The leader., 1901-03-13
FOoD FOR SERIOUS THOUGHT.

II FOOD FOR SERIOUS THOUGHT
Al The editor of THE LEADER does not
AZ rememb Der a time since he has been an
n. editor, when as many complaints and
Y. criticisms of official dereliction of duty
W and drunkenness in quarters where
" such things ought to be least expected
III or tolerated, as have been heard dur.
IL ing the last two weeks Some of these
X. criticisms take the form of communi
X cations which the writer's wish pub.
y lished over nom de plumes, while the
" majority are made in personal conver.
N sations and the editor asked to call
N public attention to the matters com.
\. planned of.
Y. The following is an incomplete
y schedule of the things reported and
Y adjudged by those reporting them to
II be worthy of public exposure and con
u demnation:
u |. That two officers of the law were
y seen in business house on one of the
Y principal streets of the town late at
y night, drinking in noisy crowd
II the whole appearance of things betok
II ening the immediate presence of a
i blind tiger lair. No Niger in it.
I. ,. That persons under the grave
Y charge of murder, after being taken
y into custody, have not been placed in
\ Jail like other people, pending an in
A Of ha oI,a 1,,f ~ 4
il to go about under nominal guard or
I. on their own recognizance.
y 3. That a prominent attorney has
Y twice appeared in court during the
y last two weeks too drunk to properly
u and efficiently represent his clients,
II and received no rebuke or reprimand
!. of any kind from the court.
I. 4. That an representative of the
\ county was "crazy drunk" on the
= streets few nights ago, and after
= vainly endeavoring to get him quietly
i away, an officer had to lock him up in
4 Jail as the only thing to be done.
I. 3. That some of the officials charged
. with preserving order and conserving
J the peace will nail drunk nigger or
insignificant Country tack" when he
gives his first swagger and war whoop
i on the streets, but other spreers of
4 more influential type swagger around,
:. swear, yell and paint the town red"
: and at most are only coaxed off and
put to bed somewhere and their cases
are never heard of afterward in either
i the Mayor or Justice courts.
Z 6. That ever and anon some negro
:. rendezvous is raided and lot of col
ored crap-shooters garnered in and
! mulched for costs, while white crap
shooter and a lot of young bloods
i around town who, it is alleged, spend a
I large part of their time gambling, are
I. never molested or hauled into court.
|, I. That only last Sunday morning a
= police officer was seen drunk and
y swearing on the street, who only the
i night before had reluctantly arrested
Il another man for the same ofense
= against the peace and dignity of the
!. community.
= s. That a prominent church member,
y who also bears the reputation of run
! ming blind tiger, was seen drunk on
the streets Sunday morning and an
other police officer was visibly under
& the influence of liquor, and no arrests
3 made
3 The editor of The LEADER has not
= been able to investigate all of these
* reports and prove their truth or falsl-
3 ty, but he has satisfied himself, beyond
x all doubt, that number of them are
& true and regrets to say that, with the
3 lights so far before him, he cannot
:, tell his readers that a single one is
& unworthy of belief But if only half
: of what is here stated be true, the sit
:, uation is a most grave one to the peace
* and order of this community. When
: officials, charged with the response
!; bility of enforcing law, do not proper
x ly respect the law and their obliga-
8 tions to the public, how can it be eX
q pected that others will do 50? Lately,
p tuc pOllCc lOlCo VI IAlo lONu las pOCh
8 increased in number and in pay, and
3 only at the last meeting of the Board
x of Supervisors that body was petitioned
& to order special election for an extra
3 constable What is the law abiding
= public to get for all this? One of the
& reasons alleged in the petition was
. that the increasing population of this
3 district demanded a larger police
& force; but, judging by what is seen
3 and heard of official delinquency in
= that quarter, if the voters are not
& very careful in the man they
3 select, the situation will be aggra
s waited rather than relieved by
& the addition, and the next urgent de-
8 mand will be a police force to regulate
3 the constabulary.
< The LEADER has said this much as
$ the mouth piece of those who have re-
< quested us to speak for them. What
, are they and other law-abiding citizens
= going to do about it? For our part,
we say, no wilfully delinquent or
u drunken official should be tolerated
v any longer than it takes to oust him.
V The storm that passed over North
y Texas Saturday in the form of a Tor
Y nado, went through Northwest Louis