The Washington times., 1904-04-10

I slider why it is that there are so many
minute police regulations in a city, so
many things forbidden by such regu-
/ latlons. which the State does not deem
1t necessary to forbid when done in the
| country.
Country vs.. City.
Contrast one living on his farm in the
/ country, half a mile from any neighbor
with one living in the midst of a dense
/ ly populated city. How many more
things the former can do without injury
or annoyance to others. And the true
idea of liberty is not doing whatever
ones Judgment or wishes suggest. but
the right Of doing those things which do
not interfere with the well being and
| happiness Of others. The rights Of
/ others are the boundaries Of every mans
| liberty.
The farmers wife may throw the slops
| from the kitchen on the ground; he may
| put his pig pen In front Of his parlor; he
may burn soft coal and let the black
smoke pour out OF his chimney; he may
/ store gunpowder or nitrogiycerin or
gasoline in his barn; he may drive his
horse or run an automobile as fast as
he pleases within the limits of his own
! farm: he may let his hogs roam at will
in his own Enclosure; give them II he
sees fit the freedom Of the place. AS
the Irishman living in a rented shanty
said. the pig had a right IN the parlor.
for the pig paid the rent
Many Of these things may be offensive
to ones olfactories; may breed flies or
bugs or those invisible little scoundrels
which science Introduces to us and calls
! bacteria, and which do such incalculable
mischief: may disfigure the looks of the
/ Buildings and grounds: may even be
dangerous to life and limb. but so long
as he alone is affected. II his nose can
stand the smell; IL he is content to have
bugs and bacteria about him; IL he is
willing to risk the chances OF his life or
limb, the law permits It.
City Conditions Different
But place the same man In a city. and
he must be restrained IN these respects
| because otherwise he offends or endan-
gers others. The SCOT from his soft coal
fire VII spot the faces or spoil the
dresses OF our ladies; the pig pen fills
the air with doors which are offensive
to his neighbours sense of smell The
Stops which are thrown out may, perco-
latIng through the soil, pass into the
underground water courses. There may
be typhoid germs therein. Not he or
his family alone will suffer. for Cornell
| University and the city Of Butler attest
the fatality which comes from the pol
luted water supply OF city.
You know what the sewage OF a city
| means, for when turned into the river
which divides Chicago 1t loaded the ar
with multitude Of awful smells, which
made The far-famed city OF Cologne
hide Its head with envy and filed the
stream with countless millions Of BAG
terra which your sister city, st. Louis,
declares she viii not have, claiming she
can raise bacteria enough OF her own.
Speed on the city streets, whether of
horse or automobile. endangers the lives
/ Of multitudes. and for their sake you
must foregO the pleasures of racing.
These are but illustrations, but they
| are enough to show the need OF many
I restraints which the proximity of multi
tudes and their rights OF comfort and
! health necessarily impose. The gasoline
and the powder must be stored far away
from the city limits. for when fire Is
once started no one can predict where
It will stop. II the Widow O'Leary had
been compelled by ordinance to use a
lantern instead of a candle when she
went to milk her COW. Chicago would
have been saved the great fire Of 1871.
A Tragic Illustration.
It may make little difference with the
farm house whether its doors open out
ward or inward: whether there be a lad
der reaching to its second-story window
or not: but the fearful catastrophe which
only recently filed Chicago with gloom
attests the fact that doors opening out
ward. hre-escapes reaching TO the
ground. and other facilities for escap-
/ ing from a burning building are here es-
sential. AS you stand beneath the aw-
/ full shadow of the IroQuois disaster,
/ think for a moment how much it would
/ have meant to this city If ali reason
able precautions against fire had been
prescribed by ordinance and enforced
by municipal officials. Vain is it to
trust each individual TO impose on him
self she needed restraints. Many are
ignorant of their necessity; many indif-
ferent to them. Only the strong arm of
municipal law can secure protection to
all against the ignorance or indifference
Of the individual.
The Abused Policeman.
It IS not strange that the most widely
abused individual is the policeman. He
IS the active agent of the municipality
in enforcing its ordinances, the visible
representative of all obnoxious petty
and irritating city regulations AS
those regulations touch the life Of the
individual at more points and more fire.
quently than any other enactnents. ma
tional or State. II Is only natural that
he who enfcrces them should be most
disliked and consequently most fire.
quently and wrongfully criticised.
You seldom see the United states
marshal or State sherif1, or even the
constable but you see the policeman at
every corner. The laws Of the nation
and the State, while far-reaching and
by reason thereof profoundly affecting
the social life. are nevertheless not
brought to our attention so constantly
as the police regulations of the munich
pality.
We know there IS a statute defining
ana Furnishing murder. and we are
thankful that there is We know there
are courts TO try and officers to execute
that statute, yet we never think of
committing a murder, or of violating
any other mandate of State or nation.
Hence our attention is seldom arrested
bv those statutes or the officials by
whom they are enforced. But the little
things Of daily life are reached by police