The Detroit times., 1917-03-05
OUR BOYS
OPERATE
IN SECRET
Names Of Workers For
the Political News"
Closely Guarded
CIVIC BODY HAS
DEGENERATED
Nearly All Of Original
Promoters Have
withdraw

Promoters Have
Withdrawn
victims VINO have been Endorsed
BY the Wayne County Civic associa-
tion. an orssnisatiou which Is In.
tersstins itself In the present cam.
paagn. DO not agree with Y. c. Long.
secretary OF the organization. as to
the manner In which the outht sets
IL funds TO carry on its work.
This 10 the organization which
publishes Political News." q paper
which purports TO be In the aeld 10
support good clean candidates with
the idea OF stopping graft and in
suring for the city and county a
clean and sraftless administration.
Mr.. Long told reporter for The
Times that the funds were ad
vanced by members OF the organise.
ton and that no attempt was made
TO shake down" ny candidate. He
said that there ~ere 10000 mem
beers OF the Organization, that they
we're I'm every ward and voting pre-
cinct In the city. and that they
were working for the common good
o. the community. Mr.. Long re-
ferrsd 10 these 10000 as "our
boys"
Some OF the candidates sp-
preached for contributions also
heard the term Our boys" applied
TO the solicitors and some Of them
took fright because they thought ID
was the same gang that has operat.
ed In Detroit from time TO time a.
I'VE boys crew OF young GRAFT
els who PROGRESSED TO be newspaper
men and begged contributions 10 a
work being put out by alleged news
~ per men. This gang has been
exposed by the Detroit newspapers
repeatedly.
The our boys" organization is
said TO be made up OF highly pub
lilo spirited young men. according TO
MIR. Long. who. at the same time
acknowledge that he doesn't know
any OF them. When the reporter
for The Times tried 10 get some in.
formation regarding this crowd at
The once OF the organization, all
Information was refused
Respectable candidates who were
asked TO buy the Endorsement OF
this organization say II was repre-
scented that the outfit would circu-
late 100000 copies Of it, pa-er
weekly. OF these $4,000 were 10
be delivered by carrier to Detroit
homes and the other 10000 were
TO 60 By mail to points in Wayne
county outside OF the city. Whether
this agreement was kept Is mot
known. but IL Is true that the DO.
troit postofice never heard OF the
paper and didn't circulate any num-
Der OF copies. II any considerable
number u the papers had been
offered. even at first class mail
rates. the once would have
known Il.
When the association was organ.
lied originally II was made ND OF
men who sought honestly to i'm
prove politics. After a few issuef
Of the paper had been put out IL war
found that the original purposes OF
the organization were being ignored
and that the methods we're ssch
that most OF the incorporators quit
and refused 20 longer be connected
with the OUTFIT. One Of these was
y. NJ. Richardson, OF No. 20 Con.
necticut-ave., who soon discovered
that he could not indorse the meth.
DDS being employed aud sent ms
resignation 70 the once By register.
ed mail. 10 that there could &C no
Misunderstanding az 70 whether he
was through or not. III Z. Fem. O.
No. 1897 Grand Riverave., also got
out OF the crowd.
Finally. when most Of the original
incorporators had quit. the publica.
ton was dominated by one man.
who assessed candidates for once
large sums for the Endorsement and
support Of the organization whose
influence they regarded az question
able. These victims say they made
donations not because they wanted
support. but TO avoid being attacked
and lied about
According 70 the investiEstions OF
Prosecutor Jasnowski there IL q man
associated with the paper Who until
recently hsld q hish public position
In Detroit. While he was In once
Jasnowski started an investigation
OF alleged crookedness and the In.
vestigation led 90 close 90 this man
thatNhe could almost see the shadow
Of bars. The onicisl went to Jas
nowski and tried 20 pull him on The
investigation continued and discios-
ed suficient Information TO morally
convict the man and other high ON.
cials. but could not turn up sufficient
evidence 10 convict them m court.
This ~ said 10 account for the &C
tivity Of the gang against the proc
ecutor's once.
There, IL just one missing link 20
the chain Of testimony. sccording 10
Jssnowski. which ~ n could be
found would have caused the biggest
political scandal Michigan has ever