is growing somewhat circum-
spect and cautious. Several we'll known
gun men are hiding out, several police
men and men higher up" are on the
anxious seat, and several politicians
are doing heavy turns and dark brown
thinking.
AS for gambling, it Is now more ex-
elusive than the smart set. No society
leader scans her list of guests more
closely than does the owner of roulette
wheels, faro banks and poker tables.
The papers even say that these joints
are closed altogether, and there are
folks verdant enough to accept the
statement, Suffice it to say that there
is never a time in New York when one
wishing to gamble cannot have his de-
sires gratifed. Nevertheless there is
a panicky feeling around the Tender
loin these days, and citizens Of shady
occupations walk warily, for pub
licity is still screaming of vice and
graft in Gotham, and the investigating
committee is at work in the land.
The big four Of the inquiry are Dis
trict Attorney Charles s. Whitman, AL
derman Henry ii. Curran, chairman
of the investigating committee; AS
sistant District Attorney Emory Il,
Buckner, counsel for the committee
and Supreme Court Justice John w
Goff, who is to have charge of John
Doe inquiry and Is expected to pre-
side at the trial of the Rosenthal sus
poets. These men are in earnest and
have the confidence Of the community
The ROsenthal case has made Dis
trict Attorney Whitman one Of the
really big men Of the metropolis. II
takes a si2able man TO stack up in
New York, for Gotham is full Of able
men, also full of knockers. The pop
ular motto in the big town Is that a
man must deliver the goods" and
nobody amounts TO much who doesn't
put it over" In other words, New
York is looking for results and meas
ures man by what he actually ac
complishes. This is but modern slang
for judging tree by It's fruits, which
has been an hOnored mode of charac
ter reading for 1900 years.
How Whitman Makes Good.
The talk of the street is that Whit
man is making good in the Rosentha
case. He himself says-and nearly
everybody agrees with him-that he
not only has had little help from the
police, but that he has actually beer
blocked by the police. Mr.. Whitman wa,
born in Connecticut and is forty-fou
years old. He graduated from Am
herst and studied law In the New Yorl
university. His first office was that o
assistant corporation counsel. He theI
became city magistrate and late
was made president Of the board o
magistrates. 1t was in this capacit.
that he stirred up the animals by /
series OF raids. In 1907 he was ap
pointed by Governor Hughes a Judg
OF the court Of general sessions ant
In 1910 NVns alnctad district attorney