Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-03-20
Optimistic announcements by eminent spe-

Optimistic announcements by eminent spe-
ciaiists have not yet claimed the popular mind
as to the possibilities OF a cholera visitation,
nor have the cautiously pessimistic views Of ex-
perts resulted in that wholesale and wholesome
preparation which is the only defense. This
work should be attended 10 Immediately. in
every city in the land. but especially is it neces-
sary in the ports through which the epidemic
Is most likely to enter. OF these the most
prominent aud the most dangerous is New
York. for il is the Mecca of those undesirable
immigrants in whose company contagion is
most likely to be found The peril incident to
the arrival Of such people may be met and for
awhile defeated at quarantine. but unless New
York's sanitary condition is unexceptionally
good the imported seeds Of disease will some
how or other find soil In which to sprout.
That New York city is Gisgracefully dirty is
truth which cannot be gainsaid; condition
testified to by thousands of its residents and
emphasized by the conservative and accurate
New York Tunes. Moved toa discussion Of the
dissracetul conditions by the approach of warm
weather and the absence of Commissioner
Brennan. who is responsible for the street
ton. the Times says:
1T Il surely time now fOr NlSOrOuS spfAiS
cleaning Again there is three months ac-
cumulaticn OF filth in parts of the city where 1t
is likely to do most harm. The cold weather.
which invigorates the well housed and we'll fed
in sections where the streets have been cleared
Of the bulk Of dirt and refuse, debihtates the
poorly protected and ill-fed population In the
districts that have been left in utter neglect.
and il IL there that disease and cUntagion will
speedily find foothold il the conditions are
not remedied before the enervating weather
sets in. The street cleaning department has
shown abominable ineffciency all winter, but
its excuse Ia gone with the disappearance OF
snow and ice. Still it goes on in It's old slip
shod fashion. Dirt is piled up in the uptown
streets and left % be scattered and blown about
to the discomfort of residents and the damage
OF health. and in the regions of poverty and
tenement houses the mass Of dirt and garbage
lies unmolested. ready to- reek and tester as
the weather grows warm. It is surely time
to put the new system into vigorous oper-
alton. There is need Of new head to the
department with the executive capacity TO
make the system work. There Is need OF
superintendent who will superintend. with
n view 10 getting the streets clean rather
than employing the largest number OF de-
pendents of political heelers. There Is need OF
wOrkmen who can work and of discipline that
will make them work. There is law enough,
system enOugh-On paper-money enough:
what ia needed is brains and energy. The
publc service that Is always IN evidence
The people can see what it does and what it
fails TO do. and BY it the whole municipal
government may be judged. Ii Is proving that
Tammany politics ruins public work. and that
the only way to get the results that are paid for
with the peoples money Is to insist upon bust
ness methods. The spectre of cholera still
looms upon the horizon. and if 1t gets across
the ocean and makes its way through the guar
antine lines our only defense will he In the
4. ~ No~rn ha
purity Of our water supply. and the vigilance OF
the departments of the public service that deal
with the sanitary condition of the city"
That is a terrific Indictment of the CITY
government. bat any visitor to the country's
eastern gateway knows it to be founded on
clearly apparent facts. II any city in the land
should be scrupulously clean it is New York
Filth is everywhere disgusting; in the nations
clearing house it is criminal. -