THOMAS ASSAILS WHALEN FOR LOW POLICE MORALE; SAYS POLITICAL INTERFERENCE RUNS DEPARTMENT
Thomas Assails Whalen for Low Police Morale; Says Political Interference Runs Department Commissioner's Public Record Makes Him Unfit for Present Important Job IN the course of his...
...The Socialist candidate charged that promotions of 13 deputy inspectors and captains had been made on the request of District Attorneys Newcome and McGeehan of Queens and the Bronx, respectively...
...Vanderwater made it perfectly clear that all speakeasies fall within the sphere of the Nuisance Act...
...Thomas revealed that the j understanding that police depart- ¦ ment positions are guided by Civil Service rules is a gross misconception...
...By common consent they had a pretty good case against the company which has systematically tried to rob both the workers and the City...
...He has revealed Commissioner Whalen as responsible for low morale in the rank and file of the city's police officers...
...Thomas, "the strike of certain employees of the I.R.T...
...Inspector Leenan went from the 'tenderloin' to Yorkville 'more to help clean up other spots than because he hadn't done a good job.' However, it was hinted throughout the city that he had been too active...
...Instead of using the District Attorney's office, as it has been used in the past, to seek and enforce injunctions against workers on strike, William Karlin will see to it that workers enjoy the same rights that their employers do, and receive the equal protection of the i laws...
...Members of many labor unions who today enjoy better working conditions and higher standards of living will recall that during the initial stages of their organization activities...
...In Austria there en only five cities and they are Oder Socialist administrations, including Vienna, with 2,000,000 population, which has realized the moot amazing program of municipal housing of any city in the world...
...If this referendum passes it will be due to no efforts of Mayor Walker or Commissioner Whalen...
...William Karlin was there with '.hem, to protect and defend them In the exercise of their cocstitu; tional rights...
...There have been more brazen switches...
...Daring his professional career he handled 5.000 landlord and tenant cases...
...He I pointed out that in single strikes 'there have bees arrests of 1.350 pickets, of 200 pickets, and of 1,130 pickets...
...Not once, in all those years and in all those cases, did he represent the landlord...
...Such a large number of speakeasies in New York City means one to approximately every 54 resident male adults...
...Thomas charged against Commissioner Whalen: 1—that Whalen, while secretary to former Mayor Hylan, had interfered with the administration of the police department in the interest of favored members of the force...
...Wherever entrusted with power, here or abroad, the Socialists have broken up the alliance between crime and politics...
...Whalen's estimate of 32,000 speakeasies may be part of that plan...
...Do you remember the night when the Industrial Squad of plain clothes men on the adjournment of a meeting of the strikers turned to and indiscriminately beat them up as they were leaving the hall 1 One was beaten near to death...
...In Denmark nineteen cities have socialist administrations and in Finland 144 cities have come under Socialist control...
...Thomas, opened heavy fire on Commissioner Whalen's record in public office, alleging that, as Commissioner of Plants and Structures, he had fought to have the city spend $42.000,000 on an East River Bridge which "would bring Brooklyn right to the door of the John Wanamaker store" on Astor place...
...They are reported only 'for caus Socialists Run Thousands of World's Cties Vienna and Amsterdam Among Great Municipalities Governed w Sswialist Party UjfLTKE tbe conservative and liberal parties, the Labor and Socialist parties of the world are tatted in an international organtndion which meets every few years in an international congress...
...In this—as in most things—there is no difference between the two old parties...
...The police broke up an orderly line of pickets composed mostly of girls of about high school age, using their clubs to do it...
...Police and Civil Liberties "One of the Commissioner's first statements on coming into office was 'There's enough law at the end of a night stick.' And he followed that with a number of attacks on constitutional rights...
...He endorsed the proposed referendum which would raise policemen's and firemen's salaries...
...the ashes: 3—that as Plants and Structures Commissioner he had mismanaged the city-owned Staten Island bus lines...
...Ever since he has been in public life, he has employed his talents in defense of the poor and the helpless...
...One Judge found it necessary to inform two prisoners that they had an excellent chance to sue for false arrest...
...Latvia .........(1928) 26 100 Lithuania ......(1926) 15 78 Netherlands____(1929) 24 100 New Zealand .. 12 80 Norway .......(1927) 59 150 Poland ........(1928) 63 444 South Africa ...(1929 8 135 Sweden ........(1928) 90 230 Switzerland ____(1928) 50 198 Mrs...
