00:00Ill indict gang, says Beavers. Atlanta, Georgian Sunday, May 25th, 1913, declares he will die.
00:06Fighting foes of reform, Felder denies bribe charges and scores. Police chief sees conspiracy
00:11to overthrow his rule and calls Felder leader in the plot. Chief of police James L. Beavers
00:17Saturday night gave to the Sunday American a sensational statement in reply to Colonel T.B.
00:22Felder's accusations against him in the police department and declared that he would go before
00:26the grand jury and seek to indict Felder and all others implicated in the conspiracy against him.
00:32He made it very plain that if there were men higher up, he would go after them too. While the
00:38chief
00:38mentioned no names but that of Felder, it is known that the dictograph evidence in the hands of the
00:43police involves the names of Mayor Woodward, Charles C. Jones, and Edward O. Miles. The chief said he
00:49would present his evidence to the grand jury at its next session. He said further that he does not
00:55depend solely on the evidence furnished by A.S. Collier, Jr. has proof of plot. He says,
01:00I have the testimony of other reputable witnesses that will show up this plot against me,
01:05asserted the chief. The chief declared that the alleged attempt to bribe Detective Secretary
01:10G.C. February to steal the evidence in the Fagan case was but an effort to discredit him
01:15and is the fight of a gang of vice promoters and defenders. He asserted that the fight is now open
01:21and on to the finish, and that he will fight to the end even if he dies in his tracks.
01:26The chief
01:27mentioned the name of Councilman W.G. Humphrey of the 8th Ward as having declared to him shortly
01:32after the segregated district was closed by the chief that these houses will be open again within
01:37eight months. You cannot keep them closed, and sought to discourage his move. The chief characterized
01:43Felder as the agent and mouthpiece of these gangsters, and referred to Charles C. Jones as the main
01:49backer of Felder, says enemy is cornered. Chief Beaver's peppery statement follows,
01:54I dislike very much to become involved in an affair like this, and to have to defend myself
01:59in this manner, but the time has come when I can rest quietly no longer. I have been shooting into
02:04the hole until my enemies must now come out and fight in the open. I've got them cornered,
02:09and they must show their colors. It's a fight in the open, and to the finish, this thing must come
02:14to a showdown. This gang of vice promoters and defenders set out to get me when I first closed
02:20the restricted district, and they've been after me ever since, relentlessly. But they've been
02:24fighting undercover, and have sought to stab me in the back. But I've run them from cover now,
02:28and I'll fight to a finish, even if I die in my tracks. Consequences will not be considered,
02:33I'll regard nothing but the principle in the fight. It's a battle between decency and indecency,
02:38and I'm satisfied that right will prevail and decency triumph. This is the gang that has run
02:44Atlanta for years, but it is now losing its grip. Its reign is doomed, calls Felder agent of gang.
02:51Thomas B. Felder is the agent and mouthpiece of these gangsters, and this activities are in their
02:55behalf. He is the legal representative of these forces of evil. Charlie Jones, who is losing thousands
03:02of dollars of revenue since the restricted district was closed, is Felder's employer, but he is not the
03:07only one who is losing this kind of money, and he's not the only one interested in this fight to
03:11get
03:12me. There are others. All of these people who have been making money off the shame of women and who
03:17are interested in keeping the houses of vice open have been fighting me. Their sole motive is to oust
03:22me from the office of chief of police in the hope that they can again open these places. They have
03:27seized on this Fagan case as an instrument in their underhand fight. It was their purpose to
03:32embarrass me in this case in a way that might aid their fight. They grabbed at this as a last
03:36chance to
03:37make a stand. But the light has been turned on. They'll be shown up. Always tried to block me.
03:43Every effort I have put forth to make Atlanta a cleaner and better city has been met with obstacles.
03:48Attempts have been made to block me at every turn. This gang has been on the alert every minute,
03:52but there's one thing certain now. They've got to fight a real battle in which no quarter will be
03:57asked. I won't be frightened off by any alleged plot to assassinate, nor any other threat.
04:02I have received reports of numerous dirty methods that have been used against me.
04:07One of these reports came to me about Christmas. I was informed that certain persons had offered
04:12$3.500 checks to anyone who would get me in a room with a woman. I'm satisfied from my information
04:19that traps have been set for me, but they failed to work. Hurls defy at his foes. I have heard
04:25discouraging remarks on all hands, but none of them has shaken me in my efforts to make Atlanta a
04:29clean city. I was in the office of Councilman W. G. Humphrey a few days after the houses were closed,
04:35and he laughed and joked me about my closing order. He told me I could not keep the houses closed,
04:41and said they would be open again in eight months. I told him they would never open again.
04:46I have remained firm in my position in this matter because I know I'm right. I intend to do my
04:52full duty
04:52in the future and warn this gang here and now that it cannot shake me from my purpose. Atlanta will
04:58never be blackened with recognized vice so long as I am chief of police. Shortly after the houses were
05:04closed, I had a talk with Mr. Clark Howell, editor of the Constitution, in his office. During the
05:10conversation, the question of suppressing vice came up, and Mr. Howell remarked that there was no doubt
05:15that the houses were then closed, but asked whether I would be able to keep them closed. I replied that
05:21they will remain closed as long as I am in office. Mr. Howell never commended nor condemned my reply,
05:27but ever since that time the Constitution has fought me personally, and by the most unfair methods.
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