New-York tribune., 1895-10-11
FRUITS or EXCISE Law ENFORCEMENT
MR.. ROOSEVELT REPLIES TO Ills ASSAILANTS AND
GIVES FIGURES or ARRESTS t..

MR. ROOSEVELT REPLIES TO Ills ASSAlLANTS AND
GIVES FIGURES OF ARRESTS ...
President Roosevelt Of the Police Board. ad-
dressed an audience of nearly 20" persons iA9'
night at Columbus Hall. West SiXtieth-st near
Columbus-ave The meeting was held to celebrate
the birthday Of Father Mathew under the man
agar,an, of the Young Mems and Young Women
coio+ias ~ the Church Of -. Paul the Apostle
ra,her CasseIy presided. on the platform were
10 Fathers Woodman. O'Keefe, Burke and Nc
MILAN Father George McDermott delivered an ad-
dress On Rather Mathew and His Work
Fatbar O'Keefe then introduced Mr.. Roosevelt
90 ,.,ro he was proud 70 have some one present
rbose work vas similar Father Mathews, who
s,artod ont ike Father Mathew to do good work
for humanity and like him, was scofred at and
abused but nevertheless persisted in his great
work.
Nh Roosevelt received with great applause
He said in part:
Last night at the Tammany nan SonEeHoIUn' nn fr
tbav ala moi content themselves with demanding
that sa!1onKbee nber trades and shonld be allowed to
Ien omen Ss on sunday they further denounced rs
Who violate the law an immunity. which Is vouch-
safed to no other law-breaker NJ Suizer, the
,an,norarv chairman OF the convention, claims for
the platform they have adopted that II Is without
taint bigory and wiIhont '3nt oi
Hnans ,St hat ne and his colleagues have drawn a
platform pHopt MnoP no In this respect grant that he
- 80, ,,tirelY successful. As for what he means
h,' h. ~, ,onsevetisrn" / only guess. Apparently
y! y! ,tao M the honor to make use of my name IN
ne nberroocferizing the conduct Of the Police Board
,iiris baracterizng "Rooseveltism impartial
amI raeolute enforcement OF the laws.
"' for the statement that We discriminate between
~ ricb and poor, II i threadbare iaisehood
tn,h tnc hose who utter IT know we'll TO be- such.
Nh - I'm Fifth~aVe have been closed and are
~ ltc 40 tipht as the bars In Avenue \. We have
ne'',ei The law with absolute justice, and have
c larUasu us did always discriminate when they had
,% nover They Disseminated In favor OF the
NY NY pprI against the poor. They allowed the law
-, horone n dead letter against the wealthy
ioDn 10 D -kecper who could pay backmail: but they
i,an, II Very much alive indeed against his poorer
h,pthar who could not afford TO pay.
And now word as 20 their cond' lnnatiOn OF our
,,,, ,ment Of spies. they call them. meaning
tberrnbv the employment Of officers in citizens
1no,,nca this but IL Is the subject OF especially
fsrvid denunciation by those pratters of the Ger
man. American Reform Union who by their actions
have caused the very name OF their organization {,
hacome a bv-WOrd among all decent people. anC
,vhn are regarded with keen anger and shame by
tors OF thousands Of honest American citizens o
IN catching w-lreakers who are trying to evadC
rho law or violate the law. there are times and
ways in which We have to use men not In uniform
Detectives instead Of ordinary policemen Probably
our critics use the word "spies" because they think
tho word sounds offensive. but all they mean is de
tectiyes" | fail TO why we should discrninat,
against the starving wretch who steals a loaf OF
! hTeod because he is hungry. and discriminate "
favor OF the rich saloon keeper who violates ,hC
law because he believes he can make even more