The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-10-27
SHAME OF THE COUNTY BAR.


the Rock Island County Bar association is
~ wholly free Of responsibility for the COM
n6hity's moral crisis. The Rock Island County !
Bar association comprising the men OF this |
county trained in the legal profession and in /
respect for the dignity of their callingx has. by
IT. failure to protest. condoned the dfsgraceful |
practices Of John Looney, fellow member, |
practices that every member of that organiza- |
ton ought to hang his head in shame for hav-
ing tolerated.
The Rock Island County Bar association
clothes John Looney with the professional rec
ignition that permits him to brazenly assert
that IL he ever took checks from William Ga
bel, the murdered saloonkeeper, he accepted
them in settlement of legal fees. 1t permitted
him to share in the. earnings of the Rex hotel,
q notorious house of prostitution, bootlegging
and dope roost, closed yesterday because
Looney could no longer protect it against po-
lice interference. 1t permitted him to pro-
mote, protect and profit from the various viti-
Gus and criminal activities that have for years
cursed and blighted Rock Island, dragging it
intU the mire of public ridicue and censure
before the eyes of the world. 1t permitted him
to organize an invisible government that ig-
nored and defied all the laws that the legal
profession is trained and sworn to uphold and
defend. 1t permitted him to exercise power
over officials and courts that made them
either unwilling impotent to fulfill their
constitutional oaths. 1t permitted him to pro-
mote and maintain an army of bandits and
thugs armed with guns and police powers and
with orders to resist interference from what
evsr source it might arise. 1t permitted him
to conduct in the community an institution
1 parading under the guise of newspaper that
has been employed to wiring tribute from I'M
! Aerworld weaklings under the pretense of ad-
sertsng and compel tolerance of his vicious
practices through threats of published exposure
az social or business indiscretions. 1t per-
mitted him to pose in the community as de-
fender of law and order, whereas his energies
and influence were almost entirely in those
] channels that offered insult to the profession
that he has prostituted. 1t has permitted him
to parade himself before the decent people as
\ a-candidate for county Judge while he is dodg-
\ ing United States marshals holding warrant
Il charging him with the thievery Of an automo-
II bile belonging to citizen of a neghboring
Il state. 1t has permitted him to arm his own
II young son with gun and policehan's star
Il and to instill in him such disregard of the
L right Of others that he melted an underworld
II feud that brought about his own destruction 1t
Il has permitted him to SO involve the police de-
H pArtment of the city that its members dared
Il not disregard his personal commands under
II the disguise Of law enforcement on pain of
Il dismissal. 1t has permitted him to entangle
Il public servants in the qualifications Of his ac-
/ cursed trafficking until some of them today
H have the bars Of the penitentiary staring them
Il In The face. 1t has permitted him to invade
\ the sanctity Of harmonious homes in the city
4 through the instrumehtality of his weekly
Il scavenger appearing in the form of a news
paper and shatter the bonds of trusting wives
Il and husbands. 1t has permitted him to publicly
II insult pure motherhood, an offense of itself
Il that would have brought an outpouring Of red
Il blooded men in other communities that would
II have dealt with him only vultures of his
Il type can be dealt with where the law seems
Il inadequate to reach him. 1t has permitted him
II to precipitate reign of murder and terror
Il that has required the force of the department
II OF Justice of the great commonwealth of Illi-
II nois to curb and punish 1t has permitted him
to maintain an armed fortress in respectable
residential neighborhood. surrounding him
Ii eeAA NY CROWD OF mugs and gunner that
H would not be countenanced "a hourS in any
other community Of $4,000 souls. 1t has per-
II mitted him to assassinate private characters of
Il men whose only omission has been their re-
I'll fusal to aid him il furtherance of some un-
81 worthy enterprise. 1t has permitted him to
III nurse an egotistical and dictatorial attitude
III that he has convinced himself is proof against
NJ either fundamental or physical law. 1t has
HI permitted him to turn Rock Island from city
t Of decency and safety into community dom
n mated by lawlessness.\ 1t has permitted him to
II become so firmly fortified and entrenched that
III he feared interference from no quarter. It has
HI permitted him to make of the community 35,-
III 30 moral towards over whom he felt he
could ride with impanity. II permitted him to
0ecdme SO secure that he believed that The
Argts was included in his kingdom.
John Looney. shorn OF his legal privileges
II would not have been able to disgrace Rock Is
Il land as he has done Without his permit to
Il pose as an attorney he could not rise above
the standing of common ward heller He Is
crafty. in the technicalities Of the law, but 9TH
erwise illiterate. He is absolutely devoid oil
manly impulses. He deserted his own flesh
md blood in the gun battle in Market square