New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-12-27
TIE TAMMANY BACILLUS.

There is one sure sign of police demorarza'
t,or under tho present administration which Is
obvious to thousands Of persons who are not
familiar with saloon interiors ana sidedoors
ond have no direct knowledge of protected wee
and crime We refer to the fact that In all parts
Of the city, at all hours Of the day ana mgh''
members Of the force may be seen hop-
nobh,pp at their leisure as If they had nothing
else on hand and the protection or the me'roP-
obs were a matter of trihing Importance Wheh-
ever they do so they violate the regulations vi
the Department. but II Is plain that they have
no fear of unpleasant consequences. 1t VIII not
do IN soy that this Is n small and technical
offence which does not indicate any serious
,ock of discipline and efficiency. The precise
contrary Is the truth. 1t Is clear case OF loai-
inc md II means that the standard has been
LOT down 70 CORRESPOND to the Tammany con-
cepton of municipal administrator. these
slothful. easy-going. negligent policemen MAKE
no mistake In judging the temper ana pro'hvi
ties of those above them. They know IN tne
first place that there IL no stern rlgld reso'"'e
and impartial purpose animating the sources Oh
authority and In the second place they are
we'll assured that the old district leader pun
has recovered its potency and IN most cases
can be trusted TO intervene In their pehail
should any unforeseen emergency arise
The condition of the Police Department IL
similar 10 that Of the Street Cleaning Depart
ment 1t proceeds from the same cause ana en-
forces the same moral. In each of these two
exceedingly important branches Of the city gov
eminent the men now employed are to great
extent the men who were employed under the
Strong administration. and 10 great extent
they are under the immediate oversight or those
who were their superOrs then. But the former
standard has been degraded, the spirit Is rad-
colly different the sense of responsibility mas
been lost-in a word. decentralization has SET H.
II Is Tammany government That Is the OK
nlanation The man with the broom ana the
man with the club do as little as possible FOR
tho reason that they see no need of doing more
mr. If in many cases the decline has not YET
reached that stage. the tendency Is all III tlat
directiop Spasmod!c demonstrations Of energy
on the part of the police authorities testify to
q fear of what Republican Legislature and
Governor may do. but they cannot conceal the
general state and trend Of things. McCartney's
rervid proclamatio OF adherence to Warnings
system and methods does not alter the fact that
whereas Waring kept the streets cieah Mo
CARNEY keeps them dirty
do the people IKE lnlS soTt vi S"''i"'"'
1t is scarcely conceivable that more IMAM IL
small minority Of them really like IT, VIII they
let themselves be fooled into supporting it the
next time they have chance TO wipe It out
That remains to be seen. 1t cannot he denied
that they have been often and easily fooled IN
the past Even now, with three years more OF
Tammany rule before them. they might improve
their situation by such manifestations OF pubic
opinion as have at times compelled the rcctifi'
cation Of fragrant evils