New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-12-16
PTTEP p0LITTION.

The question Of redeeming the Passalc hlVel
from nollution Is again Mt the fore. 1t may well
be- The work is most urgently heeueu. MAJ
stream was once sweet and pure uehsn' ~
all the senses. For years 1t has Deeh ,hins
of horror compared with which even Ihh!
Irwell" ut It's inkiest was pcllucid. Inc rass"N
10 longer fufls single one OF the proper iuhc
tions OF a river. 1t Is an open sewer no'Ai''o
more. and is to DC stunned by all VINO nave
cord m cleanliness comfort or health as much
as contact with any underground ura'n' wv
noro,,s nropostions have been put forward III
tbo last dozen years for rcmedying the evil.
Probably some day one of them VIII Dc auop'eu'
Whatever II be. II will be an undoing III some
moro or less unsatisfactory manner or the neg
lcct and iildoings of many years. for the
t,.ouhIo is that no such undoing can ever fully
restore original conditions or place the burden
of restoration upon the original evil-doers.
,'bose who have polluted the river will 60 all
hut free. while the task and cost Of purifying
the stream will fall upon those who nave all
along not profited from, but suffered from, It's
foul condition 1t Is the victim who pays as
we'll as suffers
There Is no occasion for finely spun theories
rs TO the cause and prevention or such e'iis'
They arise simply from violation or the luhda-
mental law Of "meum ct tuum." one party mas
seized or used without right the properly OF
another Public property has been unJustiy
used for private purposes. That is all Ana
that Is the origin Of most OF our municlpal ana
civic troubles There was time when every
man used the public highway ms rubblsh-p'le
or compost heap for his own selfish ana lazy
convenience. He flung into It all manner Of
filth and offa and had pigs feeding on garbage
I'm the gutter before his door They still DO
that very thing In some supposedly civilized
village communities within Sabbath Days
bicycle Journey from NewYork. Down TO half
4 dozen years ago It was q common practice
In this very city 10 sweep the dirt and waste
naper and other litter Of shop floors Into the
street. and leave 1t there for tho wind, or the
street cleaners on their Seml-annual round, TO
dispose of. We have learned little better than
that ut last 1t Is now seen that the way TO
have clean streets Is to avoid making them
dirty. Perhaps some day New-fork VIII APP
proxlmate 10 tho neatness and sef-respect or
European capitals, where no man throws so
much as torn-up letter envelope into the
street or IL no does gets promptly arrested
and fined for It,
Well. the same lesson Is yet TO be learned
about brooks and rivers They are pubic
property. and are not TO be diverted TO private
uses. They should no more be converted Into
sewers than the roads should be transformed
into hog -troughs or compost heaps. There is
no more excuse for pouring liquid refuse Into
the river than there IS for casting solid refuse
into the streets Nor Is there any palllation OF
iho offence In the plea that It Is the city Itself
that does II by turning the contents OF its
sewers into the river. The city has no more
right to divert public property from Its leGid-
mate uses than An individual has. The city Is
no more justified IN emptying filth into tho
river and deHllng 1t than II would be In dumping
other Nth into the streets and thus Gehling
them. II has nj last come to be recognized ms
the duty OF the municipality 10 keep the streets
clean II is no less It's duty TO keep the rivers
clean. II would have cost n good deal OF money
for the cities that have dened the Passac to
have kept their sewage out OF II and have left II
pure and clean. But II would not have cost half
M much as the total OF loss that has been suS-
taincd In property. health and life. and the ex-
ponsc the public will now or az some future time
be put 10 In undoing that which should never
Laye been done.