The Detroit times., 1913-08-30
SAYS DETROIT
IS IN SORE NEED
OF CLEANING UP
"Dope," Vice and Food COndi-
tions Only Few of Foster
Spots, Says Shepherd
MUCH MONEY NEEDED IN
CIVIC HOUSE-CLEANING
Rapid Growth of City Held to
BE Partly Responsible for
Situation

'sThe horrible conditions revealed In
Detroit meat markets and slaughter
houses through the Investigations OF
the state pure food department are a
disgrace to the city," declared Prose
cutor Hugh Shepherd to The Times.
1t Is up to the Board Of Health to
see that such conditions never again
exist In the city. What better EFFORT
can the board make to protect the
lives OF residents OF Detroit than by
assuring them that the food supply
Is at least clean and unadulterated.
But l appreciate that the Board Of
Health. like every other department
OF the city government, has not been
able to keep abreast OF the abnormal
growth Of the city. Detroit has COM
pletely outgrown every municipal de-
partment, and il will take the city
government long time tn catch up.
because 1t will mean the spending OF
additional millions yearly. and the
money Will have to come out OF the
pockets OF the taxpayers.
The Board Of Health ought TO
have In it's employ enough inspectors
to watch the food supply Of the city "a
hours In the day. seven days In the
week. These periodic crusades do not
amount TO much as far as the ulti-
mate consumer Is concerned. The
state inspectors find conditions sim
ply fearful In numerous meat markets.
How long have those conditions exist
ed and how long have people been
buying rotten and adulterated meats?
How long after the present inspection
Is completed before the unclean and
crooked butchers and merchants will
be back at their old tricks? II is not
the fault of the state department that
these conditions exist. Nothing but
constant watchfulness by the author
tiles will prevent such disgusting rev.
Citations. Thee health department
should have q competent force Of In
spectors TO do this kind OF work, for
II is most important that city's food
supply should be watched
But, as | said, all city departments
are embarrassed by the rapid growth
Of the city. Take the department OF
public works for instance. II Is mil
lions OF dollars behind in its paving
and alley work. The park department
could spend several millions on need
cd improvements.
Even the prosecuting attorney 10
hampered because OF a small stan and
lack Of funds. II had the necessary
men and money could cut loose on
dozen evils In this town that ought to
Do wiped out. AZ 1t Ia. with my force
working long hours every day, I sim
ply have TO take care Of the work in
hand and wink at q lot of stun that Is
brought to my attention. As the re-
suit Of Investigations made by men
In this once and Others whom I have
at times been compelled to pay out
Of my own pocket, have stack OF
evidence and material that would
open up q dozen leads once we got
started on them. But what can do?
My hands are tied and have simply
got to wink at this sort of stun until
some one violator gets especially bold
and Jumps into our lap. That Is not
the way to conduct the Office OF prose
cutting attorney know. but under
existing circumstances | can excuse
myself, az everybody in this Office Is
busy all the time on cases that must
receive attention.
Everybody knows that conditions
are not what they ought TO be In De-
tIOIt IL mas DOCH hhOWn III bOhiO
time that certain persons Of bad odor
have enjoyed special privileges at the
hands of the police. The police COM
missioner says that organized vice In
Detroit Is as bad as any place in the
country and he wants to abolish II, II
he can. Our attention has been called
to the tremendous amount of dope
being sold in Detroit, and to the hun
dreds OF poor unfortunates addicted
to the habit. know that certain
wealthy factory owners ought to be In
jail. From my personal Investigations
and observations l can lay my hand
on several prominent citizens. social
ed, who are as dirty and black as any
knave In the tenderloin district. But
what can we do?
.Our- investigation OF the dope
trafiic in Detroit will lead us to other
vice channels. II may be necessary
to ask for a grand jury to complete
the work Auditor Buhrer has prom
ised me any needed financial assist.
ahce in getting to the bottom OF the
+ situation. Special Prosecutor Warren
s. Stone will turn up some good stun.
and he Ia not afraid Of Barnett's polit-
ical pull. The chances for big devel-
opments look good.