The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1893-06-19

law to the social conscience by the powers
that be- That is the unique. fundamental
characteristic OF the American idea OF gov
erament In England the fiction Is that
the will or the sovereign Is the supreme
will. In Germany that which is fiction in
England is reality: the will of the sover-
eign Is the supreme viii. In Russia that
which is q fiction in England and a reality
In Germany is yet more stern reality; the
will of the sovereign Is the supreme wiii.
Government there is personal: the Cars
will Is lmperious; the kaisers will Is
sovereign. But here we have no
Kaiser. we have no Car. and our
tions are founded on TINS law, are depend
ent on an observance of this law; and II
law is a failure here our institutions are q
failure. The republican ideal of govern.
ment is q failure through and through II
law be inadequate. or, If adequate. 1t be IN
efficiently applied.
There is an imperative need, then. of
every public functionary having an in
tense and vivid sense of the function or
| governments. And yet, it Is just the one
| sense that seems TO be lacking IN our rulers
| and In our people. The represen tetive pol
| iticIan Is not for the law. but for that
| which will make votes. for that which Will
| make the Republican party stroDg ger or the
| Democratic party stronger at the polls
| This is the thing that counts; and there
| fore Mayor or q Governor will blink vio-
lations OF law where these violations IL
| will increase the party strength with the
vagaboDds and elums
I'm almost every city there is this con-
| cession made TO tho weakness, and to the
| wickedness. and to the vileness of society.
| In almost every city there are concessions
made to the saloon. and TO the gamblers.
| and to the parasites and enemies of social
| we'll being. They are allowed TO trans
transgressions and violations are ignored
| by the powers that be- A citizen
drives by mistake through funeral pro-
| cession. and he Is arrested. but the saloons
keep open night after night in violation OF
| the law. and no arrests are made. law
| abiding citizen, q representative business
man, while waiting for train in the sta
| ton. 10 ANONYMOUSLY maltreated by pub
| lie officers, whilst the gamblers who de-
prave the youth of our cities are left TO ply
| their nefarious trade; left to do their dead
| ly Work upon young men. their deadly
| work upon the homes of young men. their
| deadly work upon the fathers and the
| mothers, and the sisters, and the brothers
| of these young men that they ruin In their
| dens.
I'VE hear the papers these days crying
| wrongs and sins of Robey Park; but
what Q Pharisaism is this. What
q CHASTITY insincerity is thlsl Robey
| Park Is two hundred miles away.
| almost. and there thug contends with thug,
and blackleg with blackleg. and brute with
brute: but here thug contends with gentle
man, and blaoklegs pollute the sons of
our best families. and brntes brutal,
white. Robey Park is bad. God
knows, inexpressibly bad; and 1t is
q shocking sight to see Mr.. Goddard
| knock down Mr.. Kennedy time after time
until the poor man lies insensi BILE in the
| prize ring; but this, whilst bad. is not one
| whit worse than the vice that is rampant
| in our cities. We do not need to 60 to
! Robey Park TO see wickedness; we do not
4 aa1 ind nkn
| vice. Let our papers begin right at our
| own doors; let them illuminate against the
| vice operating In our midst let them pour
their indignation with overwhelming force
| before our eyes; let them be at least as So
| licitous for the sons of our own town as for
the thugs of some other town; as sollcitous
| for character that 10 yet IN brutalized. as
| for q character that Is brutaliZed: as solicit
| tous for the souls that are being marred by
| drunkenness passion and all subtle and di-
| abolio vice as for the faces that are marred
by the plug giles and the prize fighters
/ at Robey Park.
| "Now, there 10 no way TO make Indian
| aDolis perfect city; there IL no way to
drive out wrong en- masse; there Is no way
to make this place O place of Utopian
T has t tssss time n na9 to
improve things: there is way at
least. to sweep the moral dust that is lying
| thick upon the street; there is O way TO
| hush the moral sewers, there Is q way TO
minimize and to terrorize the moral ARE
| sponsibles and the blacklegs and the
| parasites that prey upon the social con-
| science, that pervert the public morals,
| that doom our homes to sorrow. and that
damn no small portion OF the developing
manhood of this city every year to destruc.
| ton and disgrace.
| And that way is by the election of q
Mayor who has fine sense of the func-
| tions of governments: by the election of
| Mayor who. whether he be O Democrat or
Republican. will apply the law stren-
| uously and persistently In all cases OF Its
open violation; who will favor no class of
this community, whether they be gamblers
| or ministers. whether they be saloon men
| or grocers. whether they be sinners or
saints, but who will equitably. and judi
oiously. and impartially apply the laws
wherever they be violated, and by whom
soever they be dishonored. Such Mayor
as that would do q Herculean work in the
| way of the redemp tion of character for any
city. Such q Mayor as that would make
| gambling q losing business in any CITY.
| Such q Mayor as that is the Mayor that
New York needs. that Cleveland needs.
and that indianapolis needs; and never
| moro than now, for he, beyond all other
| powers, is the moral guardian of the youth
| of Indianapolis. the moral 9gis of the
| homes of Indianapolis the moral defender
of the honor of Indianapolis, the moral as
| sertsr of the iGhteous will of Indianapolis.
| He should therefore be not only the embodi-
| spirit. the taste and the cultivation, but
also the embodiment OF the will, the con-
science, the integrity, the moral dignity
| and honor of the city that he rules.
"Oh, that the citizens the high-minded
and clean-souled citizens of Indianapolis,
would lay aside for q little while their
craftsmanship, their Democracy, their Re-
| publicanism. their party shibboletbs their
party claptrap and their party nonsense
and nominate and elect a man who, at
least, approximates the ideal Mayor
| man who ia. first, good business man; Sec
ond, a progressive man: third, q man of Gull
tivation: fourth, q man of taste; fifth, O
| man with q fine sense of the function of
government. and sixth, O man with an in
vincible conscience and soul that knows
no fear. such Mayor as that would not
make Indianapolis either q paradise or q
heaven but he would lift it measurably
| above the dirt that now soils it's garments
and the moral infamies that now pollute
| its soul"