New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-04-19
TIE PATRoLMEN ON TRIAL.

Tho snac+acle of Sunday law enforcement II
.,o r,dridpest. precinct last Sunday throws an
4,s+ruotiva light upon the character OF lnose
v;r+uous patroImen who were going TO reform
this reform administration TO the great glee Oh
IFS malicious critics Their performances To-
morrow will be watched with interest LOT lhes
have lust put themselves on trial. VI 'he siA's
one arrests for violations Of the SUNDAY ia"s
in that precinct last Sunday only 1our were
Gov ;,fractions of the excise law. The others
,rora for selling two cents worth of peanuts,
. her feather. a piece of meat, neckne or
some other such tride. Most OF the per
sons arrested We're Jews. who do no WORK oh
Saturday and consequently desire TO get 'he
protits of six days business week py seilins
on Sunday. as we'll as to supply the wants Vi
their Jew neighbors who go about thelr usual
vocations on Sunday and under the general
law of the State have long been prl'lleseu W
engage in ordinary labor Whlch Is ioIpluuen ~
other people on that day.
Now. this is nothing short OF an outrage ana
the noIirernen who made these arrests knew IT,
Tbav mt ON an air Of virtue and say they were
enforcing the law" Nobody however, Is 1or
an instant fooled by It, except possibly the poor
ignorant people of the tenement house dlstrlct'
who are meant to learn by hard lesson mere
after to stand by Tammany and endure eAtor-
ton rather than be prosecuted" under a reform
administration. 1t is worthy OF note that one OF
the most significant and fatal revolts from lam
many was on this same East Side, and great
homes have been entertained by the friends or
decent government that these people Woulo
learn the value of honest administration ana
increasingly emapcipate themselves from the
tyranncal sway of the corrupt Iammany poH-
ticians who have used them and abused them
Deveryism is aghast at such prospect anu
takes advantage of the first opportunity to
.'show the East Side what reform means. 1t Is
the old trick Of giving the reformers dose OF
their own medicine" The police tried 1t IN
Mayor Strong's administration. Devery tried 1t
every time he was forced TO show some regard
for decency as. for instance, when, In face
of the demand that he close some VIGOROUSLY
immoral Sunday music halls, he began 10 arrest
the dining room orchestras Of reputable hotels.
But they We're enforcing the law" it will be
said Indeed! Why did they not arrest every
body who was riding In streetcar for fun, all
persons who were driving on the Speedway for
snort? The laws Of New-York which have been
in all parts of the State no more dead letter
than these now so virtuously enforced. forbid
such activities. There are a lot Of old laws On
the statute book some Of them almost from
Colonial times, which have been outgrown and
hy common consent IOrSolleH feTudpS Lnea
ought to be repealed formally. but such things
are not done anywhere, and no trouble is caused
by it so long as the police power is not in
trusted to scoundrels and blackmailers Many
persons hold that it is good to have on the
statute books regulations rather more strict
than public opinion will allow to be enforced
a general thing, in order that power may exist
to deal with abuses. Thus outdoor games on
Sunday may be ordinarily inoffensive, but If
such games were definitely authorized rowdes
might play at places and in manner likely to
annoy the whole community. AS things are at
present harmless customs can be tolerated by
common sense administration and at the same
time abuses of liberty may be restrained. No
honest officers have ever used the law against
Sunday selling to prosecute the poor people.
especially the Sabbath keeping Jews; and
Mayor Low is right in instructing the police to
have regard for their convenienceS particularly
at this time of their Passover. A moderate
degree of freedom has always been allowed
them In this city and in other parts Of the
State and there is not the slightest necessity for
a change now. The idea that the authorities
may not enforce laws with discretion has no
respectable sanction. The courts uniformly de-
clare that the law is not concerned with trifes,
and refuse to let private parties build up cases
on pure techncalities which have no merit in
them. These arrests are purely technical and
plainly malicious and we believe that the
magistrates have such discretion to Judge petty
cases on their merits as would warrant whole
sale discharges Of these victims OF police per-
sscution.
The course Of the patrolmen, mean as 1t is
must open the eyes Of the public to the charac
ter Of the material with which Commissioner
Partridge has TO deal The patrolmen doubt
less DO not intend II, but they justifying the
Commissioners policy of letting them play all
their tricks on their own responsibility. They
are also helping TO prepare the way for such
revision OF the Sunday laws Us will make their
matchmaking impossible. Perhaps, too they
are going much further than they think in con-