New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-02-14
PERSISTENCE IN EVIL,

The good old orthodox doctrine or the ''pcrso
verance OF the saints cuts n small figure by
the side Of the practical perseverance of-those
who are not saints. The love OF the world for
novelty, and its dislike of whatever has become
monotonous and haCkneyed are facts abundant
ly made use Of by evil-docrs everywhere When
a great wrong is DONE there IL an outburst of
public wrath, and n demand for It's undolng.
Sometimes the public sentiment Is strong enough
and lasting enough to prevail. More often it is
not The public wrath subsidies, or IS trans
ferred 10 some new object, and the wrong has
only TO stick TO its place, stubborn, silent. pachy-
dermatous, to win the day. The storm abates,
and what at first seemed ntoerabe is at last
accepted as inevitable.
When, for example, the elevated railroads
seized strip of Battery Park, destroyed the
grass, and killed the trees. there was an cutlery
against them and a demand for their removal.
But the professors grew weary, and the here
we are and here we stay" policy Of the roads
prevailed They are there to-day, and their
presence IS just as wrong as 1t ever was, only
men have become tired Of complaining OF It.
When the danger and terror and butchery or
Dead Mans Curve" first became apparent, the
CITY was up IN arms against II. But those re-
sponsible for it simply went into their cyclone
cellars till the storm should pass. It did pass.
But the curve IS still there and its deadly work
goes on unchecked. The Same policy of saw
ing wood and saying nothing has been pur-
sued by the perpetrators of inDumerabie other
evils: all Of which evils are entirely indcfcnsibe,
vet exist through sheer perinaclty -and through
the WEAKNESS Of the public in well-dong.
The same principle is numerously illustrated
in public life There are to-day in conspicuous
places men whose names were once stencil in
the nostrils of the people, lobbyists. brbcrs, cor
ruptonists, men who have betrayed both party
and State A few years ago the very mention
Of them in connection with any place or trust or
honor would have been greeted with derlSl0n, so
impossible would such appointment or election
have been deemed. Yet now they attain such
places. almost unchacngcd How? They have
not reformed They are every whit odious
now "a they ever We're The old indictments
acains. them are valid still. They have simply
lived down the opposition TO them, and have
done so not by showing themselves capable of
better things, but by sheer, impudent, stolid, de-
fant perseverance in their evil ways, until crit
Icsm of them has grown weary and condcmna-
ton stale.
II Is an old story, old as sin itself 1t has long
been proverbal. 1t inspired the often quoted
but seldom needed lines about vice, which 80 be
"hated needs but TO be seen; but seen TOO Oft
familiar with her face, we first endure. then
"nity then embrace" II inspired that other
equally familiar and equally neglected saying,
that eternal vigilance is the price Of liberty
Perhaps It will always be so. Yet If the world
really is growing better and humanity Is attain
ing n higher ethical standard. We ought one of
these days TO roach n point where the staying
powers" of virtue Will be as great rs those of
vice. and where the zeal Of good men for the
good will be at least as strong and as enduring
as that Of bad men for the bad, and where there
will be no such thing as living down an evil
reputation except by bringing forth fruits meet
for repentance and entering upon worthier ways
Of life.