The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1920-09-02
District Attorney Sends Answer to Critics Who
Have Sought to Discredit Officials
of City and County.
CONDITIONS TO BE IMPROVED
Proper Appropriations from County Board Giving Dis
trict Attorney Better Chance Is Declared to Be
Needed to Secure Better Work.

District Attorney Peter Fisher, iJr.,
in connection with recent clair4 of
lack of enforcement of the law, today
gave out to the people of the county a
frank statement of the matter from
the standpoint of his office, declaring
that as district attorney he was aiding
in every way possible to bring about
the proper enforcement of the law. In
his statement Mr.. Fisher says:
II believe that at this time it is only
fair that l should answer some of the
criticisms which have been heaped
upon certain officials of the city of Ke-
nosha and of the county of Kenosha.
In November, 1919, at the regular
meeting of the Board of Supervisors
of Kenosha county, I appeared before
them and asked that arrangements be
made so that the office of the district
attorney could be re-organized.
stated to members of the board that
Kenosha county was growing; that
with increased growth there would al
ways be increased violations of the
laws unless those in power Increased
the efficiency of those departments of
the county government whose iuty il
was to suppress crime and punish those
who violated our statutes.
Aside from the increased growth,
our city is located where it is easily
reached from Chicago, which means
that criminals of all kinds come from
that city to Kenosha to operate in their
special line, be it robbery, larceny,
gambling, or other offenses. This was
we'll demonstrated in the robbery of
the American Brass company and the
shooting Of police officer, all the men
being connected with the offense COM
mitted at that time having been con-
victed and now serving terms in the
penitentiary as punishment for their
crime.
The result of my effort before the
County Board was that a resolution
was finally passed providing that after
the first Monday in January, 1921, the
district attorney of Kenosha county
should spend his entire time in at
tending to the duties of the Office and
should not engage in private practice
I went farther with the board and ask
ed that an appropriation be made so
that the district attorney might en-
gage help when needed to investigate
criminal matters, and upon this sug-
gestion the board also acted favorably
Secures Aid from Board.
With the situation as it is now and
has been during my administration
unless the sheriff and his help are
competent and willing to protect mat
tiers in the county the district attor-
ney is badly handicapped but with the
incoming district attorney J4.s tlo-
will be removed 1t is easy at the
present time for other candidates to
state that they will enforce the law
after l myself as the present incum-
bent of the Office, have made it posi-
bic for them to do so through actions
of the County Board of Supervisors
taken at my suggestion.
| After all the unfair statements in
regard to enforcing the laws which
really should cast no blame upon me-
but which influence people who do not
know the duties of the district attor-
ney it seems only fair that the man
who as early as 1919 saw the situation
in Kenosha county and attempted to
change it, should have a chance to
show the people what can be done
under the new organization.
Helped Enforce Prohibition.
Some people have abused this Office
relative to the liquor traffic, in regard
to which 1 can only say that the en-
forcement of the eighteenth amend
ment is matter for the government,
and its agents have always had my
support in their work in this county.
In regard to our state law, people
who are in doubt as to my position
may find from the state prohibition
officers that l have aided them in every
way in their work in Kenosha county.
The very fact that the investigation
recently made by our governor in re-
gard to the last murder in Kenosha
has revealed the fact that officials are
doing all in their power to unraveI
the mystery, should be almost suf-
ficient for most voters to realize that
much of the criticism recently made
relative to officials in Kenosha county
is unfair.
More Organization Possible.
The reason that the district attor-
ney's Office has not been organized, as
suggested to the County Board, be
fore this is that the law of the state
of Wisconsin provides that the County
! Board can make no appropriation for