New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-11-12
rights, fraternity Of feeling, peace, order anu
prosperity.
SOME LAWYERS IN A CROWD.

Tobns remark about the man that lays hi'
hand on woman save In the way Of Kindness 10
quoted often enough to suggest to the ooser'-
ant mind the need Of modification. Inere are
still no doubt some of those base wretche'
whom 'twere gross fattery to name as co"hru''
But there are many times more OF those WHOSE
laying on of hands Is not ostensbly done IN uh-
kindness. perhaps actually in kindness, ana YET
Is scarcely less offensive than that referred 10 d!
the poet Nor are women the only suf1erers'
There Is a sentimental discrimination In their
favor. which we would be the last to decry or 10
ignore. Yet the simple fact Is that man Is just
as much entitled to inviOlabillty OF person as
woman Is and that the offensive laying OF hahu'
upon him is as gross n violation not OF chivairy
but of courtesy and of common right, as In ner
case 1t Is against 1t in both cases, for the WIZ
dication of both man and woman, that earnest
voices. il not something more than voices, neeu
to be raised.
The average policeman, for example, never
hestates to lay on his hands in the most conn
dent and Immediate manner, whether upon the
comely woman whom he is escorting across the
street or upon the unwary man whom he Is
ureing back from forbidden ground WHAT
business has he to do it? The woman does not
need his support and the familiar touch OF MS
hand upon her arm or waist Is an unwarranteu
assault upon her modesty Of person. The man.
| in the other case has not disputed his authority
nor defied his word, and it is an indignity 10
front him rs though he had and were fugitiVe
mr. aggressive criminal The policeman has no
more right to use his hands upon any one, save
In legal restraint than any other citizen. Inc
ossumption that his uniform gives him the right
IN fondle every pretty woman's arm or grip
mans shoulder or collar Is one of the grosses'
impcrtinences Nor is he by any means the only
| uniformed offender The same habits are IN
dulqed in by many Of the conductors OF street
cors II is sometimes proper, and indeed neces
CORY n aesIst neople TO enter or to leave sucn
vehicles. especially since they are now con-
structed so as TO make such ingress and egress
"a dift,cult and as dangerous as possible. But II
| e. rorfoctIv notent that in many If not most
cases such attentions are not only needless Out
gratuitously offensive.
We may 20 still further, to what Is indeed the
glst of the whole matter, namely that thc sen
oral nubc which suffers from such laying on OF
hands. Is itself rapidly degenerating iii'o piHo
t,co If tbe same vicious habit. Men in crowd
are no longer content merely to 1os'le 'heil way
with elbows and shoulders. They have taken 10
10
rrsb for the cars and in making their way
through crowded cars they grip others os '"e
arm or by the shoulder with the utmost lreeuoh'
| The average man, we fancy mas not III.
| ouently had a stranger who was loHo" ins III"
| ont Of a crowded streetcar deliberately p"' HIS
| hands upon his shoulder and urge MIN alois VI
| fry thus to push him to one side IL Is " u'ON
| Of multtudinous daily practice Yet WIFI Is =,
| but assault? And If the man 'hus onenieu
| should turn and knock the offender down WIN IL
| blow between the eyes. who couid ihain'iin ''"'
he had not provocation? The crInlhal ihuS' sui
| for the grip of the constable upon HILL in'
honest and free man should suffer no such III
dignity from any one. ,,. t.
II Is not however, in itself that thls hapi' 10
detestable. bad though 1t thus Is. Inc "ors'
| feature of It Is that 1t is marx OF lhcrea'.
ing disregard for the rights. the hDeroes anu
| indeed the very life Of the Individual. II VIII
| he a sad day for this or for any people wien
tbe rights Of the person are made INFERIOR u
those of property, or indeed to any other' Aah
&c the supreme thing Of all material ana Gre
| ated things. and his rights are paramount
II is we'll 10 punish the thief or the swimmer
p,,t q is still more incumbent upon us 10 PUNISH
him who violates life or limb. 1t has Deen saiu
| in some communities that 1t was easier lor L
murderer than for a thief to get clear mere
could be no more appalling indictment OF the au-
ministraton of justice than that II true IL
,,.orld ronk human life lower than gold ana Sill
ror II &c as the first step toward precisely such
= hidoous stoto Of affairs that this free and easy
| living on Of hands is to be deplored ana re-
sentcd and suppressed Grab hold OF man
yo,,se or watchchaln, and there is hue ana cry
and the police come post haste to vindicate the
majesty OF outraged law--the law OF property
prt Law hold with equal lack Of warrant or the
mon himself and who cares for the outraged
,ow IN that case-the law Of the human person
u ,s NOT that we would regard the law OF prop
ertv less. but that we would regard the law OF
human life and limb and freedom more iha'
is the ground on which the unauthorized laying
on of hands on woman or on man. Is 10 oe IT,
garded as menace and an intoier"p'e onen'e