it often is an incentive for unscrupulous officers to

convict innocent persons—rule regarding

divorce cases.

i do not believe in rewards, and in all my long career, have made it a rule to never work for, or receive one, no matter how great the amount offered for the arrest and conviction of the guilty party, or parties—this being the usual way that the heading of a reward is written.

nor do i believe in or engage in procuring evidence in divorce cases.

however, i can see no objection to the offering of a reward for the apprehension or capture of a fugitive who is known to have committed a certain crime against the law, and for whom a warrant has been issued, and i believe the detective, or any other person, who makes the arrest would have the right to accept such reward.

where the reward is offered for the arrest and conviction of some person, for a crime that has been committed, and the guilty party, or parties, is unknown, i, from personal experience, have been led to the belief that the offering of a reward, especially a large reward, is an incentive for unscrupulous people, and especially unscrupulous officers of the law, to fasten the crime on some unfortunate, or perhaps some dishonest or undesirable citizen, which can be found in almost any community, in order to[pg 329] obtain the reward. these unfortunate people are easier to convict of a crime than persons who have always borne a good reputation. then, again, the offering of a reward for criminals whose identity is unknown, tends to keep a certain class of people from divulging facts that they may know, which might, if properly utilized, lead to the identity, arrest and conviction of the perpetrators of the crime for which the reward was offered.

to make it more plain, when a crime has been committed, and no reward is offered, this same class of people are more liable to "come out from under cover" and tell what they know about the facts in their possession, believing them of no material value to the officers engaged in running down the culprit.

experienced detectives have been very often handicapped by reason of a reward having been offered, and, for this reason, i have always made it a rule to pay no attention to rewards.

while i am satisfied that it is, in many cases, necessary for the purification and preservation of society, to thoroughly investigate divorce cases as it is to apprehend and convict people who have committed a theft or other crimes, by reason of the fact that there are so many crooked and unscrupulous men, who claim to be detectives, and who make the divorce business their specialty, in order to elevate myself and my service from the level of this class of people, i formed a rule, at the beginning of my career, not to have anything to do with divorce cases. this rule i have always rigidly enforced.