The Progress., 1893-06-17


: that men charged with the execution oi
the law have themselves become tht
companions of lawbreakers-have them
selves become the partakers of crime Dy
profit by crime Official blackmail Is d
fact-a painful faCt-that has been thor
oughly established by the crusade which
DIR. Parkhurst's society has been SO sue
cessfully making in the past. Our cities
are rotten to the core because our Of
ficers. tempted by the corruption of poll
tics. have fallen victims To the evils they
have sworn to suppress. And the tline
has come when the men who represent
the supremacy of law in our citizenship
must rise in their might and cs'Hlse the
whole legal machinery of our cities, or we
will suffer relapse in the very funda'
mentals of civilization itself.
Sixth-The oppression OF the poor l.
the direct result of our Infamous gov
ernment. The extravaganza OF our mod
ern municipal governments Is something
amazing. The city treasurer of New
York receives annually the enormous
sum OF $9O. 900 900 More than half this
amount is spent directly i'll the city gov
eminent. and yet our streets reeked II
filth through the past winter and were
not cleaned at all for the length of three
months, and yet we have thousands OF
children turned into the streets for tEt
lack of buildings TO accommodate them
Our public franchises are sold by our of
ficers for personal profit. The city l.
cheated of millions of dollars which
should go into the public treasury anC
bear the burden of taxation. The pres
ent comptroller of the city declares that
the franchises now in force in this city,
for which We do not get cent. should
bear revenue sufficient to pay the en-
tire expenses Of the city government.
Out of all this enormous income 5he peO-
pie of New York were swindled. and the
people must bear it. The landlords pay
the taxes. and the people pay the land
lords.
Is it any wonder then, that New Work
furnishes two-thSs,is of all the conwIcts
who are in the prisens of the city? That
there are at least eae murder or man
slaughter and 10 subcides week? That
there are s.. 900 men and women arrest
ed every year: That there are 22,0Gt
who &re arrested for drunkenness: Fifty
per cent pass through uhr TOmbs prison
every ,rrar. New York hrs l00. 900 child
There are 2.J0.000 working
come of whom work at gingham
waists for boys for y. cp=tts dozen.
There aCs $1,000 children. $4,000 men
and women without homes. wandering
in the streets and sleeping IN them at
night or in any fugitive shelter they can
obtain. Thirty acres of land have L..
100 people crowded on them, and a.
many as III people are found IN one bed
'oOm! On one cold night in winter 60C
human beings fought for the privilege {
If sleeping. on the bare plank OF the dirty
police station lodging houses.
With these problems staring us in tbs
ACE as municipality the government I
If the city. so far from removing tht j
.auses and relieving the distress, is busy
ldding wrath to the day of wrath. and |
his condition of affairs is in large meas {
ire due to their misgovernment- extrav.
lgance and oppression. How long this ,
IAN continue and the city not threaten !
he foundations of national and state
.overnment-. who can tell: