PAGE TWO
THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, AUGUST 30, 191 2.
INVESTIGATING
CRAFT AN
THE SYSTEM IN
W
Whitman, Golf, Gurran and
Buckner Constitute trio
Big Four.
By JAMES A. EDGERTON.
WHEN the Now York board of
aldermen decides that any
thing la bo bad thnt It needs
Investigation tbo public la
entitled to Its own conclusions. Homo
will opluo that the abuse In question
must be very bad Indeed, and some
oilier will shut one optic and remark
that n pood, stiff coat of kalsomlno Is
nbout to be applied. These two views
nre not as Inconsistent ns thoy would
seem, for tbe worse tho conditions the
more need of whltownsh. In case
things lire so bad that oven whitewash
will not cover them something else
may Imj necessary. Two or three
scapegoats may bo trotted Into tho
wilderness, and there may bo reports
nnd doings of various kinds. Hut the
"system" can stand things of that sort,
ns It has stood them before. Tho "sys
tem" has more lives than a cat, for a
cat can be killed, but no ono has yet
killed tho "system." Lexow thought
he had done so, and other Investiga
tors havo harbored similar delusions,
but tho "system" has only shifted Its
baso and continued doing business.
Publicity Is a great corrective, nnd
some people 1m1Iovc It a sovereign rem
edy for most of tho ills that afflict us,
Including graft, bribery and all the
brood springing from tho nnlon of
crooked politics and crooked bnslness.
Investigation is a form of publicity
nt least sometimes. At other times It
Is a method of satisfying tho public
and holding matters In nbeyanco until
the thing blows over. It all depends on
just how much tho dear peoplo are
n roused.
Publicity may not mako peoplo good,
but it nt least makes them careful.
That Is the effect It Is having In New
York. Since the Itosenthal murder there
has been one continuous scream of pub
licity about protected vice and police
Kraft with the result that tho under
world Is growing somewhat circum
spect and cautious. Several well known
Kim men are hiding out, several police
men and "men higher up" aro on tbe
anxious seat, and several politicians
nre doing heavy turns and dark brown
thinking.
Gambling on the Q. T.
Ah for gambling. It Is now more ex
clusive than the smart set. No society
leader scans her list of guests more
closely than does the owner of roulette
wheels, faro banks and poker tables.
The papers even say that these Joints
nre closed altogether, and there nre
folks verdant enough to accept the
statement Suffice it to say that there
Is never a time in New York when ono
wishing to gamble cannot havo Ills de
sires gratified. Nevertheless there is
n panicky feeling around tin; Tender
loin these days, and cltizeus of shady
occupations walk warily, for pub
licity is still screaming of vice and
graft In Gotham, nnd the Investigating
committee in nt work In the land.
The big four of tho inquiry aro Dis
trict Attorney Charles S. Whitman, Al
derman Henry H. Curran, chairman
of tho investigating committee; As
sistant District Attorney Emory It.
Buckner, counsel for tho committee,
nnd Supreme Court Justice John V.
GoiT, who is to havo charge of a John
Doe Inquiry and la expected to pre
side at the trial of tho Itosenthal sus
pects. These men are in earnest and
have tho confidence of tho community.
Tho Rosenthal case has made Dis
trict Attorney Whitman one of the
really big men of tho metropolis. It
takes n nimble mnn to stack up in
New York, for Gothnm is full of able
men, akio full of knockers. The iop
ular motto In the big town Is that a
man must "deliver the goods," nnd
nobody amounts to much who doesu't
"put it over." In other words, Now
York Is looking for results nnd meas
ures n man by what ho actually ac
complishes. This Is but modern slang
for Judging a tree by its fruits, which
has been un honored modo of charac
ter reading for 1,900 years.
How Whitman Makes Good.
