The age-herald., 1901-08-11
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By John Foley EdItor of JeHers0nan cyoopeda"

When we get piled upon one another in large cities as in Europe, we shall become corrupt as in Europe. and go to eating one another as they do there" This quotation Is made from the writings of Thomas Jef- ferson, and the letter containing 1t was was written to James Madison, his pupil, friend, great secretary of state, and suc- cessor in the presidency only eleven years after the Declaration of Independence. threw down the gauntlet to the third Eng fish George.
 Has not the prediction been fulfilled? yes and no.
 Take the negative first. Tn the one hun dred, and fourteen years that have been added to the centuries since the letter to Madison was written, city administration has improved in Europe, particularly in England. London, for example, has no omnipotent "boss," swaying the majority of its voters, distributing its official pa- tronage and robbing its people, high and low, for the enrichment of himself and the political bandits that surround him and execute his commands. Great offices. executive and legislative are not there
 
 serts, should wear the uniform of the con vict. Wealth producing franchises, that Of right belong to the whole com ndnity, are not sold for bribe. The right to rob the people is not auctioned off in a cor rupe caucus of official thieves sworn to conserve the public interest. Possibly there is some petty larceny In the minor places, but there is no grand public pill lage. And this is true of not only all the ltCh A.Rk 1f Al,A C1w, too. 4Txl ones. Paris, Berlin, Vienna and all the rest are comparatively well governed. In them, as a rule the public utilities" as they are called belong to the people in their corporate capacity. When Jefferson wrote the "eating' picture was true to the life, or very nearly so. The British metropolis was under the dominion of rings or cliques, the successors of the old guilds. Successive waves of reform and enlightened legislation, spurred on by pop ular discomfort, swept them all away. It is a credit to monarchy and aristocracy that this change for the better was brought about through their instrument ality. True, the motive in the first place, was selfish. To save themselves they had perforce to do 1t, but the good remains, and the people have been gathers.
 Now for the affirmative of Jefferson In all the great cities where we have been piled upon one aOtner, IS there not a car nival of corruption? and are we not "eat- ing one another?" Great corporations in their several spheres of operation are wringing the last farthing from their vic tins. They paid for the privilege of rob ping and they are doing 1t without mercy Corrupt men have found their way into public office. For what? To administer their trusts in the interest of the public? No; to enrich themselves. This is true not of New York alone, it is true of nearly every city of a quarter of a million inhab- itants and over. San Francisco, Chicago, St. Louis, New Orleans, Philadelphia, are all the worst plundered communities on earth except New York. Greater New York. as 1t is called which leads the world in official villainy. In the American me- tropolis the public officials who are not under suspicion, against whom specific charges of rascality have not been made, can be counted on the fingers of one hand. And they are defiant in their venality. They laugh at every accusation laid at their doors and brazenly Haunt their ill., acquired spells in the faces of those that have placed them in their high positions.
 Jefferson's vision was indeed prophetic when he wrote the words I have repro duced. Thirteen years later, when he was candidate for the presidency. his opin- ions with respect to cities remained un-