New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-03-12

PULLS IN FOREIGN CITIES
From this IL viii be seen that New-York is not
the only city in the world where the existence Oh
pull is sufficient to insure immunity from
police interference and from punishment IL"
deed, pulls" are worked with FAR greater oe
gree of fagraney in the Old World than In the
New Even in England witnesses are shipped
off pleasure trips abroad. prosecutors are
"seen." and crime often got out OF the "ay-ah
this by the police. in conjunction with the au-
thorities: that when the fortunate oHehuer
comes up for trial before the magistrate N
deed. the case ever gets thus far-there Is no
testimony on which to hold the prisoner, WIZ Is
Immediately set at liberty. There are not sCoIeS
but hundreds of instances such as these ahions
the most notable of which was that or "A NOME
lord who, after having been mixed up IN a rear
full scandal. and warrant having been iSsuSu
for his arrest, actually escorted all the
way from London to Paris by couple OF IN
telligent detectives. whose only OBJECT was 10
prevent some police officer endowed with more
zeal than discretion from committing the mis-
take of placing him under arrest. In Berlin the
police are at the disposal Of any one VINO pos
sesses sufficient influence to command their ser
vices. and the most famous predecessor on tle
present Chief of Police owed much or ms power
and prestige to the cleverness wnlch ne nad
shown in recovering for a princess OF sraha
name and ancient lineage number OF letters
and photographs which she had been lndiscrSet
enough to address TO a young man who she
feared might make an improper use OF them
after she had quarrelIed and broken with MN.
The Chief of Police on this occasion did not
hesitate to inveigle the young man into TRAP
to bind him hand and foot, and then to INVADE
his lodgings and to carry on every scrap VI
paper which he could find there. -,
Rum sodden' is another of the epithets which
have been hurled at New-fork by those Oh us IN t'
habitants whose zeal in behalf OF reform mas
led them to forget the old and trite adase apOut
the bird that fouls its own nest. Strangers ere
led to believe that New-York is nothing but one
vast ginmi every second house liquor Store
and almost every citizen an habitual drunkaru-
And yet it does not seem to that there Is
myth inc Ito
saloons here as there cafes, estaml1ets'
brasseries and marchands de vim In Pans,
kneipe and beer rooms in Berlin and Vienna, or
pubs and pOthouses in London. In the french
capital all the main thoroughfares. Such as the
great boulevards, are lined on both sdes E- 1
almost amending succession or cares, Whhe
In the British metropolis there is hardly street
corner which does not have it's pub. IN New
York people content with about two or three
liquor stores to a block which is very moderate
compared with foreign capitals.
No better illustration. however, OF the fact
that NeW-YOrk is less 'rCm-SOdden' thaa many
European cities is to be found than in the rela-
tive pauCity of the number of intoxicated peo-
pie that to be seen in the streets. One meets
at least from ten to twenty drunken persons In
London to a single inebrated man here. and the
New-YOr municipality has never yet. go Ear as
l know, been called upon, like that of GlasS NV.
TO vote funds for the purchase or large Wheel-
barrows destined for the of the police in con-
veying to the station house at night members of
the fair whose enjoyment of the Scotch Sab
bath had been of altogether too spiritual char
acter.
CORRUPTION AMONG OFFICIALS
With regard to the charges Of corruption and
dishonesty on the part of the city authorities.
which being made with a vehemence that
would tempt one to believe that New-York was
the most corrupt city on the face of the globe.
L cannot see that 1t is worse In this respect
than any metropolis of the Old World. Rather
the reverse. For the local rates and taxes of
one kind and another which residents such as
myself called upon to pay here are inf1ni-
tesmally small compared to those enormous i'm
posts eXacted in London, Berlin, Vienna, and
particularly in Paris. where every article of
food that enters the city is taxed to the extent
of almost third of it's value to fill the munich
pal Golfers If the city administration Of New
York is corrupt, we who live here subject to it's
control at any rate suffer less than the inhabi
tants of European capitals.
On yonder side of the Atlantic. however. the
public is kept In ignorance of the disciplinary
measures instituted against offending officials.
The legal proceedings are conducted with Sc
crecy, and everything possible is done to avoid
discrediting the Government and the munich
pal administration In the sight of the peo-
pie Although the world at large hears reIa-
lively little about the matter yet the Ameri
can people may rest assured that there is
every bit much corruption and dishonesty
in the administration of foreign capitals as
For the effects thereof felt much more
acutely on yonder side Of the Atlantic than here
and administrative malfeasance costs the people
in New-York far less than in European capitals
The only difference is that the New-Yorkers
with their love of publicity. call upon the entire
world to witness the dishonesty of their officials
and convey the idea both at home and abroad
that their city is of all the most corrupt and
abominable on the face of the earth. destroying
thereby that moral prestige and self-respect on
the part of the authorities and especially Of the
police officers, which are so Indispensable to their
efficiency and to the consequent welfare of the
commonwealth. In Europe the people wash
their dirty linen sub rosa, but in New-York il
is done coram publico. EX-ATTACHE
New-York Feb. %, 1900.