New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-03-06
G. H. Putnam Says Its Battles
Are Won with the Price of
Protected Vice.
PROBERS INDIFFERENT
Prendergast Blames Gaynor for
Police Observation-Disclosures
Thinks Trouble Lies with
Commissioner

which il depends to win its battles at
the polls is fiiled-partially. at least
by Graft collected 10y the police rom
saloons. gamblers. fallen women and
'disordcrlY houses. in the opinion of
George Haven Putnam. and he eX-
pressed this belief yesterday To the
Wagner legislative committee.
senator Robert +. Wagner. chairman
of he committee. who is one of Tam
mary's war chiefs. blinked his eyes and
settled back in his chair after Mr.. Put
nam made this observation. Other
members of the committee also dis
PLAYED lack of interest in the further
statements of Mr Putnam.
Mr. Putnam told the committee his
belief was based upon experience of
'fhirty-hve years in the grand jury
room and as q member OF the Commit
tee Of Fifteen and it, successor. toe
Committee Of Fourteen. He said that
careful computation in 1901 showed
that 81 100000 was collected from sa-
looms and gambling houses and other
resorts. and then he launched into an
attack on TamnbnN.
Why Grand Juries Won't lndict.
In my experience as foreman of The
grand idry," said Mr.. Putnam, II laVe
found il very difficult 10 persuade SIN
teen men. OF any number of men, 10
bring indictments against. for instance.
LIQUOR saloons. however conclusive the
evidence was that those saloons had
been breaking the provisions Of the eX-
isting law. The men took the grourd.
and with justice. that the house ,h@t
was pulled was the house that had re-
FUSED t. pay or had been unable 10
pay. and that fifty houses. or hundreds
- houses. which were making their
payments in due course. and which
were breaking the law equally or more
seriously. or more iln?udentlY, were not
brought before the grand jury.
OF course. the foreman always IN
pressed upon the members present that
they were bound 10 act in accordance
with jhe provisions OF the law 'nd
their oaths as jurors but they largely
held that substantial justice was more
important than that little detail. They
were more ready. as a rule, to bring n
indictments against bad houses, al
though even then in those cases 1t was
equally queer that the house that was
pulled was the house that had refused
10 pay or had got into difficulties and
was unable 10 pay the fun amount.
either the minimum charge OF the spe-
Ciai charge.
1t was in evidence that the money
so collected under orders from above
by the patrolman went through the
hands OF the roundsman serseants,
captains and inspectors. and that some
percentage Of each dirty dollar so Sc
cured must OF necessity be paid as
compensation for the part OF the col
lector, his particular role in the matter.
AS far as every evidence before us in
dicated the money did not rest or the
whole of the mOneN-by no means the
whole of the mOney-with the officials
who had collected it. \ substantial
portion of that money went TO author
tiles higher up and to others back of
those officials. II was our own belief
,;hat great deal of it went into the
'Tammany general fund"
Leaders Free with Dirty" Money.
Mr.. Putnam paused a minute and the
:Tammany legislators opened their eyes.
They closed them again when he eX
tpressed belief that this graft. after il
found its way into the general funds of
the organization went-or part of ii did
to the district leaders. who dispensed
il in relieving faithful followers of the
Tiger who had met with adversely. He
continued
Il have had some knowledge. work
ing with priests and with others in the
downtown districts. OF the administra-
ton Of those benevolent funds. and it IS
my belief on the whole that they are
very well administered 10y the district
leaders. and that they give real help 10
people very much in need. in one way
or another. But ii was also evident
under the circumstances that the bene-
ficiar.es OF these GarcSiat funds-and,
whatever their dirty source, they Were
. then doing good work-must be on the
Tammany list, and that any voter In
the family must be prepared to be on
hand at primaries on election day and
for any other work he was called on TO
do. IL would he very difficult-if We
could get rid of this corruption collec-
ton business think. TO replace the
services that these district funds
benevolent funds-are doing for poor
people"
After Mr. Putnam left the stand
William B. Ellison. former Corpora
lion. Counsel under Tammany. and Il
fr,sra - pig Tim" Sullivan. defended
the Tammany district leaders, who had
been known to Mr. Ellison for more
than thirty years.
II never met a district leader he
said. of whom / had the least : IS
picion that he would take money -ha,
came from fallen women"
But none of the committee asked Il
he knew the Tammany leaders TO take
any other sort of graft, and he did not
volunteer. lie did admit, however, that
poIitical Influences might be involved
o .l.1