The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1871-08-28
How TO Save Now York.

done their best, or their worst to send abroad
the impression that New York is the short cut
to the internal regions that it is stepped In
corruption. and that from the crown of the
head unto the sole of the feet there Is no
soundness in it. The report has reached the
village of "Bosting," away up or down In
New England, where resides q great physl-
clan, Cudworth by name, who has come on
here, and yesterday, il the Church of the
Messiah, on Park avenue, gave his audience q
series of prescriptions, good, bad and iu-
different, which he believes are to effect
cure in our body social and politio. Of course
we are thankful for good advice coming from
any quarter, and especially from the moral
town Of Boston; but we may be permitted,
psrtinence, to ask whether the medicine pre-
scribed by DR.. Cudworth has been tried aud
proved effectual upon any other diseased body.
As seen and studied by this Boston physi-
clan the disease of New York is complicated
and deep-seated. 1t must be treated thor
oughly in at least three aspects--namely,
intemperance, RIGHTEOUSNESS and political cor
ruption. But, while we admit the prevalence
Of these evils among us, is 1t true that We,
as people, are in proportion TO our popula-
ton more Incorporate, licentious or corrupt
politically than arc the populations of Boston,
Philadelphia, Baltimore or New Orleans,
Chicago, St. Louis or San Francisco, or any
other large city of the Unionp We hear the
same cry sounding forth from all those places,
and some Of them present pictures of dreadful
decay and corruption aud vice. DR.. Cudworth
thinks he has found the cure, and, for intem-
perance and RIGHTEOUSNESS, 1t is the creation
of public sentiment against them. The Doctor
illustrated what he meant by this public SEN
timent, but he did not tell us how this sent-
ment is to be created By his illustrations Of
Sumter and the Wcst6eld explosion and
others he has left us to infer certain
states and conditions which do not
reflect very great insi hit or knowledge
on his part and as in free country
no law can be enforced which has not public
sentiment at its back, we are at loss to know
how this sentiment is to be created and fed so
as to enable the ministers of law and justice
to enforce the same against those evils.
Thirty thousand prostitutes and abandoned
women in New York, and the number annually
increasing! How are We to create o public
sentiment which shall reduce the aggregate
and finally drive the evil from our midst
That is what we want to know, and that il
picture of the moral young man coming
from the country to the city and being ruined
here In q few years has been so frequently
portrayed that our readers generally are
familiar with it, but unfortunately for tho illus
tration, It is not exactly true. The moral
in New York for many day, or, If he has, he
at least has not been found dead in bis bed
from intemperance and its kindred evils before
his young manhood had attained it's full
strength. We will venture to say that not one
moral young man in one thousand from the
country who have taken up their abode here
has gone to ruin IN our midst. The trouble
is, and the truth Of the matter is, that the city
has to receive aud take care Of the evil of the
country as well as of its own, and the streams
of vice arc wider and flow along more rapidly
than the streams ofgood. They all centre In our
great cities, and, because Of the many in
fuences of good which exist In cities, and
especially in New York, we are relatively
more moral than our country cousins, and
there are ten chances that young man will
be brought into good and virtuous society and
under moral and religious influences here to
Ar hot l,ov
derers grave. But this fact, instead of excus-
ing Christians from doing more, should
encourage them to redoubled efforts for tho
salvation Of New York.
For the third great disease of our city
political corruption-Dr. Cudworth had,
indeed, what be himself characterized as
strange republican remedy to recommend
to his hearcrs-namey, compulsory voting
or expatriation. No man should have a
house who caunot take care of it, and
no man shonld have the ballot who will
not use h for the public good. This was
Dr.. Cudworths doctrinc---hs great remedy
for our municipal corruption. But incidental
to this he would have an intellectual and
property qualification for every voter.
"Vote or leave the city" may do very well for
monarchy or an autOcracy, but it will
never pass current Ia republic like ours.
That the criminal classes should not be
allowed to govern US we freely admit, but
that they do to great extent rule us Is the
fault Of the moral part Of tho community, who
think not enough Of our institutions or govern
ment 10 break away from party and vote AZ
conscience and the public veal demand. Until
this thing can be done aud public sentiment
aroused by which tho nine hundred thousand
shall seize the government, now held by tho
one hundred thousand OF the vicious classes,
we must submit to the evils Of bad govern
mont. But coercion eau never do what our
moral scnse aud our own free will leave un-
done.