The New York Police Force 221 



city then took up the matter and called upon Police 

 Commissioner Martin.* An agreement was then 

 made between the leaders of Tammany Hall and the 

 liquor-dealers, according to which the monthly black- 

 mail paid to the police should be discontinued in 

 return for political support.^ In other words, the 

 retail dealers should bind themselves to solidly sup- 

 port the Tammany ticket in consideration of the dis- 

 continuance of the monthly blackmail by the police. 

 This agreement was carried out. Now what was the 

 consequence ? If the liquor-dealer, after the monthly 

 blackmail ceased, showed any signs of independence, 

 the Tammany Hall district leader would give the tip 

 to the police captain, and that man would be pulled 

 and arrested on the following Sunday." 



Continuing, Mr. Smith inveighed against the law, 

 but said: 



"The (present) police commissioners are honestly 

 endeavoring to have the law impartially carried out. 

 They are no respecters of persons. And our in- 

 formation from all classes of liquor-dealers is that 

 the rich and the poor, the influential and the unin- 

 fluential, are required equally to obey the law." 



There is really some difficulty in commenting upon 

 the statements of this interview, statements which 

 were never denied. 



The law was not in the least a dead-letter ; it was 

 enforced, but it was corruptly and partially enforced. 

 It was a prominent factor in the Tammany scheme 



* My predecessor in the Presidency of the Police Board. 

 t The italics are my own. 