The talk of the street Is that Whit
man Is making good In tho Itosenthal
case. IIo himself says nnd nearly
everybody agrees wltli him thnt ho
not only has had little help from tho
IolIcc, but that he lias uctually been
blocked by the police. Mr, Whitman was
born in Connecticut nnd is forty-four
years old. IIo graduated from Am
herst and studied law in tho New York
university. Ills first oOlco was that of
assistant corjwratlon counsol. no then
became a city magistrate and Inter
was made president of tho board of
magistrates. It was In this capacity
that he stirred up tho animals by n
series of raids. In 1007 ho wns ap
pointed by Governor nughes n Judgo
of the court of general sessions nnd
in 1010 was elected district attorney.
Personally Mr. Whitman Is quiet in
speech nnd manner. IIo Is tho sort of
man who makes fow false moves, but
can get a prodigious amount of work
dono without seeming to hurry. IIo
goes to tho heart of n matter in tho
shortest posslblo tlmo nnd digs to the
bottom of n enso for tho facts. Ills
methods havo been illustrated by this
very Rosenthal case. With little help
They Are Ail Fighters and
Are Very Much In
Earnest.
from tbo police nnd despite nasntitta
on him by tho mayor nnd police com
missioner, ho has continued dettowluc
the goods. By Inducing sovorfll men
to confess ha hns worcn n chain of vl
denco nronnd one nontenant of jU
ud has unearthed enough widcDoa 6t
graft to set tho whole city 'by th
ears. In the expresstvo language of
the day, Whitman Is making good.
Goff and the Lcxow Inquiry.
Justice John W. Golf, who is to bo
the trial Judge, was tho nttornoy of
tho famous Lexow investigation eight
een years ngo. Now York has never for
gotten the thorough manner In which
ho carried on that inquiry, nnd It has
created universal satisfaction that ho
Is to be to prominently ldcutllled with
this prolK), which promises to go vn
deeper than did that of 1894. Goff has
boon a terror to tbo underworld arcr
since thnt day. IIo was born hi Ira
land nnd came to America in boyhood.
Ho wns educated in Cooper Union, rend
law and was admitted to the bar In
1S70. In 1SSS ho wos mudo assistant
district attorney and later wns the
Ho will havo as great nn opportunity
to distinguish himself ns did John W.
Goff In tho Lexow inquiry or Charles
E. Hughes In the Insurance investiga
tion. Buckner is thlrty-flvo yenrs old
nnd has had n brilliant career. IIo
has boon in New York only flvo years
and lias been admitted to tho bar but
four, nnd yet ho has mado nn cnvlablo
tuuno ns clean, honest, capable nnd a
hard hitter. Ho was born In Iowa
nnd Is tho nou of n Methodist minister.
Tho boy's oariy llfo wns spent In Ne
braska, where ho was graduated from
high school and next taught school to
enru money to put him through col
lego. It wns then that he met the
proocnt Mrs. Buckner, nnd both re
solved to mnko enough money for a
college education before they married.
Tills took pluck, but thoy won, young
Buckner not only teaching school, but
acting as a court reporter. They en
tered tlie University of Nebraska in
1900 and n yoor later were married.
In 1004 Mr. Buckner graduated, after
which ho entered tlw Harvard Law
school.
Tho samo year lve was admitted to
tho bar, 1008, Mr. Buckner distinguish
ed himself in n counterfeiting cane and
wns appointed nn assistant in tlto office
of tho United States district nttornoy.
In tlw following two years Ito partici
pated In tho prwecutlon of tho cele
brated sugar trust cases. In 1010 ho
beenme nn assistant to District Attor
ney Whitman of tho county of New
York nnd slnco then has had charge of
Uw prosecutions In the criminal branch
of tho supreme court, ono of tlie most
responsible positions before tho Now
York bar.
A Responsible Post.
In this capacity ho has conducted
such famous cases as thnt against
Daniel O'Reilly, tho counsel In tho
Thaw case, tho "Biff" Ellison trial and
Photos by American PresB Association.
NEW YORK'S GEAFT PROBERS.
1, EMORY R. BUCKNER, ATTORNEY OF THE INVESTIGATING COM
MITTEE; 2, ALDERMAN nENRY H. CURRAN, CHAIRMAN OP THL
COMMITTEE; 3, CHARLES S. WHITMAN, DISTRICT ATTORNEY; 4,
SUPREME COURT JUSTICE JOHN W. GOPF.
counsel of tlw law association in the
Investigation nnd prosecution of elec
tion frauds. For twelvo years he was
recorder of the city of New York nnd
In 1900 was elected n Justico of the
supremo court.
