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Show BECKER WORSE THAN MURDERER Murderers in New York are more daring and less liable to retributive justice than in the west even the wild and wooly west. The evidence now being presented at the trial of Charles Becker, the former for-mer police lieutenant, proses that law lessness in the big metropolis has been promoted by the police and horrible murders have been sanctioned by tho officers of the law, and then when outrages out-rages have been committed the authorities author-ities have rallied to the protection of the criminals Nothing like that ever occurred in the W'eBt, not even in the days when stage coaches were being held up and badmen operated in mining town and railroad camp. Bridgie Webber, testifying jester day in the Becker case, said he collected collec-ted graft from gambling houses for Jack Rose and had met Becker through Rose and was present at the alleged conference where the plot to murder Rosenthal was discussed ."Becker told me of Rosenthal's threat to squeal to the district attorney attor-ney then called me aside and told me he wanted me to get the boys to croak Rosenthal," Webber said. "I said there would be a lot of trouble if that was done, and Becker replied, 'I'll fix everything. There will be no trouble.' So I agreed to have Rosenthal croaked." croak-ed." The witness described how the gunmen gun-men gathered In his poker rooms the night of the murder Webber said he went out and succeeded in finding Rosenthal in the Metropole hotel. A little later Rosenthal was shot down. Not long after, he said he and Rose met Becker "Becker,'' said the witness, "congratulated "con-gratulated Rose and then borrowed $1000 from me to get the gunmen out of town.'" A man may in a moment of hatred I and intense anger, shoot and kill, but a guardian of the peace who, as did Becker deliberately plans murder in order to hide his graft and makes use of the lowest element to carry out his awful decree of death, Is worse than murderer he Is a fiend. That Becker, a police lieutenant, should have associated with and made confidants of the gunmen is sufficient to condemn him Had any great, number num-ber of the police officers of New Yoik been equally dlsregardful of their duty to the public, the city would have been turned over to the thugs to be looted BQd DO man life would have been safe. A crime of that kind should call for extreme penalty In time of war. i spy or a traitor, when taught, is executed exe-cuted because neither one can be allowed al-lowed to escape the severest punishment punish-ment without endangering the entire army The same rule is applicable to a peace officer who leagues himself wiih murderous cutthroats His acts must lend to the breaking down of the safeguards of society and the sup planting of orderly government by the ery worst form of anarchy. |
