Evening star., 1922-08-03
.DENS CLOSE DOORS
FOR EXPOSE PERIOD
Continued from First PageD


permanently. The gamblers" he de-
clared. have pulled up their stakes
and left because of the stir the Wash
lngton newspapers are raising"
Women Organize.
Satisfied. they say, that the au-
thorities of Prince Georges county are
not making any efforts tozclose the
gambling houses permanently. MEM
bers of the League of Women Voters
of Prince Georges county have or
ganized a committee to urge the
county authorities to recognize the
state police.
Mrs. II. ]. Patterson. wife of DR.. H.
]. Patterson of the University of
Maryland, at College Park, chairman
of the committee, announced today
that the members of the league are
firmly convinced that the state police
will quickly close the dens in the
the county if this police force is Of
ficial1y recognized by the county and
that the force will restore law and
order in the county.
THE committee of which / am
chairman" said Mrs. Patterson. had
been working for more than a year
to have the county authorities recog-
nize the state police. But We have
made no progress in that line. How
ever. we intend to keep up our work
and we feel that in the end we will
win.
County Officers Raped.
1.-THE state police force is just what
is needed in Prince Georges county
to, establish law and order. Our
county officers either cannot or will
not cope with the situation. We
have asked Sheriff Sweeney to swear
the state policemen in as deputy
sheriffs, but he will not meet US to
dsecuss our request. He recently
wrote US letter saying that because
the last Legislature did not see fit to
make the state police a state con-
stabulary. he could see no reason
why he should swear in the members
as deputy sheriffs. Before the legis-
lature he told us that he had talked
with leading citizens of the county
and they advised him not TO recog 4
niZe the state police.
PERSONALLY ] have not seen the
gambling places said to be in exist
ence h ere, but il is common talk about
here that they do exist. Our league
Will lalk ABOUT intHl III liit Hthl
meeting of the county grange to as
sist us in getting the state police for
Prince Georges county"
Gambling Declared Rampant.
Mrs. Jesse Campbell Sawyer of
Mayhurst, Nd, county chairman of
the League of Woman Voters, said
gambling was rampant in the county
and that the county officers had made
no effort to stop it. She said the So
luton to the situation is the official
recognition of the state police.
It personally have never been to any
of the gambling houses" said Mrs.
SAWYER, but several of my friends
have been to them. They tell me that
while they saw complete gambling
paraphernalia in the houses. the
gamblers play craps principally, and.
they said, the stakes were large.
"The county authorities say that
they cannot get any evidence to con-
yict the gamblers or to show that
the gambling houses exist. If my
friends could get the evidence. / can
not understand why the authorities
cannot l have been told on good
authority that the persons who con-
duct the gambling houses have their
names on the county tax books at
Marlboro, and that their houses and
paraphernalia are taxed by the
county.
I'VE need the state police here. and
we will keep working for that organ
ization until we get it"