...We ought also to consider that in 1925 it was estimated that there' were only 2.000 speakeasies, indicating a 1600', increase in four years...
...New York City voters, when they go to the polls on November 5. will choose between William Karlin, whose life-long record is a guaranty of an honest administration of that office, Frederic P Coudert, who has no record, but an entangling alliance with the Republican machine, which will prevent him from making a record, and Thomsa) C. T. Crain...
...The only time that Whalen showed any activity in the matter of enforcing the Nuisance Act was when 'he saw the possibility of increasing the police force through its means...
...Thomas revealed wide discrepacies...
...One of the first things he did was to reinstate Acting Lieutenant Patrick G. Fitzgibbons whom Warren had demoted for appropriating $17,000 of the funds of the Police Glee Club...
...Such administrations are also numerous in Czecho-slovakia, Belgium and Australia...
...Thomas supplied names and figures...
...The alliance between politicians and criminals in New York City happens to be an alliance between the underworld an...
...he said...
...William Kariin is the candidate of the Socialist Party...
...of employment intolerable, he defended them in the courts, fre'fuently without compensation, anl when the strikers found themselves attacked on the picket line...
...Unlike the two old parties, the Socialist Party has no entangling alliance with the criminals...
...A few of them had criminal records but there was no evidence against most of them and they had to be immediately dismissed when their cases came up in court...
...Working shifts of 12 and 1G hours existed during most of Walker's administration, Mr...
...In the day or so before Christmas, 160 unfortunate derelicts were picked up and held over ; the week-end...
...William Karlin stands head and shoulders above his opponents...
...Do you recall another garment strike when 1,130 strikers were arrested, herded in cells, only to have 660 discharged later as guiltless and within the law...
...Usually such deI motions and switches are not ex' plained...
...Thomas then took up some of Whalen's activities as police commissioner...
...I say that the Mayor of New York City can stop this sort of performance as the Socialist Mayor of Milwaukee has stopped it...
...4—that bus graft existed in the Plants and Structures department and that Whalen had condoned it...
...While the two old parties require criminals to enable them to win elections and to perform other services, the Socialist Party stands for cleanliness in public affairs, for a relentless weeding out of the habitual criminals, while redeeming those who because o* unfavorable economic conditions are driven to commit crimes...
...No complete statistics have been gathered of Labor and Socialist adtjtnistratkffis in municipalities but {-tare are thousands of cities unfsr such control...
...That is conceded by non-Socialists...
...In other cities, where the Republican machine is in control, the alliance is between the underworld and the Republican Party...
...Where were they when he was making these fights on behalf of the oppressed...
...It is the enemy of the conditions that breed such alliances...
...Wages are low in the department, hours are long and promotion is not on the basis of merit but on the basis of political influence...
...Thomas said that 40 per cent of them receive less than $2,000 a year, "a bare subsistence wage...
...There is no distinction between 'ordinary' speakeasies and breeding places of crime...
...One striking phase of the triumph of municipal Socialism in other countries is that, with few exceptions, the cities have not been cursed with the chicane and graft which are typical of capitalistparty rule in this country...
...One of the first big jobs of Socialist city administrations in this country is to clean up the dirty mess that old party rule leaves when the grafters are forced into oblivion The extent of Labor and Socialist influence and power in the parliaments of many countries may be teen in the table below...
...The representation in the parliaments is as follows: Labor and Socialist Representation in the Lower Houses of Parliament in the Nations of the World...
...I take the 192Q census report which says there are 1.737,043 adult males in New York City as a basis...
...only to be dismissed i in the morning for lack of charges against them...
...In the first month Whalen was in office...
...2—That police officers have been demoted in rank for activity against speakeasies...
...Johns Lutheran Church, Greenpoint...
...In another address Mr...
...and in the course of his address made the following charges: 1—That speakeasy graft prevails on a wide scale in the police department...
...Can his Republican and Democratic opponents boast of a similar record of service to the people...
...Thomas asserted, and went on to : charge that politics plays a major part in the disposing of these berths...
...Throughout his administration, Whalen tried to convince the New York public that the task of closing the speakeasies is far too tremendous and that, therefore, it should not be attempted...
