New-York tribune., 1901-11-03
CIVIC RIGHTEOUSNESS.

If civic life IS to be improved in American
cities 1t is obvious that the improvement must
be carried out by the citizens themselves. Ihere
must be an impulse for Righteousness, as there
is in this city to-day, not merely to put good
men in office on Election Day. but to sustain
them when they are in office. There is hoth-
ing mysterious or complex about civic virtue.
1t is nothing more than the continuous deter
mination of the God fearing. law-abiding men
and women of the city to see that it shall be
so governed that the welfare of all shall be
nromotad Really therefore, it is the good cit-
zens and not the bad citizens OF the city VINO
are responsible for it's condition. We are aware
that this Is not the popular view of the case
4 corrupt and ignorant electorate, led by dis
honest demagogues-that, we are told, is the
cause OF all the trouble. But after all the pri-
mary source of the trouble is the multitude OF
so-called good citizens who, for one reason OF
another do not lift hand to save the city lroIh
those who would rob or pollute It. we 90 not
hesitate TO say that good men are In the ha-
iorty in every city in the land. ana II a lam
many Hall Is able to intrench itself IN power II
is really due TO the blindness, apathy or SELF
interest of citizens who are nomnally on the
side of civic virtue In his remarkable cam
nairn Judge Jerome has brought this fact nome
"a the consclences of everybody, and for dong
so he is entitled to the lasting gratitude or all
good men.
Rut indirectly civic righteousness In the
cities NAV be promoted by raising the standard
of civic virtue in the villages Of the country ana
in purelv rural communities, which are the feed
ars Of all the great cities This is an aspect of
tho municipal problem which Is often forgotten
or IGNORED. II is sometimes indeed. assumed
that the standard of civic virtue Is far higher
in small rural communities. and doubtless this
ia true as 10 some forms of vice But. unfort-
unately. rural life Is not yet idylilc, and' Iii
fart many evil tendencies are at work In IL
which find their full development in the large
cities There is need in every town ana hamIet
of an aroused seatiment in regard 10 socloioGl-
1 raform ON n smaller stage, and under
somewhat different conditions, the same prop
jems are there pressing for solution. and are met
hy the same cynical question so OFTEN asked III
the great city, Am l my brothers keeper:
Th,. law of mechanics that chain Is only rs
strong as its weakest link is also a law OF So
ciaI and political life, and 1t Is useless to eX-
meet a millennium in the city while the coun-
trv at large is Indifferent to the need of a moral
un1ift The trouble is not that the people OF the
small town or village are consciously on the
side of evil for they are not, but that they fre-
ouently take no steps to put themselves con
sciousiy on the side of goodness
In other words. the same apathy which Is
resnonsible for evil government in the large
cities is to be found in the village and rural lie
of the country Little or nothing Is done Tor
tho suppression of nuisances that retard the
moral and material life of the community for
the removal of untOward conditions that tend
IN produce the village hoodlum and idler. for
the repression of drunkenness or other allied
forms of vice for the securing of better SAM
tory regulations, or for the promotion OF civic
nride and nobler Ideals of citizenship. In the
village and rural community. just as in the city,
the good people are often unorganiZed Tor the
nromotton of the general welfare. and are some
times found working at cross purposes. Much
has been done in recent years to remedy this
evil by the organization Of civic leagues. but
p,uch vet remains to be done in bringing home
IN each individual the responsibilities that rest
unop him. civic league will rot of itself re-
generate community unless it has behind it
the united and organized conscience of the
whole community The desire for political, so
cia, and moral bettern.rnt must be general.
And when this is the case throughout the whole
country it will not be long before the municipal
nrobIem of the greater cities is solved.