The Washington times., 1913-05-29

those who were marching, and OMEN
sive and insulting remarks were maoe
at times by people in the crowd.
1T is unfortunate that quie,: uis
nified parade, composed mostly OF
women, could not be held upon the
best-known avenue in the Natlon ,ap
ital without interference or insult, even
in the absence of police protectloi,, i.lu
is a reproach upon those tnus inter
fering with and giving. offense 10 .ne
prophecies of the occasion. we canhos
condemn too strongly the conduct OF
those who thus interfered with tne
parade and jeered at the marcners- We
regret that the parade was not luiiy
protected and that 1t did not nave
but, before condemning the. Police De
partment as a whole. we must taks
into consideration the circumstances
under which the police had 10 act anu
under which tho parade was held.
.'It was in the afternoon OF the oas
before the Inauguration of the Presi.
dent Of the United states. The 3io,ooo
residents of the city were increased
by more than 100000 visitors who had
come to see and participate IN tne
inar gural ceremonies. Tnousanas oi
Guard and regular troops not then
on duty, but who were out to see the
sights All classes OF people, gooo,
bad reckless, and frolicsome were
present. This parade was something
new. interesting. and noval. had been
widely advertised, and everybody was
anxious to see 1T.
Political Crowd.
IN a broad sense 1t was political in
character, and the crowd was more
or less divided into those who 'belieV-
ed in what the parade represented
and those who were against this idea
The parade was to march along PENN
sylyania avenue, which passes through
or BY what may be termed the Bow
cry district of the city and all the
element that naturally congregates
in such a section was present aIons
the line of march. The most advan-
tageous place to view the parade was
along Pennsylvania avenue from the
Peace Monument to Fifteenth street
and very naturally the crowd surSeo
there from all sections Of the city.
1.-The tableaux on the Treasury Steps
and into the Avenue Naturally every
one wanted to get as close to the line
of march as possible, and street cars
passing up and down the Avenue ano
Crossing it loaded with thousands OF
people bent on seeing the parade and
until the very minute set for the start
ing Of the parade, 1t is not surprising
that the crowd was not kept back and
got beyond the control OF the ponce
Under such circumstances your com.
u.ittee believe that no one should Dc
condemned except upon clear PROOF ol
guilt.
however, that some Of the uniformed
police and more Of the special police
| while on duty along the line Of march
and so conducted themselves as to en-
courage the crowd 10 press In upon tht
peraders rather than to check ana con.
troll II. This conduct on their part
necessarily interferede with the efhcf-
ency Of those officers who We're sincere.
ly trying to perform their duty. We re,
, gret that the evidence has not Deer
definite enough to fix guilt upon the
| delinquent members of the force
| to which reference has been had IN the
early part of this report. did not per-
| nit the exclusion Of street cars ol
vehicles or pedestrians from the Avenue
until 8 O'Clock p. m, the moment SCI
| for the parade to start While II Is true
pletely cleared before the hour named
for the parade. your committee !!
| clearly Of the opinion that the Police
Department did not have any authority
/ to 50 do until the very hour named fol
the parade. and this was the construc
ton which was given the resolution b,
the Police Department. Notwithstand
| ing this. lack Of authority. orders wer,
given to clear the Avenue OF all trave
at $50 p. m. but this did not give suffi
cient time to do the work effectively
and anyone who viii consider for
moment can realize the great difficult!
| of clearing the Avenue of pedestrian
| while street cars were constantly enter
| ing the Avenue from both ends, ant
| others crossing at street intersection
and unloading passengers by the thou
\ sands
According to the best estimates OBJ
tainable. IS, 900 or 900 people were un
| loaded on the Avenue from street car
| alone between the hours of Il and %
| o'clock in the afternoon.
This made the conditions with whicl
the police had to contend very serious
and should be taken into account befor,
| giving censure."