...Mem- Total Coentrr bers Seats Australia ......(1929) 43 76 Austria ........(1927) 71 165 Belgium........(1929 ) 70 1 86 Czechoslovakia .(1929) 48 300 Denmark ......(1929 ) 61 149 Esthonia ......(1926) 26 100 Finland .......(1927) 60 200 Prance ........(1928) 101 612 Germany ......(1928) 153 492 Great Britain ..(1929) 288 615 Hungary.......(1926) 14 245 Ireland ........(1927) 13 153 Japan .........(1929 ) 8...
...whom Tammany Hall has fed for forty-one years, And who...
...Therefore...
...William Karlin was with them, advising them and helping them lay tae foundations of their trade unioiis...
...Thomas declared the issue of closing speakeasies is not to be confused with the question of prohibition...
...He said: 'Crooks and gangsters are to be dealt with on the assumption that they have no constitutional rights.' On another occasion he said that he had studied law and did not recall anywhere in the law books anything about the rights of known criminals...
...During his professional career, more than forty organizations of working people have called on him for advice and help...
...They were canvassing ail those places, probably 'testing' liquor and looking out for criminals, but without much thought of closing them along the way...
...Turning to a defense of the "man on the beat," Mr...
...Above the rank of captains, he pointed out, promotion is at the will of th3 Police Commissioner...
...Thomas continued, "it is not difficult to understand some of our hero's activities on becoming Police Commissioner...
...I was interested in the paper box strike in the winter of 1926'27...
...Says Political Interference Runs Department Commissioner's Public Record Makes Him Unfit for Present Important Job IN the course of his campaign Norman Thomas has discussed the police department "from the record...
...With that background...
...He assailed Walker and Whalen for failing to close the speakeasies and pledged his full energy, if elected, to do all in his power to enforce the law against public nuisances, under which, by court ruling, speakeasies come...
...The Court at Lawlessness Against Strikers and Others Denounced by Socialist Candidate for Mavor Appeals in the case of People vs...
...Always Stood For the Poor As a candidate...
...He served often without a fee...
...Hundreds of German and Swedish cities have inch administrations...
...the parties Si sO other countries...
...Instead cf choosing ward heelers who are to be rewarded for their political service, William Karlin will appoint as Assistant District Attorneys men who are qualified by experience, whose honesty is beyond question, whose right to hold office will be determined not by what they had done to pile up a vote for a political candidate but by what they had done in private practice to earn the confidence of their clients...
...There are three compelling reasons why William Karlin can do in the District Attorney's office what neither of his opponents can do...
...in 1926...
...Allowing for estimated population increase since 1920, would give us a speakeasy for every 56 adult males, according to Whalen...
...Thomas assailed the police department for lawlessness and brutality, which, he alleged, is practiced against trade unionists in every strike...
...Outside of London the labor Party has a majority in 420 cities besides 10,000 councillors...
...In the tremendous shake-up and shift of district officials in the middle of July, many very active inspectors were shifted, although the excuse for the changes was that better results were required...
...The police are given no choice...
...Census" Was Taken "And yet the police ought certainly to know how many there are...
...In support of his charges, Mr...
...Tbe figures give only the approximate representation of Labor and Socialist parties...
...Thomas cited charges ! of violence in three strikes...
...Two of them had been intoxicated while on duty...
...Serjeant's Fee Charged to Ice "When police can make the :hoice of what speakeasies are to be or not to be raided, there is a fertile field for graft, and-it is perfectly patent that in New York City there is a tremendous amount of it...
...Whaled has 863 better paid jobs, with aggregate salaries of $2,734,416 at his disposal, Mr...
...When they found condition...
...Analyzing the number of arrests and convictions made by men recently promoted, Mr...
...Nations like Hungary, Lithuania and Poland are under regimes of repression so that it is difficult for Labor and Socialist parties to function...
...2,450 people were rounded up in the week-end raids...
...Out of this they pay for their equipment...
...Thomas as aDDarentlv due to Rodman Wanamaker's desire to repay him for his efforts...
...Do you remember," said Mr...
...Other nations like Bulgaria, Spain and Greece face dictatorships while Mussolini in Italy has destroyed all forms of democracy and Fascist bands rule through force and terror...
...A few of the London borough councils are administered by the Labor Party and they have also carried out a splendid housing program...
...Stephen S. Wise Hails Thomas as Leader By MRS...
...They are: the candidate, the party and the program...
...Are you aware that in the strike of the cafeteria workers 1,350 pickets were arrested...
