The Irish standard., 1904-01-23

I munity, why are not some of our
prominent citizens brought to the bar
of justice. No attempt whatever is
made to enforce the smoke ordinances.
The chimneys from most of the large
buildings emit a continuous cloud OF
smoke and gas which blackens people
inside and out, but nothing is done.
Why?. Because movement in that
direction would affect prominent citi-
zens. DR.. Bracken, the state health
officer, in recent paper, charges the
railway companies with maintaining
unclean cars. A committee from the
Commercial club of this city recently
made report in which they say that
they found the surroundings Of the
! leading theater in this city in most
filthy and unsanitary condition. Why
are these matters passed without ac-
ton? Is it because the prominent
citizen" is the offender? We commend
to the health officers and to Judge
Dickinson, who have constituted
themselves the conservators of public
health and morals in this community,
the comment of the Chicago Tribune
upon Mr.. Jerome's attack on Chicago.
The comment is in part as follows:
"The prominent citizen" creates the
SCOT and smoke which hang over the
city, except on Sunday-when, for a
pretense, he makes long prayers and
thanks God that he is not as other
men are.
"The prominent citizen" makes the
stenches which the winds carry to all
parts of the city.
"The prominent citizen" uses the
sidewalk as shipping yard.
"The prominent citizen" steals land
from the streets and the river for
switches and docks.
'"The prominent citizen" cuts up the
pavements with narrow tire wagons
and trucks and grabs all the streets he
can for car tracks without compensa-
ton to the city.
''rhe prominent citizen" tries by
surreptitious, clandestine and fraudu-
lent means to obtain valuable fran
cllises from the city-and sometimes
succeeds
"The prominent citizen" owns most
of the fire traps and filthy tenements.
"The prominent citizen" periodically
debauches the council and the legisla-
ture-when he can.
"The prominent CITIZEN" fresh from
his exlilarating and remunerative pas
times, lends the light of his counte-
nance to select commercial organiza-
tions and therein expatiates upon the
unregenerate nature, the depravity, the
villainy of his less favored fellow citi-
zen. He advocates municipal "beauti-
fication" for everybody but himself,
and the suppression of crime which is
inconvenient to him. With simple
candor and earnest faith he denounces
the violations of city ordinances
which restrain poor men from doing
wrong, but he "winks the other eye"
when any of them infringe upon his
own privilege of trespassing upon the
rights of his fellow citizens. He who
covers the Sidewalk with his mer-
chandise is properly shocked at the
spectacle of poor woman or child
who throws banana peel into the
street. He, the creator of all pervad-
ing stenches, is offended by the mild
smells of the alley garbage box.
On all public occasions ''the promi-
nent citizen" is an unsparing critic.
He holds up the inconspicuous citizen
to scorn as the enemy of the cleanli-
ness, the beauty and the decency of
the city. He who builds, owns and
charges high rent for the rotten, in
sanitary fire trap in which the tenant
breathes an insufficiency of good air,
still deplores the mans lack of "sweet-
ness and light" and his predisposition
to i'll health and stmulants.
The prominent citizen is one of
those of whom it was said: aye are
like unto whitcd sepulchers, which, in
deed, appear beautiful outward, but are
within full of dead mems bones and
OF all uncleanliness."
We know him, and we don't love
him! Admiration for his rare qualities
is confined to rapidly narrowing cir
Gle in which he exercises diminished
authority, while elsewhere he is looked
upon as one of the throng of law
brcakers-not better than any of the
rest, but even worse; for, with abun-
dant opportunities to do the right
thing. he has chosen for sordid rea.
sons to do that which is wrong,
"CITlZEN TRAIN"