The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-01-06
BISHOP POTTER AGAIN
THIS TINE HE MORALIZES ON THE
EVILS OF GREAT CITIES.
Says Croker Sent Him Emissary,
Asking Him His Price for Stop
ping the Anti-Vice Crusade.

NEW YORK, Jan. 5.-Bishop Potter
spoke on THE Causes of Our Present
Municipal Degeneration at a meeting of
the City Club last night. The bishop be-
gan his address by making a plea for
tolerance. He said that conditions as they
existed were largely the result of the COM
plexities of human nature. He was not
prepared to maintain, he said, that the
police as a body were corrupt, and said
he believed there were among them as
many men who had aspirations toward
good, and aims that were commendable, as
among any other body of men of the
same size. But they are the creatures
of a system" said the bishop. ST did not
come here to say pleasant things, and
the system exists largely because of your
indifference and mine. The solution of
the problem lies in individual activity and
viligance. L am sorry for one thing, my
friends, and that is that, in spite of the
approval with which my remarks made in
st. Paul Chapel seemed to have met with
at the time. they really fell absolutely
dead. What have any of you done along
the line of personal vigilance in spite of
your evident desire to bring about changed
conditions? You will never get results I'M
sonal sacrifice and vigilance.
Nothing better was ever done by Mr..
Roosevelt when he was police commits
sioner than the nightly tours he made
through the city watching the police and
seeing that they performed their duty. 1t
brought the men to a sense of feeling that
they were being watched Every man
charged with official duties ought TO have
the same feeling. Now / would like to
ask you men here how far any one of
you has troubled himself to observe the
| discharge of duty by the members of the
police force. well-known judge said to
me several days ago that the men of the
police force are bound together by a
| kind of loyalty that makes it incumbent
on each one to that his brother gets
out of trouble, no matter of what kind.
the brass buttons to help pal Do
you recognize what a system like that in
wolves? 1t means that you must bring
wrong DOING home to the culprit in such
way that It will be impossible for this
kind of loyalty to be of avail, and il is
impossible to accomplish this without per-
sonal vigilance and constant watchfulness.
II tell you, my brothers. that it does not
make a copper's difference whom you put
in or whom you put out. No one man can
| create force loyal to duty unless behind
| that man or that commissioner there Is
| the pressing force of public opinion which
| makes him feel that his position would be
| intolerable unless he did what was right.
| Organization, cooperation of forces-these
are the things that most needed, and
| it is along these lines that the victory must
| lie. The element of Indifference. however,
| is not the only one against which we have
| to contend. There is also that of cupidity.
| that greed and passion to get out of every
| office every possible emolument and d
powerful organization at the top that al
lows this to go on.
II suppose that it will be no surprise to
| you to learn that before the letter in re
| gard to Herlihy and Cross which / wrote
| was sent to the mayor. | was approached
by great many persons, emiSSaries rep
Tesenting all sorts of interests, to know
what sacrifice ii would be necessary for
| them TO make to satiate my desire for re.
venge. / desire to disclaim here any feel
| ing of that kind, or, in fact, any feeling
| shown to one of my clergymen. That was
| iE itself a small matter. The point lay in
the spectacle of a person going TO the men
| for protection who were supposed to be
conservers of the laws and the peace of the
community, and being deliberately insulted
1t was the spectacle of the police ranging
themselves on the side of crime and deg
| radiation against the decent element of the
| community that was intolerable Among
| those who came TO me was man who said
| that he represented Mr. Croker. He asked
| me if / would be satisfied TO drop the mat
ter If Captain Herlihy and Inspector Cross
wee beheaded. / told him that this was
not question of men. These men did but
| the bidding OF those above them, and those
| above them in their turn were the creatures
Of those still higher. told him that IL was
| a system we were opposing, not man or
1 men. for he knew as Well as you ana
! that the policeman does not hold his place
| through devotion or honesty. but wholly
| and solely by the favor of those above him,
| who are responsible for the system.
Some time ago / stated, and there were
/ many criticisms on my statement, that
money was the root of all the evils. A con-
dition of society where gain excuses all
| doings must naturally affect the mechanism
| which runs such city this. There must
| be some higher aim. There must be some
| Ioftier motives. We must recognize in all
who are worthy striving for the right.
The feeling must be foStered and nurtured.
| There must be personal sacrifice and vigil
| lance. and when you can achieve that there
| comes the awakening of great enthusi-
/ asin. The rest will be an easy matter