Wilmington daily commercial., 1875-08-04
Darkness In the Streets and an inetrI
cient Police.

| IT, tie Editor Of The Commercial
| 1t seems to be the fashion, nowadays, to .be-
lieye every man innocent" till he is proved gull
ty but the city authorities who have and are ex-
pected to exercise, Jurisdiction over the retrbu-
tive province Of our criminal laws, especial
| ly the inaugurators of new clause to the above
very charitable maxim and one of their own ma
king, so that it shall read ave will believe ev-
cry man innocent till he is proved guilty and IRE
| toiH not proUe him guilty"
The list OF crime in this city is continually
upon the increase, and unless checked by sum
mary and efficient measures upon the part of
those entrusted with its control there no pros
pect of civil immunity. Neither the mild aments
of pesceably disposed citizens nor even the inn
pressive comments by one of our Chief Justices
from the bench itself, Gas was the case last
Spring) can avail to remedy this
growing evil 1t must be root
ed out by severity and not pampered by po-
litical eye-winking. To add to the facilities for
perpetratng offences, our streets, In a great
number OF instances, are left i'll total darkness
Witness the dismal and lonely condition of Mad
ison street, between 9th street and the Avenue
last night, where lady was brutallv assaulted
knocked down, and not simply robbed but beat
en-.
If such an occurrence does not arouse the in
dignatlon OF the more generous public to the
frequency and Nervousness of the crimes that
are nightly terror to this city, we have but to
point to the robbing of gentleman who was
walking,with lady at Stha a. d Broome Sts several
nights ago, and who was attacked, felled
and robbed. These affairs are, it seems either
not discovered by the police, or are discovered
but Intentionally not reported, they are lnten-
tionally excluded from publication.
1t il fallacy of bygone times to assert that
these mlsaemeanors are simply part and nat
ural consequence following upon our developed
resources and augmented population. II il, we
are safe III saying, due solely to reckless care
less administration of police justice
AS sample of the method, employed for the
protection of the lives and property of the citi-
zens, we need only cite the matter of street
lamps The contract, for the sake OF economy
ia let out cheapy and correspondingiy iniudi-
eiously. The work is but half done by cub
lettees and yet our city fathers extenuate the
grievance by their silence and apathy, whenever
it creeps out through private complaint or the
public press.
Let any one anxious to test the truth OF these
remarks, satisfy himself by visiting, during
some of these stormy moonless nights, such VI
entities az Pennsylvania avenue and Mcdowell
VILE, or 9Th and Church streets, or 4th and
Brooine,o or Madison above 9th, or beyond Brown
town and below Front street, or even in the
nelghborhood of the City Railroad Depot.
We might name dozen more forbidding To-
calities where the gloom is never penetrated by
the genial glow of the street lamps or the mer-
ry voice OF wary policeman even az he skirts the
borders of dangerous places.
theie 10 mourning winch Is more cheering and
OF greater service to those Of us who arc obliged
to go from place to place after dark than a good,
bright street lamp, and We wish to ask why it il
that such an utter and culpable disregard of pub
lie safety prevails among those whose duty il is
to provide for the public welfare? Let not only
the Lamp Committee but the individual Coun-
cilmen feel that it is by the people they received
their trusts and that it Ii more to their credit
to perform as their first duty, those obligations
(the pledges of which secured their election
toward their fellow citizens, than to allow any
considerations to influence them in forsaking
their responsible posts as the servants of the
people.
In conclusion we would ask in the name OF all
who live in the dark, that immediate steps be
taken to secure faithful compliance with the
terms OF the lamp contract and the police regn-
lations. II. n az