New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-05-28
DIR. PAEKHURST INDOHSED.

DR.. PaIhhur>t has every reason 10 he proud
Of the ma eniccnt demonstration Of the peo-
ples respect for, and confidence in. him afford
cd 10y Thursday evenings mass meeting. Judge
ArnOuXs Sip in addressing II rs 4 jury was "A
most fclcitOuS mistake; for the audience was
a jury, composed of New York's best citizen
ship and by lis enthusiastic applause Of all tho
telling points made, rs well aS by the splendid
ovation il gave 10 DR.. ParkhurSt, il recorded
the opinion Of the decent, lawabiding people
Of the city in regard to the crusade Of the
valiant clergy man. since he entered upon
that crusade he has been the object of unSpar
ing abuse and Misrepresentation. Not only his
methods, but his motives have been widely
called in question. That the criminal and
vicious classes, and then more or less :" re-
Specialize apOlogstS, should have taken part
in this campaign against him was a thing TO
be expected. Their only way of meeting his
terrible Indictment was to blaclicn his char
actcr, with the hope that he would soon draw
off in sheer disgust and WEAKNESS, As so many
other rcformcrs have done under similar cir
cumslanccs. But the greatest difficulty he
had 10 contend with was the fact that many
good men in the community, some o! them his
personal friends, either joined III the clamor
against him or refused to give him their sym
patty and countcnaLcc. Most men would have
taken these surface indications of opposition
rs evidence of failure, and would have either
faltcrcd in their course or given up the fight.
But Charles ii. palkhurst is not that kind OK
man. He knew that he was Oh the right
track, and he believed that tho good people
of the metropolis were ready to back him up.
The maSs-mceting proves not only that he was
correct in that belief, but that he and his friends
had not begun to realize the strength of the
support that the community is eager TO give
to the movement started by him.
The quick responsiveness of the meeting was
one of the most suggestive things about it, as
showing that the movement has deeply stirred
the heat of the people. The speeches were
eloquent and pungcni, Of course but eloquent
and punecnt speeches do not always evoke
such tumultuous approval as was given to those
delivered AT this meeting especially when they
relate 10 Il purely moral question. IL is evil
dent that the decent people of New York be-
licvc DR.. PaIkhursts charges against the POI
lice force and Tammany Hall, and, what must
be most gratifying to him, it is also evident
that they mean to support him in his efforts
to bring about reform. But perhaps the chief
value of the meeting lies in the fact that il has
clearly brought out the real issue underlying
Dr. Parkhurst's work. All extrancolis qucs-
tons rs to particular methods are now swept
aside, and the one great question OF official
protection of crime is pressed home To the at
tention of the public. That there has been,
md is now, such protection Of criminal and
vicious resorts, and Of saloons which violate |
the law, will not be denied by any intelligent
man. The difficulty has not been in persuade |
ng people of this fact, but in getting them to |
10 anything about it, Reformers have re-
)eatedly arisen to denounce the league between |
,ity officials and the lawbreakers but they |
nave always failed to penetrate the complacent |
inertia of the community, and after a while |
nave grown weary of their thanlllcss task.
This has been uniformly the case that the |
awbreakcr and their official protectors have |
,omc to look for these "spurts' and "spasms"
With cynical complacency, well knowing that
hey would soon spend their force in fluitlcss
But the Thursday evening mass meeting
will convince these men, if they had not
,egun to suspect it before, that the present