Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1898-12-28
UNIONS MOCK MORALITY.
Rock Island Pictured as Wicked Place
for Political Eject.

Rock Island Pictured as a Wicked Place
for Political Eject.
Once in so often-if circumstance
will permit-the Rock Island Union
takes on highly moral streak and,
while laboring under such spell,
Rock Island is, through its columns,
held up to the world as very wicked
place. These crusades, so called, on
the part of the Union would attract
more attention, in the city at least.
but for the obvious purpose which
prompts them. Outside of the city,
however, the motive may not be so
clearly understood, and hence the i'm
preston is, unfortunately, likely to
obtain not only that the high moral
appearing paper is sincere, but that
Rock Island really is place as greatly
to be Stunned as the Union would
have it appear. The real facts are,
though, that the morning paper sees
no more in reality TO the city's dis
credit now than it has at any other
time in recent years. The simple eX-
PLANTATION of it all is that the time is
rolling around for another municipal
election, and something must be
trumped up to smirch, if possible, the
most successful and businesslike ad-
ministration of local affairs the city
has ever had. Realizing the popular
ity of the existing management of
public affairs in Rock Island, not only
among business men and manufactur-
ers, but among citizens generally,
seeing the evidences all about of sub
stantial improvement and progress,
and knowing the indisputable evil
dence of how greatly Rock Island has
been the gamer through the second
election of the present mayor, the
Union is seeking to awaken an unwar-
ranted prejudice. And for what pur-
pose? To make it plausible that
Frank Knox or Joe Haas or some
other republican of equal ambition
may ride into the mayoral chair on
the wave of high morality.
1t will be rememb ered that about four
years ago the Union was engaged in
just such practices as it is now in
dulging in. The first administration
of Mayor MediIl was then approach
ing close. The spring election was
coming on, slowly but surely. Then
as now, prematurely rs it might have
seemed, Frank Knox was out hustling
for the republican nomination. So
was Joe Haas. Mr.. Medill disap-
pointed the citizens by declining to
stand for reelection. The republi-
cans thereupon had the situation in
their hands. Knox got the mayor
atty. 1t is not necessary to eXpatiate |
upon what the people of Rock Island |
got. Suffice is 1T to say that two
years later the city of Rock Island, |
and what appeared to be ali of the in |
habitants thereof, welcomed Mr.. Me- |
dill back to the executive chair with |
open arms, and this, Notwithstanding |
the attack the morning paper had |
made in the closing months of his |
first administration in advocacy of n |
line of policy in behalf of the city's |
moral welfare, as it had the effrontery /
to claim, but which it sadly. but no |
less significantly forgot to sub
scribe itself to two years later |
when the brilliant Knox admins
tration, view it from any standpoint |
you please, was rounding to finish.
Mayor Medill, when seen this after
noon, said: Il have from the first /
given orders that no such practices as
the Union alleges should be tolerated |
and hence these allegations are a sur
prise to me. No complaints have been
made, whatsoever, but there will
be the proper investigation made.
As far as the practice of women
visiting saloons is concerned, repeated
special orders have gone out on the
subject, the police having served
them whenever there was any evil
dence of occasion for them. There
has been no exception to the rule
whatever.
Morally as well as in other
ways this city will compare favorably
with any other city OF her size in this
country, and in many instances
the standard is above that of other
cities of similar population. The at
sarcasm with which the Union
makes reference this morning to what
has happened in the police regulations a
dozen times in the past two years, the
of saloons that they must
not harbor women, is but an instance
of the studied inconsistency of it's dis
DositiOn and DurDose