New Britain herald., 1920-03-05

months has been, it is charged. act ing as cashier and collector for po lice officers who have had women under their wing.
 Any idea that the assistant prose cutor intends Investigating the police department is incorrect. He makes no such pretense. He says, in effect, that he has found an abscess" in the Tenderloin Inspection district
 commanded by Inspector Dominick i Henry, and intends to remove it. no ] matter how painful the operation may be to Comm issioner Enright and others at Headquarters.
 This 'abscess'' affects perhaps 8 dozen men of the force, who, it is as- serted, have been reaping large gains through the efforts of women. These social outcasts, under terror of the law, are alleged to have divided their profits on a fifty-fifty basis.
 Women Work Openly.
 This is the first time on record 1 since the LeXow investigation, when 1 a woman of the streets has openly 1 implicated an officer, did Rebecca l MaIyado. whose testimony Gunson i was indicted, arrested and suspended | from the force. Her story of living with Gunson, d man with a wife and child: of showering him with gifts l worth more than $5,OO0; of refusin g l to go to London with him on the pro- ! ceeds of the sale of diamond ring, 1 and of his persecution of her when i she tried to "go straight" make a, 1 new chapter in the annals of New l York crime.
 ] Investigators at the district attor- ney's office, in touch with underworld movements, have no hesitancy in say ing that not since the days of the LeXow cases have women worked so
 openly. They estimate that on the West Side, in the two inspection dis tricts covering that territory, there are now about 500 houses and flats used in violation of the Tenement House Act. This. they assert, is a i conservative estimate.
 These investi gators charge that not ! one of these places can operate with ! out protection by the police They
 say that the tolls eXacted run from
 $50 to $500 month, and point to specific houses where they are certain
 violations take place. With no fund at their disposal. with few men to ] gather evidence and with little dis position on the part of the adminis-
 tration to clean out these places, they
 have been permitted to exist.
 District Attorney Swann, in his ! statement says.
 'This affair should not reflect on : the force generally. but is individual to GunsOn and very few others. It is a grave injustice to thousands of 2 excellent men in the police depart
 ment to have it suggested that any
 but a few are involved in charges
 made by these women, and they are
 men of no importance on the force. Praises Police Department. ! ''I think the department, a
 whole, is doing excellent work. When
 the police are criticised for not ap-
 pretending persons for many crimes
 in the city, one should consider that
 desperate crimes are being committed
 all over the world, and since the war
 crime waves have occurred in all
 large cities in the world. especially . crimes of boldness and audacity.' Indications that the inVeSti ation
 may broaden were observed. By
 those grapevine methods well known
 to the underworld. MT. Smith received
 information duplicating officers not
 suspected up to yesterday, and con-
 siderable light was thrown on their
 methods. The source of these bits of
 information were carefully guarded
 by Mir. Smith, who has reason to be-
 Iieve that witnesses may be spirited ! away. This has happened to him in i the past.
 Whether a graft system exists. it is ! a fact that since it became known
 that the vice hunter was on the trail
 of policemen three men appeared at
 Great Meadows prison and asked to
 see Nathan Seller, sent there in 1916
 as a result of Smiths activities in
 white slave cases. Seller still has
 wonderful influence among the crooks
 with whom he lived. The three visi-
 tors said falsely they had been sent
 by a supreme court justice, and one
 was permitted to see Seller.
 The convict was told it was inn
 perative that he get in touch with his
 friends in New York and warn them
 that they should be of no assistance
 to any one connected with the district
 attorneys office in a vice hunt. should one be inaugura ted. It was pointed
 out that such informantS would be
 dealt with in a manner that would cause them to regret they had any
 part in such a proceeding.
 Another proof that certain persons
 fear exposure is found in the fact
 that a story has been industriOusly
 circulated to the effect that MT. Smith
 has been indicted and shortly will pay