The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-09-14

ruptly. He champions that kind of per-
sonal liberty which leads men to the
penitentiary.'
That this Is not an exaggerated state
ment Of the case is proved by the eX-
plcit and straightforward manner in
which President Roosevelt takes up
and demolishes each of Senator Hills
numbered objections to the present eX-
else policy in New York city. He not
only proves that many of these objec-
tions are based upon deliberate and
lneXcusable Misrepresentation of facts,
but also shows thatin the few instances
in which the senator remained within
sight of the truth, he magnified isolat-
ed cases of subordinate over-otIicious-
ness. which were rebuked as soon as
discovered at headquarters.
To one accusation MIR. Roosevelt
pleads guilty. He admits that he kept
watch upon the workmen under his
command. and adds:
AS for his stating that we played the
part OF detectives, we did it to the same
extent that superintendent of rail-
ios'N HuNH II lilS WHICH nc ictutly
superintends the work that Is being done,
so us TO find ont for himself how it IS
done, and to know that his subordinates
are giving efficient service. We intend TO
do our duty. This is seemingly so novel
an idea 10 Senator H.ll that he cannot un-
derstand II. To do our duty we must
have some kind of idea how our men are
working. We have visited the precincts
at all hours of the day and night. We
have worked often almost every hour of
the twcnty-four. for we had before us the
herculean task of cleaning Il stable of
such Augean filth that It needs a man of
Senator Hilrs moral insens;bllity to de-
fend ii. OF course, we personally saw to
the best of our ability that the police
We're honest and energetic in the enforce
ment of law. But when the senator says
that we neglected enforcing all other laws
in order to enforce this he utterS n will
full untruth. Order has never been so well
preserved: crime against personal prop
crty has never been better controlled than
in the last four months. The figures for
these four months, as compared with the
corresponding four months under the
previous administration, show that the
number of felonies has decreased and that
the 2umber of arrests of felons has in
creased.
Finally. as to the charge that the
rich mans club escapes while the poor
mans saloon is pulled" Mr.. Roosevelt
says:
We have been quito as rigid closing the
bars of the big hotels on Fifth avenue ms
in closing the bars on the Bowery and
| Avenue \. We have made no discrimina
| ton between the rich mans club and the
poor mans club. lr'der the law 1t seems
that neither is entitled to sell liquor, and
| we will prevent its being done, so far as
we can. in one case precisely as in the
| other. We know no distinction between
| the rich and the poor We know no
| classes We are Americans and we treat
all American citizens alike What the
| senator says about the blue laws does not
need serious discussion. Apparently he
| thinks that because 1t was wrong to burn
witches in the seventeenth century II is
right to get drunk on Sunday In the nine
| teenth. Senator Hill poses as the friend
| Of the poor man. but in th:s hSht ne Is tne
| fricrd of the drunkard and the briho-
| taker. It is invariably the poor man VINO
! suffers most when laws are enforced with
| corrupt partially.
In conclusion. Mr. Roosevelt we'll
says: 1.-THE doctrine that Senator Hill
| teaches is n doctrine which can only
| result in lawlessness and anarchy
among the people at large: and in the
| widest corruption among the officials
of the state. He deliberately puts HIM
| self upon a par with the lyncher and
| the Wnlte-cappef ana lne open ioe vi
order. Senator Hill takes this stand
because he believes that the forces Of
| evil outnumber the forces of good. He
hopes that he will attract from the
opposite party more men who are VIC
| ious than he loses decent men from
his own party. 1t behooves the people
| of New York to see that no such re-
suit happens; but whether it happens
or not, most certainly the police COM
| missioners of New York will not vary
q hairs s-breadth from the course they
have taken, and will not feel a single
regret for the policy they nave fol-
| lowed. We would refuse to gain a VIC
tory at the price of joining those who
believe that legislators should reck-
| lessly pass law that is not intended
to be enforced, and that executive Off
GERS should carry out this law only so
far as they think expedient."
If Hill is smart he will be sorry he
| spoke.