St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-07-21
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A VICIOUS PRINCIPLE.

This is apparently in line with the
old and vicious policy which has
been the father of more misgovern-
ment and maladministration of JUS
tice than any other in municipal
affairs. Without any reference to it's
bearing upon a Sunday closing law,
the abstract doctrine is indefensible.
1t assumes that it is a duty of the
police force and it's superior officers
TO wait for complaint to be made
| before they arrest an offender or
punish violation Of the law. On this
| theory the police forces of most of
the cities of the country have acted,
to the great satisfaction of the law
| breaker and to the detriment of pub
lie peace and order The executive
and police officers of a city are chos-
en- and paid to enforce the laws. The
idea that private citizen must
leave his business, make formal COM
plant, assume the troublesome and
unWelcome duty of appearing as
odIum attendant upon it in order
that the law may be upheld and the
lawbreaker punished, is absurd and
suDVerslve to all good government.
That is what a police force is for.
1t is not the business of the author
tiles in any city to say that certain
laws shall be enforced and certain
others not. 1t is their business to
uphold every law on the statute
book, to look for violations of any
one Of them, and to see to it that
Offenders are brought to book. If
1t is not so, then no city is in need
of police force at all; since the citi-
zen who has discovered an infraction
of the law, obtained the necessary
evidence, and made a formal COM
plant, has performed, practically, the
most important part of police duty
himself. 1t is such a theory that has
! brought many good laws, as we'll
as some bad ones, into contempt.
1t has excused laXity in municipal
government, and offered condona-
ton for ineffectiveness or neglect of
duty in municipal powers. The peo-
pie of New York city. have reason
to be7stirred up over the exceedingly
unpleasant effects produced by the
revival of statutes which they do
not wish enforced, but which they
have not had sufficient honesty or
courage to repeal. They and every
other community should face the is
sue squarely, and not try to escape
responsibility by setting up a theory
of local government which is de-
structive to all government what
ever except that of the mob.
ANOTHER STRAW.
If every blank wall We're plastered
with posters announcing the abso-
lutte proprietary interest of a third
/ party in the free silver movement, it
ought not to afford to Democrats
any clearer sign of the times or any
| more positive warning than that
they can get from the news of the
day. To whatsoever interest the free
coinage propaganda may inure, it
will not be that of Democracy. So
I much is certain. If Democrats want
to be used as catspaws to get votes
for the other fellows, that is another
matter
We have seen that the free silver
conventions, wherever held, have
been largely furnished with mem
bers and Differed by attaches of the
Peoples party. That is one straw,
significant enough of the direction
of the blast. We have another in the
recent conference of silver men in
| Chicago. This meeting nearly came
to grief at the outset by a differ
ence between the sincere but de-
luded Democrats who were there and
the representatives of the third
party idea. The Democrats, who were
from the South, advanced the sin
gular theory which they hold. that
the free silver agitation could and
should be carried on for the benefit
! of Democracy. The representatives
of the Bimetallic League laughed
them to scorn. They are not in this
thing for their health. They an
! nounced that they had contributed
most of the money and done most of
the work up to date, and that they
proposed to get the benefit of it for
their candidate for the presidency.
The difficulty was smoothed over for
the time being; but only after the
Bimetallic League fellows, who con-
troll the situation absolutely, with
e out of seven members of the
I executive committee, had told the
rest plainly that they proposed to
have the movement directed toward
the success of the third party ticket
that would be nominated later on.
Now what conceivable comfort can
any Democrat derive from working
in such a cause as this? We can I'M
derStand how man who has been
a Democrat, and still more easily
how one who has been Republican,
can be led astray by the sophistries
of the silver monometallistS and go
over to their camp. If he is sincere
about it, we can only wish that the
Lord may enlighten him before it is
too late. For the present he only
exercises the freeman's privilege.
But what we do not understand is
how any man can pursue this course
and still imagine either that he re-
mains a Democrat or is acting in
the interest of the Democratic party
He becomes Immediately a recruiting
agent for some third party organiza-
ton, existing or yet to be. As such,