The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1902-04-07
"SAD NEED OF REFORM p.
IN ST. LOUIS POLITICS."
Father James I. Coffey Discussed
Ways and Means by Which
10 Obtain 1t.

Father James I. Coffey Discussed
Ways and Means by Which
TO Obtain 1t.
Tho Reverend Father James Thomas Cof-
preached yesterday on Moral Reform "a
Politics: Do we need it? How shall it be
@Tha there is ,a q n saad' Of IN I pafG1; :, or.
POLITICS In 81. Louis. no sane man will de-
ny. But things have been going awry for
SO many years, that many do not hesitate
to declare that 1t is useless to try to stem
the torrent of political corruption. Some
people say this. because they don't care to
lry-they are easy-going indifferentists.
Others make the assertion. because they are
allied with corrupt methods and corruption
are S Who war; are no T peesimist otheE Yo ssiil thsTs
change men, they assert. the men who
vote In st. Louis to-day are corrupt, and they
are you going to remedy matters?' OF these
three classes the last Is without doubt the
most dangerous. To make such assertions
as the above In the face of the strong and
outspoken public opinion of the best ele-
ment Of St Louis citizenship is. indeed
The respectable element in this city is
without doubt In the majority. 1 don't
respectable 1t includes every good citizen.
whether he is rich or poor. educated or un-
educated: The mass of this community are
law-abiding and honest men. But the
gang element has been permitted to run
t HINES good 80 ,e long and and SO scandalousiy, that
ANYTHING. to say at all. However. at the
last municipal election they were agreeably
surprises TO md they were still a very 20.
some decency and respectabillty into our
work?
The present primary registration ind.-
Gates that we are going to let the black
guards have everything again. If bad men
ARE nominated had mon mill ha x1nnt1l g.
office. If decent. upright. seif-respecting cit
liens are named. this community will GER
irrespective OF their political creed. II we
want honest government We must set aside
political bias and put the very best men at
all thoroughly sick of the situation we have
had to face during the last fifteen years.
We are al! heartily ashamed of the condi-
tlon OF our public institutions. We need a
new -Four Courts building; We need a new
iTticns are ur-
poor. We might have had all these i'm
provementS years ago If so many of our
public missionaries had not been moro
busy in bartering the city's rights for pri-
Vate gain than in repleting the city treas
ury for the upbu!lding and identifying Of
our public and e!eemosynary institutions.
LOOK at the magnificent work of an emf
nently respectable bipartisan School Board.
Betore We opened our eyes to this need We
loss through the scandalous jobbery Of the
political parasites who held the fate Of our
public schools in their hands for so many
years.
In passing. however. I would like to say
to the present eminently respectable School
Board that. while material progress has
been much desired and has been fully
granted. there is another matter that the
people would like to see taken UP. and that
most efficient and often overworked school
teachers !, for one. do not think their
present salaries a sufficient recompense for
the SPLENDID services rendered.
What an exhibition the honorable mem
bers of the House of Delegates are making
of themselves and their motives before the
public to-day, What a burning shame 1t IS
for any great metropolis like our own TO
be held Up to public ridicule by a lot Of
where they are? Why. we did. Of course.
TIL whole batch were of the same shade.
and they were voted in for want of some
thing better and more decent.
1T behooves us to vote them out as soon
as the opportunity presents Itself. Surely
some political party Will come to our rescue
at the next election and nominate clean
men for the House of Delegates. BY clean
mon, l mean men who haven't been reared
with the odors Of bawdy houses. what a
crime 1t is for any body Of public servants
to openly boast. as our House of Delegates
low-down Doodle rum sellers and the de-
PRAYED denizens of the half-world. That
there are some respectable gentlemen in
the lower house of our city government T
will not deny. but that the majority Of that
body have no respect for decency. or hon
eSty i can prove from the record. Young
men say to-day: It's all right to morales
from the house tops; but when YOU have
to face the hand things of life you get a
different opinion of the House Of Delegates
and other public servants. who know how
TO be humanitarian. Their friends are in
trouble. and politicians always have friends
trouble? By fair means or foul, by Just
means or by unjust, by honest means or
d tlen61ssss is the, the reply; Your friends are in
heaven and earth to get them out: buy
them out: bride them out: but get them out.
Attorney with political humiliation eet
strong and influential politicians to Az tina
Judge. employ lawyers known to the public
their nake-up. and by using ali these cor.
rupt and corrupting influences liberate your
friends from the clutches Of the laws that
as these so-called political friendships. II Is
by This method that our great city bosses
poor dupes. They protect murderers and
thieves and criminals of every class, and
the support of such men and their init
mates. At the behest Of the bosses public
officials do not hesitate to trample under
are the ends of justice defeated and our
most stringent laws made the play thinEa
Of boodlers and ward heelers.
Some time ago l asked. a member Of tho
House Of Delegates why the Judge Of thaa
Dayton Street Court. instead Of His HoA.C
II the SeulIdl SOurt, naQ been OrOugh De-
fore the City Fathers for trial. He smi-
insly replied that the Central Court was
ever most ohliging to the Delegates and
their friends. and II would be unmanly and
ungrateful on their part to modest 1t in any
way. Corruption besets corruption. and so
the pest goes on spreading. Shall we rem
edy this state Of affairs7 Can we remedy
II? Yes. Register for the primaries. Nom
mate clean men for public ONCE. Demand
this or the political leaders. When clean
men are nominated, see that they are elect
ed. II you don't do your full duty as citi.
zens: then keep quiet and stop blaming 9TH
ers Tor all your troubles.
IF you want the Buffers n KinneyS
and Wuliamses and Schawackers and
Schweickardts and Wurzburgers and Ziexeu-
helms. to run st. Louis, just tell them to 70
ahead, and they will be only too glsd 10
serve you and help themselves 10 the
Queens taste. Citizens, shall these men
continue to debauch the ballot and poIlute
the fountain-head of justice in this COM
munity? 1t rests with you. and you alone.
to decide this momentous question. You will
not decide it by arguments. be they ever 40
convincing. nor by grumbling, be il ever 40
loud and vehement: but by progressive.
open-eyed. up-to-date activity in the exer-
else of your rights Of citizenship"
EXCITEMENT FOR BUCKNER.