The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-09-11
Vice Ring Controls Your City.

vice KING ~OntH0lS AOux ~Sty'
Rock Island today is in absolute control Of
. vice ring the parasitic rulers Of the under
world, combination Of mnrderers. bandits and
grafters that has so effectively enmeshcd itself
about the city hall that the men known as the
official spokesmen OF the municipality have
become mere servants and defenders of the in
visible government. The Argus makes this as
sertion without equivocation or reservation.
The ruling element in the city government has
been sold out~for the duration of the present
administration. They openly confess their Of
octal impotency by their failure to act after
they have pledged certain innovations for the
Improvement OF the civic welfare. The official
rulers of the city of Rock Island are no longer
serving you. They are serving the underworld.
It Is their master and their monument. 1t has
been built to Withstand any attacks that might
be directed against it from disappearing
sources.
The Argus is free to ADMIT that it was un-
aware of the powerful influence welded by the
Rock Island underworld until the murder of
Bill Gabel. That was the happening that blew
the lid Off 1t revealed a condition in Rock
Island that shocked The Argus much any
city was being managed in the interest Of the
general citizenship. The Argus warned city
and county officials against the inevitable day
of reckoning unless they asserted the authority
vested in them by the people. At first the Off
Gals charged The Argus with exaggeration and
sensationaism and refused to take cognizance
of the existing condition. The Argus accepted
the challenge, presented some corroborative
facts and finally brought officialdom to the
point of acknowledging that vice had obtained
sucAsa foothold in the city that the time had ar
rived for joint action on the part of the NUM-
cipal and county governments. 1t is not neces-
sary here to repeat the reforms that were prom
Used for the city. These promises were plain
admission OF the truthfulness of the charges
printed by The Argus. But the pledges made
TO You as citizens by your officials have not
\ been fulfilled, nor will they be, The Argus is
free to predict, for the simple reason that the
VICE ring holds agreement with the ruling
element at the city hall that the latter dares not
3nyalidate, despite that III its observance the
decent citizenship is being outrageously be-
trayed into the hands of the most vicious and
me1acing band OF marauders that ever inflicted
itBef upon civilized community.
The Argus was fully conscious of the price
that It would have to pay when it determined
to free the city Of Rock Island from the domin-
alton Of the common enemy 1t realized that all
the devices of crookdom would be employed
In an attempt to divert it from its charted
course, but The Argus has not been muzzled
nor will it be. 1t is in fight not of its own
choosing, but having entered the fight, it pro-
poses to remain to the finish, for The Argus
has never yet been guilty of quitting when once
1t engaged itself in a just cause. The issue
today is whether Rock Island is to be controlled
BY the underworld or whether it is to be con-
trolled, as it has been in other years. by the
taxpayers and home owners.
The day is coming, and it is not far distant
when you, Mr.. Citizen, will have to stand UT
and be counted. whether you want your city
managed in the interest of the common good
or in the interest of a crowd of murderers ban.
dts and grafters. The Argus is not allied with
the murderers, bandits and grafters. Are you!