Evening star., 1951-03-20

the detectives throughout the city
and outside the city"
But, said Mr.. ODwyer, Com
missioner Wallender told him the
plan would not work. He quoted
the commissioner as saying the
squad would be crossing lines"
of other commands and dis
turbing morale
Squad Was Dissolved.
Mr.. O'Dwyer said Mr.. Wallander
was a good commissioner" and
that he took the commissioners
advice, and the squad was dis
solved.
The Mayor said Balls job had
not been to halt corruption di-
rectly but to get information.
Mr.. HALEY asked whether Mr.,
ODwyer had heard rumors that
when Mr.. Balls headed the con-
fldential squad the usual meth
cd" of paying for police protection
was to be substituted by a system
of getting police protection from
Mr.. Balls.
Mr.. O'Dwyer-That's the first
I heard OF it.
Mr.. Halley-You certainly SuS-
pected police corruption?
Mr.. O'Dwyer-I was worried for
four years. I knew l was sitting
on a powder keg and any one who
is in city hall is sitting on al
powder keg. You know how diff
cult it is to put finger on it.
Made Running" Investigation.
Mr.. Halley-Did you put your
finger on it?
Mr.. O'Dwyer-I did one other
thing over and above that. I as
signed John Murtagh to do run
ming investigation.
Mr.. Halley-What do you mean
by a running investigation?
Mr.. ODwyer-To find out all he
could without further orders from
me.
Mr.. Halley-What concrete re-
suits have come out of that in
vestigation?
Mr.. O'Dwyer-I think you
wouldn't be here today if the Jer-
sey authorities had prosecuted on
information given them by Mr..
Murtagh.
He apparently meant the gam
bling situation would have been
cleaned up then.
Mr.. Halley-Did you ever check
the number of scratch sheets sold
every morning?
Wants Scratch Sheets Banned.
Mr.. O'Dwyer-I did not.
Mr.. Halley-Well, they reached
an all-time high record in 1946I
of 42,550,000.
Mr.. O'Dwyer-I am waiting for
the beautiful day when a Federal
law would prevent the publication
of scratch sheets or any racing
information.
Gov. Dewey last night acknowl-
edged an invitation by Senator
Kefauver to come to New York toI
testify about gambling at Sara
toga Springs, N. Y, and about
Charles lucky Luciano, deport-
ed vice king.
Gov. Dewey, who is i'll, instead
invited the committee to Albany
to hear his views on organized
crime. The committee replied that
it had no intention of journeying
to the New York State Capital.
Another development was the
committees first night session
here, devoted to a sordid story of
gambling and waterfront strike
breaking across the Hudson River
in New Jersey.
But it was the testimony by Mr..
O'Dwyer and Costello at the late
afternoon session that provided
the committee with it's meatiest
data in more than a week of open
hearings here.
Agree They Met.
The politician and the gambler,
in a crowded and tense courtroom,
agreed that they met in 1912 at
Costello's Central Park West
home.
Mr.. O'Dwyer added that he
might have met with Costello once
more. but he said he couldn't say
for sure. He said his dealings
with the gambler were strictly
in line with his duties as an Army
investigator probing contracts at
Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio.
AS he concluded about five hours
on the stand, Mr.. O'Dwyer said the
Costello linked political assistance
he received in 1945 was not his
idea. He insisted there was no