Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1892-01-10
YORK'S CRANKS.


~ xeu>a - tas Wsal4hy-.Tupesssns
1e>1s4 ~ ~ tlsssss--A sassbish r.
slsse--ssiss Gs1id's Debst.
losreope odsncs a the nichnond Dispascn.l
NV yonz. january .. Everybody knows
h naxim. "Whom Fortune wishes 10 de-
1{soy oAe nEst makes mad" Il 40 many
hundrtdes perhaps thousands, of years
elnoo 4 w. 1ut uttered that nobody knows
- whom e b 10 be attributed. But in al
eo0ntfi<e and n oil times II 10 constantly
ev1dent. OF course, no sane person can be
= oympathy with the cranks who Just now
ooen bent upon removing multi-million-
oupotton." But the terrible fact obtains
fhSk these crankx are at large, for hut one
II tbsm has been killed, and two or
t1foo have only been caught and consi9n-
81 70 lunhtic asglums. where they belong.
Another uncomfortable fact Is the ever
exiettng masa OF disgruntled. dlscontepted
people particularly In large cities, who
believe that no one has tho right to be
xith while they remain poor. These dis
scotsntsd people He. to Say The lssst: 81
anoes OF the cranks. The press. the po-
lice, Che millionnaires themselves. ~ i'm
Wediatsly Interested in the matter:
oQGeest eli sorts OF precautions and
p4otectiops against such onslaughts
upon rich men, who are In danger OF their
Hvea simply and only because they are
rich. II would be absurd 10 say that there
r. panic among the very wealthy On th,s
subject. But i i perfectly true that tho
eSrious thinking. With this in view
taking only acommon- sense view OF what
lately hss occurred and Of what might
happen, in spite of tho well-directed
energy end vigilance OF the guardians
provided by 1aw--it Is an exceed
inKIy bad time for people whose
chisf claim to prominence, or even
consideration. is their wealth, TO SET up
claims for exclusive privileges. 70 be
awarded 70 them by Law. One would sup
pose that prudence would prompt these
people to refrain from pronounced. ana
particularly from offensive. prominence
q present. And vet two conspicuous dis
plays of such prominence-attempt 70
secure exclusive privileges for wouid-oe
exclusive class--are unpleasantly. perhaps
uncomfortably, conspicuous Just now
THE MADrsov-AvESUE PROTEST.
The first was the open attempt, by no
means yet abandoned. to prevent the con-
struction Of underground transit snrongn
Madison avenue. Wall 1t be beieVea py
sane people outside of this town that rcn
properfy.owners on the threatened avenue
were REINFORCED by rich men from fifth
avenue and that concerted howl went up
against the proposed accommodation OF
the public on the ground that the rattle
OF trains through O tunDel would disturb
the serenity of the rich inhabitants along
the line and might crack china tea-cup
or twoY And to think that these pro-
testants against public accommodation IN
sstbeir- avenue :" theirs" they assume 1t
to be--shopld IN their indignation meeting
declare that they warmly favored any
scheme of rapid transit in Fourth avenue
near by That is. the gridiron ROADS. IN
which some of these Madison avenue NIL
lionnaires own well-watered stock, from
which they draw big dividends, may
darken the windows and destroy tne
business of ali entire avenue. provided IL
ia not their avenue. A mans business
may 90 TO smash, but not sin,
pIe tea-cup on their" avenue must
run the risk of being cracked. Let
us give these people credit for courage
That they dare TO stand up in pubic
meeting, even meeting OF their own, ana
talk such stuff is an almost admirable au-
dacity. At first sight it would seem q
compliment to the protective power OF I. an an
notice. Next it would appear as an indi-
rest and quite unintentional tribute to the
conservatism and self-control OF the great
mass of citizens who are not miiiionnaires,
lint the truth is this--this same mass"
which includes everybody excepting the
would-be exclusives. cares nothing for the
frothy vaporings or protests OF the mil
lionnaires from the simple tact tnat Mh ,st
the public wants in this town the pubic
will have. If the public convenience re,
ouires an underground, overground
cable road. or other more rapid
transit through Madison avenue
that public convenience will COM
pel II. If a tunnel is wanted 1t viii be
Constructed II it caves in every coal-yauit
and wine-cellar along the line. mat Is
the entire story-the end OF the matter. as
n were. Pessimists who pretend to " de-
epair of the republic" may confidently as
sure themselves that in this town the peo-
pie rule.
NO VULGAR TRAVEL.
RIGHT upon top of this absurd Madison
avenue protest few fools in Fifth avenue
Crevely propose. to petition the Legislature
to convert what they consider their own
domain into q modern Faubourg st. Ger
main. as that sacred and exclusive precinct
existed in Paris before the French kevolu-
ton. ! mildly call these petitioners
present widely prevalent public opinion
and feeling. would warrant considering
them victims of paresis-unfortunates
whom not Fortune, but their own Tor
tunesn had made crazy. These preten-
fious people actually propose that law
shall Be enacted forever setting apart
Fifth avenue from Twenty-hfth street 70
One hundredth- and tenth street as bou,
leyard. From this reservation by law al
vulgar travel is to be excluded. NO carts,
draws. milk-wagons. or business yehicies
OF any sort viii be permitted to intrude.
Jlnaust be repaved, OF course, at the pub
dc expense-that is, by all the taxpayers
of tho city. with q wooden asphalt covered
roadway Tor hne carriages on their way TO
md from Central Park or for calls " from
,ope palatial residence to another along
the faubourc., While the puted-up petl'
cratic fa,ibour9 shall be established by law
in this slways Overwhelmingly. democratic
city, the immense humor OF the whole
idea IL not apparent to these people.
WHERE THE FUN CONES IN.
The first Joke appears in the fact that
the petition will come before what the
Court of Appeals has made Democratic
Iegislsture. To oe sure, the people OF the
State bv A vote of 60. 900 indicated pre-
ference for that sort of Legislature, but
politios proper nowhere comes IN with re-
gard TO the proposed petition, but the
popular feeling IA this town VIII be likely
80 And expression and endorsement, but
here humor becomes fairly hilarious Fifth
avenue to-day Is one OF the commonest
thoroughfares in the city. From Wash
ington Square well up toward Cen
trsl Park II Is ss-boarded on both sides
With blocks of hotels. club-houses, board
ine-houses, livery-stables, prlnting-ofices.
milliners' and tailors' shops, art stores,
other stores, shops, restaurants, baths,
and barber-shops. Before many years the
entire avenue below Central Park viii be
devoted mainly to business But the
would-be exclusives hope to reserve TO
themselves tor fine Residences only the
spaos above Central Park. Hence the pro-
posed petition; and to give solidity and
respectability TO il the petitioners have
secured the signatures q sucn SOLO
houses as Park Il Hlfofd. Altman. Macy.
lvrold constahla n Go and many MORE