New-York tribune., 1920-03-26
Inspector Says Assistant
Prosecutor Sent Broth
er-in-Law to Him in Be-
half of Gaming Houses
Judges and High
Officials Named
Declares "Czar of Courts
Building Caused Ar
rests of Many Innocent

rests of Many Innocent
Inspector Dominick Henry, COM
manding the 4th Inspection District.
commonly known as the Tenderloin,
called reporters to his Office in the
West Sixty-eighth Street police sta
tion yesterday afternoon and laid be-
fore them copies of affidavits charg-
ing Assistant District Attorney
James E. Smith with conniving at
the very conditions of vice and un-
derworld graft Mr.. Smith has laid at
the door Of the Police Department ir,
the present grand jury investigation.
Smith Makes Denials
All of the affidavits were made by
Inspector Henry. They are on file,
he says, with Police Commission
er Enright. They purport to show
that Mr.. Smith not only proposed
that Henry wink at vice condi-
tions in the district under his COM
mand, but that he (Smith) sent
his own brother-in-law to Henry
with the proposal that Smith be per-
mitted to open few gambling
houses that might bring him money
when his term as Assistant District
tfnrnQu oo,,,o %n orJ
These charges brought vehement
denials last night from Mr.. Smith.
who branded Henry an unspeakable
falsifier
In the first of his afidavits Inspector
Henry tells of an alleged meeting with
Dennis Quinn, the brother-in-law OF
Mr. Smith, who represented himself as
for the opening Of gambling houses in
the Broadway district.
According to the ink pector. Quinn
promised on behalf of his brother-in-
law that there would be no raids by
the District Attorney and said that
Jimmy" had the District Attorney "in
his vest pocket" could slip the repre-
sentative of the Rockefeller interests a.
piece of change and knew all the news
paper men and could "fix" them. The
1919.
The next affidavit purports to tell
of meeting with Assistant District
Attorney Smith February Is, 1919, in
which Mr.. Smith is quoted as interced-
ing for a friend" who ran s'little
restaurant" in Forty eighth Street.
Tells of Meeting 81. E. S."
A meeting with 81. E. 81 February
II. 1918, is described in the inspectors
third affidavit, in which he quotes
-. +. s." as saying that he had Dis
tr1ct Attorney Swami muzzled, could
handle" Costigan (Honest Dan, of
Rosenthal fame), and if Inspector
Henry wanted to "do little business"
with Christians in his district it would
be all right.
The next affidavit tells of an inter
view Inspector Henry. says he had June
10, 1919. with S. Kla4sner, of 145 Yer
m1lyea m Avenue, the Bronx, in which Mr..
Klausner is said to have repeated a
threat he said Mr.. Smith made to put
Henry "behind the bars"
The initials -. z. s." and ~. E. s.,
A.; D. A." appearing frequently in the
affidavits, stand in every instance for
James L. Smith and James E. Smith.
Assistant District Attorney, Inspector
Henry told reporter for The
Tribune. The initials referred to are
alleged to have begun in the regime of
Arthur Woods as Police Commissioner,
though the majority of them are under
dates since Enright took Office.
Henry's Statement ~
In a statement prefacing the aff-
davits Henry said:
Having read in the New York press
in numerous publications insinuations.
inferences and innuendoes relative to the
police management of the 4th Inspec-
tlo9 District. which have been com
mandlng since January %, 1918, by a
public scandalmonger whose tongue
and hands are stepped in the slime of
human corruption 365 days in the wear
and having on March 10, 1920, made
application to the District Attorney to
be permitted to appear before the
grand jury for the purpose of giving
an explanation relative to nv MANAGE.
ment of the district of two and one
nall years and of my thirty years of
ponce service, in said application
volunteered to waive all Immunity
and to answer all questions appe ertair-
ing TO my public and private life.
NOT having been accorded that priv
i'ege to date, l deem it my duty as a
public official to lay before them.
through the courtesy of the public
press, little inside information. show
ing as it will the almost insurmount-
able obstacles which confront a dis
trlct commander who is giving his best
efforts to clean up and keep the district
IN a clean condition.
when / assumed command Of this
district I found prostitutes and those
who are living from their degraded
lives in great numbers, and q consider
able number of gambling houses in
operation.
Free Of Gambling Houses
Through persistent and energetic
work twenty-four hours a day this dis
trict is free and clear Of ali eamblina
houses, there is not one disorderiv
house operating to my knowledge. nor
has there been for the last nina
months. The appearance Of q prosti-
tute on the streets or public places in
this district is rarity and not ths
rule, as it was when l took command.
In that challenge contradiction.
I'm the early part Of 1918 an Assist.
ant District Attorney took it upon him.
self to periodically invade the distr;ct
making FehNlAan1~ av~~~A~