Alderman Currnn has had several
bouts with Mayor Gaynor through the
public prints und has not minced
words. It wus ho that demanded an
investigation when Gnynor wns as
serting that there was little or no po
lice corruption. Curran rejoined hotly
through the papers nnd then got
enough signatures of aldermen to com
pel tho mayor to call together the
board. Tho nlderrncn themselves did
tho rest Tho investigation was order
ed, and Curran was placed nt tho head
of It His next niovo was to demand
enough money to carry on tho Inquiry,
and when tho mayor refused to call
together tho board of estimate to mako
tho necessary appropriation the alder
man nccused him of trying to block
tho inquiry.
A Career and an Opportunity.
The samo chargo wns renewed when
there wns an uttompt to foist on tho
commltteo nn nppolnteo of tho cor
poration counsel as tho attorney for
tho Investigation. Tho committee it
self called on District Attorney Whit
man to appoint Its counsel. Whitman
named one of his own assistants, Em
ory R. Buckner, and it is safe to say
that Mr. Buckner will bo tho official
attorney of tho inquiry, IIo will nt
least if Chairman Curran has anything
to say about it
Mr. Buckner is to havo a frco hand.
mo enso of "the shooting showgirls,"
Lillian Graham and Ethel Conrad. For
a man who wns admitted only four
yenrs ago this career Is nothing short
of phenomenal. Today ho has nn op
portunity such ns falls to tho lot of
few lawyers, young or old. Ills prevl
ous brilliant work holds out tho prom
lso that ho will make good.
One of tho most hopeful things nbout
tho "big four" In the pollco graft In
vestlgntlon Is thnt they aro nil fighters.
Thoy will need to be If they buck up
gainst tho "system" In New York
city. It will not be child's play. Ev
ery effort will bo mado to turn tlie In
qulry into a fnrce, to withhold testl
mony, to block its progress nnd to cov
er up and whitewash tho wholo nffnlr.
Hnvo these men tho moral stamina
and tho Intellectual ability to thwart
these attempts nnd to unenrth the
truth? If so thoy will start a new era
not only In tho government of New
York, but In thnt of other Amcrlcnn
municipalities, for there Is no question
thnt If thoy go to tho bottom a mass of
corruption will bo turned up that will
causo n revolution In city government
Already Philadelphia has started n
parallel Investigation Into hor own po
Ilco system, Detroit Is having an over
hauling of n slightly different kind, nnd
other cities will follow.
It is high time. Municipal conditions
In America havo become n disgrace and
n menace. It Is charged openly on ev
ery hand that there exists n working
ulllanco between criminals and tho po
lice. While tho charge is unquestlon
ably too sweeping, there Is enough
trutljn It to occasion gravo concern
YOUNG MARRIED
PEOPLE
Til
"BUYUAHOM" HTcipy
-HAS-
AN IDEAL HOME FOR YOU
all modem conveniences located
in one of the finest and healthiest sec
tions of Honesdale.
Don't Worry About Getting a Home
Let the "Buyuahom" Realty
Company worry for you.
Information cheerfully given
Drop a postal to P. O. Box 524, Honesdale, Pa.,
and we will tell you all about this unusually
rare bargain.
LIST OP PROPERTIES IN HONESDALE, PA.:
Vacnnt lots at Blandln; 1 dwelling house on Park street, Honesdale;
1 dwelling houso on Court street, Honesdale; 2 dwelling houses on
East Street Extension; 1 dwelling houso and vacant lot on lGth street;
1 dwelling houso on 13th street; 1 dwelling house on 17th street. Also
farms, hotels, and business properties.
NOTICE TO '
WATER
The use of water
for sprinkling lawns,
gardens, streets, etc.,
is hereby prohibited
EXCEPT between the
hours of 6 & 8 a. m.
and 6 & 8 p. m.
1
Honesdale Consolidated Water Co.