The Tacoma Times

Wants Police Heed to Continue Raid Until There Are No Dens Operating

Finance Commissioner E. W. Fawcett put Safety Commissioner Eastwood "on the spot" Tuesday, demanding that police raid all known joints in Tacoma operating in violation of the law.

"Raid 'em again tonight; raid 'em tomorrow night, and every night until they stay closed," Fawcett demanded when Eastwood said his men had raided one "combination place" three times without discouraging its continued operation.

Fawcett held his fire until other council business was out of the way Tuesday morning, then he asked that Miss Genevieve Martin, city clerk, be excused from further attendance at the session.

As soon as she had left the room, and council and audience constituted only a small "stag" group, Fawcett related how he had been called at the telephone early Tuesday morning by an irate father whose daughter had come to grief in the course of New Year's celebration.

He said the call had come about 3 o'clock in the morning, that he had then called Commissioner Eastwood and had himself gone down to the safety building to confer with Eastwood on what could be done.

Met at Headquarters
Eastwood confirmed the fact that he had met Fawcett at police headquarters at 3:30 a. m.

"I'm not going to take the responsibility for anything that I have no control over," declared Fawcett to the council. "I want you to know that if you want to close this town, and close it right, I'm ready to go."

Mayor Siegle, up to Tuesday the chief critic of Eastwood's department, commented that what Fawcett now asked was all he had asked for himself in his letters of two or three weeks ago.

Siegle and Eastwood both testified about the number of times they have been called out of bed late at night to hear complaints of citizens. Siegle said he was tired of charges about himself and Eastwood and other members of the council being "crooks and grafters."

"I've been on this council eight years and nobody has ever pointed the finger of accusation at me," Fawcett asserted, "and nobody is going to."

New Evidence
Turning on Eastwood, he said: "If you want to admit that you're allowing places to operate in violation of the charter, that's up to you."

Eastwood insisted he had to have evidence before he could close up suspected places.

"Aw, the state law—really this thing is ridiculous," said Fawcett, when Eastwood referred to the difficulty of procedure under the state act.

"I'm not hiding behind the Steele law or any other law. Read the charter; that's all you need."

A prolonged discussion followed after which Fawcett, turning again to Eastwood, asked: "You'll publicly admit now that you're going to enforce the laws?"

"Certainly," Eastwood replied, "that's exactly what I'm trying to do."

"That's all I wanted," said Fawcett as the meeting broke up.