The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1900-12-22

Ri. Rev. Hugh Miller Thompson,
Bishop for Mississippi of the Episcopal
church, returned last wesk from New
York, where he went for medical
treatment, and where he looked with
his Own eyes upon the crusade now
being carried on against vice in all its
worst forms. The Bishop looks with
considerable disfavor upon the pro-
ceediugs and predicts that they will
come to nought, for the reason that the
people who are responsible for the
existing conditions there, namely,
Croker and the city officials, are lead
ing 10 the crusade. he blames the
officials first for not enforcing laws ana
the people, second, for not making the
officials, creatures oil the public, per-
form their duty. The Bishop says In
an interview with the New Orleans
Picayune:
when we elect a man to an office he has
two things to do. One is to attend to the du-
ties of his Office. and the other is to look after
MS Tt-titttltu. anu III dttthus w IA i"''Ni
so well that he has no time to attend to the
duties of his Office at all. Eternal vigilance
is the price of liberty, and it is the price of
anything else that the public wants that is
worth having. So, when a man is elected to
an Office the people cannot afford to go TO
sleep. They must keep awake and stand be-
hind him with two sticks. sharpened Mt the
'front.' end. A government of the people. for
~, ..-.f, .,,l htr thn ,kaAtlo ra1piraz tho
constant attention of the people to see that
they get the service they pay for"
Commenting upon this interview,
which was OF some length aod APPLY
and wisely stated, the Picayunc says:
THE laws can be enforced anywhere II the
people will It. When they are not enforced.
it is the fault of the people themselves. One
of the most remarkable facts In this connec-
tion is that men who are opposed to capital
punishment by the processes of law will. in
too many cases. not hesitate to approve vio-
lent popular Justice, or even join actively in
u "lynching bee" They are in favor of
lawless violence, but their conscience will
not permit them TO consent to capital pun
ishment by judicial processes.
The fact is. when vice and crime abound
in IA community, the people themselves are
more to blame han are the officials who fail
TO do their duty, for the officers are tempted
by %pecuniary influences to wink at and en-
courage violation of law, while the people.
by their silence and Indifference when the
facts are made known, actually encourage
the corrupt officials ia abetting crime and
vice and in shielding their perpetrators. In
a government by the people. the people them
selves are responsible for any long continued
official abuse and corruption.
The laws can be enforced anywhere IL the
people want it done, and that is all Of the
matter
There is not a'hamlet or city in the
country to which the above does not
apply. Whether it is the country
village in which blind tigers
ply their .nefarious and degrading
traffic, or the city with its gilded and
alluring vice, there are the officers OF
the law, elected by tie people, who
are sworn and pledged to do their
duty. Public sentiment must stand
behind them and use the ~sha-pened
sticks to which the Bishop refers.
The officers should be brave enough
and manly enough TO do their duty
even though they offend the publican6
thereby cut short the TENURE Of their
service, but su;h is in many Instances,
notthe case. There is food for relec-
ton in the above which we commend
to all who see the laws disregarded and
who chafe and grumble thereat.