Cayton's weekly. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1916-1921, 1920-01-10

the jurieS, and then proceed to elect public
officials This condition obtained, without
interruption, from the early history of the
city until 1908.
Reforms began in 1908 by an early clos
ing law for Saloons followed by laws which
took the control of jures and elections from
the vlce-ring. In 1916 statewide prohlbl-
ton was carried.
We thus eliminated the whiskey interests
which furnished the most Of the money for
election purposes, the control Of the jury
and election machinery, from the gang, and
the actual disposition of public officers, but
we had not eliminated all Of the gang. There
was still left the Omaha Bee, which had
been the mouth-piece of the vice-ring, the
thugs and murderers who had ruled for
years, and these combined to destroy the
present city administration and regain con-
troll of the Police Department, which was
absolutely necessary for the continuation OF
the reign and control of vice.
In order to accomplish this, the Omaha
Bee, assisted at times by the other daily
papers, began a campaign OF slander and
vituperation against the Police Department
of the City Of Omaha, and in order to make
it effective they chose a line of propaganda
to the effect that Negro men were attacking
white women, assaulting them with intent
rape, with the connivance Of the Police De-
partment They made a majority Of the
people in Omaha believe that all Negro men
were disposed to commit the crime of rape
on white women.
For years there has been much illegal
cohabtation of whites and blacks in Omaha,
with about fifteen assignation houses where
cOlOred men met white prostitutes. Leading
colored citizens asked the police to suppress
these dens, but when this was begun, it only
increased the slander and vituperation OF
the Omaha Bee, the organ of the vice-ring.
This was kept up successfully until the
people believed that the police were in
vading private property without warrant
of law and arresting law.abding citizens.
There was still left in the Police Depart
ment from the old regime a large percent
age of the police officers protected by Civil
Service, who were loyal to the old vice
ring, and they were doing everything within
their power to hamper and discredit the
honest efforts Of the present city admins
tration to enforce the law. The result of
this was that together with the campaign
Of the newspapers, the morale Of the Police
Department was broken down and the city
administration was unable, in the brief
space of time that it had been in office, to
get rid of these discordant elements. There
was, furthermore, in connection with these
men, fathered by these same influences, an
organized gang determined to wreck the ad-
ministration at any cost and they deiber-
ately organized mob; they furnished it
with money and liquor and the leaders of
the old vce-ring stood around in the mob,
urging the men to 60 in and assist in wreck
ing the Court House, lynch the Negro, and
kill the Mayor of the City and other
officials.
Both Brown, who was lynched, and the
woman who accused him belonged to the
underworld which met at the houses Of
assignation. They had quarreled and the
woman "got back at Brown by alleging
attempted assault. 1t is said that at the
time she was wearing diamond ring given
her by Brown.-The Crisis.