Satan's Invisible World Displayed; or, Despairing Democracy: A Study of Greater New YorkStead, W. T. (William Thomas)
History
Satan's Invisible World Displayed; or, Despairing Democracy: A Study of Greater New York
Stead, W. T. (William Thomas)
New York (N.Y.) -- Politics and government; Police -- New York (State) -- New York
Chairman Lexow: It seems to me that any evil of that kind permitted by
a judge is ten times worse than that committed by any other
individual.
Mr. Moss: Of course, I myself have been before some of these judges
for the society which I represent, and know what it was to be sat down
upon, and outraged and browbeaten.
Senator Bradley: The witness says to me that the judges eat and drink
with these people, and know the character of the people well.--Vol.
v., p. 4,897.
The best way of bringing out this aspect of the administration of justice
in New York is to set forth, without a word of comment, the substance of
the evidence taken concerning the abortionists.
Abortion is not regarded in New York with anything approaching the horror
that is excited by the same crime in the Old World. According to the
evidence given before the Lexow Committee by an expert there were about
two hundred abortionists who advertised every day in New York their
readiness to kill the unborn child. It is an irregular profession that has
regular practitioners. But, like all the other vices, it is a fertile
source of revenue to the police. Dr. Newton Whitehead, a leading
practitioner in this recognised system of antenatal infanticide, was
called before the Committee and testified as to the way in which he was at
once helped and hindered by the police. Whitehead was arrested three times
in six weeks. He was never tried on any one of these occasions. But he had
to pay in bribing the police and feeing the police lawyer the sum of £565.
The doctor was arrested by a policeman called Frink, who insisted that he
should retain for his defence a lawyer of the name of Friend. He was told
that Mr. Friend had got a telephone directly from his house to police
headquarters, so they informed him at once of all these cases, and he was
our lawyer--the police lawyer (vol. iv., p. 4,240). Somewhat reluctantly,
Whitehead sent for Friend. He had to pay him 700 dollars. Friend remarked
apologetically that he would not insist on so much; but “I don’t get this
money myself: I have to turn over 50 per cent. of it to the police.” “Our
lawyer,” indeed!
The policeman Frink then took his prisoner off into a small court-room,
and told him, “In all these cases, Doctor, we expect to have some money
off from them. Pay me 500 dollars and I will guarantee that the case will
be dismissed when it is called.” He paid 500 dollars and the case was
dismissed, the only evidence offered incriminating, not the doctor, but a
midwife, whom, however, they refused to prosecute, as “she did not have
any money, and was not worth bothering with.”
The lawyer, the doctor and the policeman dined together at a saloon in
University Place. During dinner the policeman grew confidential:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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