...Federal Judges and Assistant District Attorneys have condemned the New York Police Deoartment in this connection: Headquarters Condones Graft "That headquarters, too, is interested in protecting the speakeasies is suggested by the sudden demotions and switches of active men...
...Thomas asserted and their elimination was foroeri from Whalen...
...Norway has 15 Socialist municipal administraians sad while no figures axe availtide for France a rough estimate will place a hundred cities under Socialist control...
...After that he reinstated a number of men who had been convicted on charges and dismissed from the force by Warren...
...3— That Police Commissioner Whai len's estimate that there are 32,000 I speakeasies is made ridiculous by I the U. S. census figures...
...Do you remember when 202 dressmakers were arrested at a single time...
...An eye-witness reported concerning that strike that a striker had his front teeth knocked out by a blow from a policeman, a girl was badly bruised when an officer struck her with a chair, a picket was dragged into a shop and beaten up by a policeman...
...On August 14th, this year...
...And finally, he said: 'Any man with a previous \ record is public property.' Denounces "Round-L'ps" "And so he proceeded to send squads of police throughout the city into pool rooms, lodging houses, cheap restaurants and other 'haunts of the city', to round up ,and arrest any and everyone they could find...
...Hounding: Strikers I Continuing his attack on the ad- 1 ministration of the police department and the lower courts, Mr...
...2—that he was interested in the ash removal firm, Holland and Company, which had dumped ashes on the Court House site at a cost to the city of $400,000 for removin...
...Amsterdam, Holland, is run by Socialists...
...In the State Legislature, where he served, he was a consistent champion of the tenant, the worker, the plain people of the State...
...Detective Sergeant John Boyle, Detective Robert Regan, and Detective Michael Carney were demoted after winning the praise of church and civic organizations for their activities in cleaning up gambling, speakeasies and vice in the Rockaways...
...Then after working six weeks, hopelessly muddling up traffic, announcing 'there is enough law at the end of a night stick' and generally encouraging police brutality, our over-worked Police Commissioner went on a three weeks' va1 cation...
...The dashing new Commissioner hemmed and hawed and answered, 'Well, there are certain types of places which are breeding places of crime and I want to rid the city of them.' This was the attitude with which he faced his duty of enforcing Section 1530 \ of the Penal Code, the Nuisance ; Act, which declares a 'public nuisance/ to be a crime...
...Let me quote only three instances...
...Wast is accomplished in one nation is of interest tt...
...for during the last part of July and in early August, the patrolmen of every district were busy taking a census of speakeasies...
...STEPHEN S. WISE I have joined the Non-Partisan Committee because I believe in the principles it represents and because I have complete faith in the leadership of Norman Thomas whose record in every walk of life is blameless and who is as wise as he is honorable...
...Do you remember the fur strike of 1927 when 200 workers were arrested at one time ? Do you remember another incident during that strike when 39 strikers were arrested and were subsequently dismissed...
...in all those years, remained a loyal servant of the saachine...
...Large numbers of these pickets, when brought to court, were found guiltless and discharged...
...Would Name Competent Aides Secondly...
...It is only an excuse of Whalen to shirk his duty when he invents fine distinctions under the Nuisance Act...
...Do you recall the cloak union's strike of 1926 when over 1.000 workers, including President Morris Sigman, were rounded up like cattle and arrested...
...On Speakeasies Thomas took up the question of speakeasies in comprehensive fashion in an address at the St...
...32.000 seems to be an exaggerated figure...
...Tammany Hall...
...Canada has one aseh city and Porto Rico has 32...
...He said, in nart: "On Grover Whalen's triumphal entry into the Police Department, he was asked by a bold reporter whether the speakeasies were to be closed...
...and in many cases, where the decision in the lower court was particularlyunjust, he carried the appeal to the higher courts at his own expense...
...Karlin Hits Tammany Crime Ring Socialist Candidate For District Attorney Would Make Office Great Force for Justire TX) br3ak up the alliance between politics and crime—politicians and criminals—the Socialist Party of New York County has nominated for the office of District Attorney William Karlin, former Socialist Assemblyman, and for many years—ever since he identified himself with the Socialist movement—a valiant champion of the people...
...Whalen's subsequent appointment as general manager cf the store was declared by Mr...
...Thirdly, the program by which William Karlin proposes to discharge the duties of the District Attorneyship is to be distinguished from what the Tammany crowd has done, and by what the P.epublicans will be able to do...
Vol. 9 • October 1929 • No. 12
