POLICE CORRUPTION IN NEW YORK. A STORY OF SYSTEMATIC BLACKMAIL.

North Otago Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8140, 27 November 1894, Page 4

POLICE CORRUPTION IN NEW YORK. A STORY OF SYSTEMATIC BLACKMAIL.

The lob of bhe Now York policeman la, apparently, a bappy and profitable one — until ha is brought before an investigating committee, Snob a committee has boon at work on the New York police during the past few months. The corruption ib has brongbb to light is sufficiently well proved by the riddance from tho force of several systemabio blackmailers. Mr Franklin Ma'thews, in Leslie's Weekly, gives a summary of the evidenoe submitted to tbd Hon. Lawrence Loxow, tho obairman of tho committee. UNIVERSAL BAOKBHEESH. fcVom this summary ib appears bhab tho investigation has brought oub bho following conclusions which, in the opinion of Leslie's Weekly, may be set down as foots : "Ib oosts 300dols bo beoomo a policeman in Now York, and the money goes somewhere ; ib costs aboub lOOOdol to become a roundsman, and tho money aleo goes somewhere j •t costs from 10,000dol to 12 OOOdol bo beoomo a captain, and that money goes soraewhero. Tho police commissioners appoint and promote those policemen, and these policemen bavo to pay Boraoone for all such favors, Ib ia a mistake, however, to suppose thab the police really have bo pay for bhora; Ob, no. Protected vice or levied blackmail pays for them. Thab means, as bhe investigation showed, to run a disorderly house ib costs 50dols a month, OOOdola annual fees, and 500 dots 'initiation fe6» ' whenever a now captain comes inbo bbc disbrict — and it is significant bbab the commissioners made frequent changes un&l recently , ' for the good of bhe service ;' ib costs from 20dols to 40dols a month to sell liquor without a lioeneo; ib costs about DOdols a year to sbore some of your goods on tho sidewalk if you are n the fruib or produce business ; you have to pay bbc policeman on the boat from lOdols to 20dols a month for sidewalk rent if you ore a dry goods merobant; you have to pay the policeman assigned to duty on your oteamship pier from lOdols to 20dols a month if you own a steamship line, and the ' envelope gang ' thereby employed is one of the ' aof b snaps ' on bho force ; if you are a builder it would be well to pay 20dols occasionally and save your men from arreob for blocking the street ; if you are a bootblack ib would be well for you to pay sdols a month to the policeman on your beab and shine his boobs grabis if you would be free from his annoyances ; if you are a street fakir, give somo of your wares to a policeman occasionally and you will nob be disturbed in your kerbstone traffic until it is time to make another * present j' if you kcop a fruit stand you musb lob tho policeman on your beat nibblo at your stock until 1 his appetite is sabiabed, and pay him about sdols a month in tribute, and you will then be allowed to sell with* out interference ; if you have a push carb and a license from bho oily bo boII your waroa, you nousb remember to see that tho polioo get) a omall rovonuc each month or you will be compelled to ' move on,' and even if you do pa> you rausb expecb to be huetlod awa) from bho kerb occasionally for the sak( of appearances ; you mueb expecb al these charges regularly ; bub if a now captain comes into tho district you musb be prepared to pay for his assess menb, and bbab will probably amounl bo a good sum, for did nob ono re< putablo merchant testify thab bhe ' ward man ' oarao round and raisec his sidewalk ronb, saying, r Ihe captair. boeds fifteen thousand dollars to pa) for his promotion.' " BRIBES FOR DISORDERLY HOUSES. There wore no fewer than one police commius ; over, two inspectors, and sixteen captains, out of thirty-seven in the department, accused of blackmail and other gravo crimes. " Ward men," otherwise known 'as precinct detoctives, wore accused by bhe score and ib was proved bhab you can secure a protection for any kind of vice and crime, except those against person and property, if you will only ** arrange " for ib with the police. JFor example : " Rboda Sanford sworo thab sho paid DOOdol initiation fee for protection, and 50dol a month, and also gave 500dol to a political organisation, bub which one abe did not say. She wa« finally driven out of busineeu Kate Schubert sworo that she paid dOOdol bo Captains Cross and M'Laughlin personally, and in small bills. Then came Augusta Thorow and her dealings with Roosoh, thon a senator. Rlio saw llooooh in bis office and complained that the polico wore dipping too heavily into her profits, and she said that Iloeach said he would call off the polioe for lOOdol. tier husband took tho money to a Tammany club to which both men belonged, and paid ib there to Koesob. The w rd men bothered her leas after that, but she was arrested often, and by paying the sergeant scoured false bail for herself and her girls. She was finally driven out because her girls solicited a captain from the street, and beeauee she could not raise 1 OOOdol to pay for this offence, Mrs Thorow'a husband corroborated all oho said, and then Roesoh demanded to bo heard in vindication. He got such a vindication as he never dreamed of. Mr Goff, tho relentless prosecutor of bhe committee, simp'y tortured him, and Roesohy the Tammany leader and civil justice, went away badly smirched. It was shown thab ho was counsel for a whole row of disorderly houses, and that for the lOOdols he received from Mrs Thorow for legal Borviceo, as ho explained it, he bad never done a single service as a lawyer, nob even drawing a single paper. Roesoh went away a badly discredited roan in bhe com« munity."

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