Omaha daily bee., 1902-03-25
IS MUNICIPAL Reform A FAILuRE,

Less than three months have elapsed
since Mayor Seth Low assumed the re-
sponsible position of chief executive Of
Greater New York. The herculean task
d~evolving on him in purging the munich
pal machinery of the American metropo-
lis from the denominations that made
Tammany so odious can only be ac-
complished after years Of patient, hard
work. but the impracticable reformers
and political demagogues have already
raised an cutlery that the overthrow Of
Tammany has brought about no ma
terial change in the public morals or
tanners of the city.
Rev. Charles Henry Parkhurst and
other radical advocates Of municipal re-
form appear to be Mortified over the
failure Of Mayor Low to completely sup
press vice and crime, and the yellow
journals of New York continue to print
caricatures and sensational stories to
discredit Mayor Low and his administra-
ton. The refrain of these prophets of
in-omen has been taken up by the Chi
cago Chronicle, which pronounces the
attempt at municipal reform in New
York a complete failure, because for the
past two months New York
that are warning upon Mayor Low print
each Monday a list of resorts where
drinks could have been procured the
previous day, coupled with the assertion
that 1.-The saloons where the law is vio-
lated have greater fear of the Parkhurst
society raids than they have of the raids
Of the police" 1t is also charged that
gambling dens and poolrooms are still
tolerated.
To cap the climax, it is charged that
an appalling murder was committed on
February IL to destroy evidence against
policemen under Indictment for protect
ing d~isorderly resorts and to punish a
witness whose testimony caused the
conviction of the policemen charged
with accepting blackmail. Furthermore,
1t is asserted that, before the consolida-
ton with Greater New York, Brooklyn
claimed to have a moral position on a
higher plane than that Of New York,
which p%retense is no longer heard, and
the Brooklyn League declares that in
that city of churches and homes the
vicious are openly pandered to in the
sight of the respectable community.
All of these complaints may or may
not be well founded, but it should be
borne in mind that Rome was not built
In a day. No rational person would ex-
pect that vice and crime can be. COM
pietely eliminated in a densely crowded
community of more than 3,000,0 900 popu-
lation. With all the discipline and
moral suasion it would not be possible
for Mayor Low or his police commits
sion to guarantee absolute honesty, eff
cheney and morality for every member
Of a police force that is equal to an
army of twelve regiments. 1t would
not be possible to enforce the Sunday
closing regulations upon each of more
than 5000 saloons and resorts where
liquor is sold, but all who have had an
opportunity to visit Greater New York
within the past month will agree that a
very marked improvement is noticeable
in the police surveillance and the main
tenance of law and order in the public
thoroughfares Of that city.
The alleged increase Of vice and de-
cline in moral conditions of Brooklyn
since the creation Of Greater New York
and the change in the municipal admin
istration could scarcely be accounted for
because Brooklyn and New York have
been merged under one government. As
a former resident of Brooklyn and for.
mer mayor of that city, Seth Low is
surely well qualified to administer its
affairs as well from the city hall of
New York as he was from the public
building across the East river.
The fact is that DIR. Parkhurst and
the radical reformers Of New York are
asking and expecting too much and the
political opponents of municipal reform
are simply shedding crocodile tears of
distress in order to bring about a re,
dictionary movement that would remand
New York into the hands of Tammany.