2i 8 The New York Police Force 



sort, who only thinks about his own personal advan- 

 tage, find it easiest to disregard these facts, and to 

 pass a liquor law which will please the temperance 

 people, and then trust to the police department to 

 enforce it with such laxity as to please the intem- 

 perate. 



The results of this pleasing system were evident 

 in New York when our board came into power. The 

 Sunday liquor law was by no means a dead letter in 

 New York City. On the contrary, no less than eight 

 thousand arrests for its violation had been made 

 under the Tammany regime the year before we 

 came in. It was very much alive; but it was only 

 executed against those who either had no political 

 pull or who refused to pay money. The liquor busi- 

 ness does not stand on the same footing with other 

 occupations. It always tends to produce criminality 

 in the population at large, and law-breaking among 

 the saloon-keepers themselves. It is absolutely nec- 

 essary to supervise it rigidly, and impose restrictions 

 upon the traffic. In large cities the traffic can not 

 be stopped; but the evils can at least be minimized. 



In New York the saloon-keepers have always stood 

 high among professional politicians. Nearly two- 

 thirds of the political leaders of Tammany Hall have, 

 at one time or another, been in the liquor business. 

 The saloon is the natural club and meeting place for 

 the ward heelers and leaders, and the bar-room poli- 

 tician is one of the most common and best recognized 

 factors in local political government. The saloon- 

 keepers are always hand in glove with the profes- 



