Daily Kennebec journal., 1905-09-30
lawlessness in New York.

A few weeks ago some startling fig
ures were published showing the num-
Der of deaths in Chicago, this year, as
the result of personal violence. and
based upon these figures many edi-
tori;:ls were written and many sermons
Preached upon the appalling law!ess
great western metropolis. The disclo-
sures as to Chicago led 10 a little in
now the latter city is getting some very
not shot from its own newspapers and
others Here are few samples. The
Washington Star says:
Life insurance companies consider a
man who lives in the tropics as IL
hazardous risk. And yet a man VINO
lives under the equatorial sun stands Il
fair chance of enjoying Il natural death
from yellow fever. revolution or Some
other climatic cause. But not so III
New York. There, If 4 man safely gets
across the street lodges dynamite
blast. and crawIs out from under
collapsed building. be is apt TO DC
knocked down by q thug and locked up
nv q policeman for neglectinG 10 apollo
piza To the robber. a good many
scathing remarks are made about
Arkansas and Mississippi mobs which
inadvertently, or absent-mindcdly COM
nit the indiScrction OF lynching the
wrong man, but there are those who
hold the opinion that an Arkansas mob,
soaked with rum, is Chestertieldian
yhen compared with the New York
crowd Several theories are advanced
in accounting for the prevalence Of viO-
lcnce and lawleSSncsS in New York.
The first is that il is the home of Wall
street, and that several OF the trusts
nave headquarters there. Another is
that New York has more murderers
and f. wer police than any other town.
that il has tn. best criminals ana
the worst detective force Oh earth"
The New York Press says:
The advertisement OF the New York
Times. Offering 81 600 reward for Infor-
nation which will cause the arrest and
conviction Of the murderer or murder
ers OF Jacob Ii. Thompson of It's edi-
toIial staff, is an advertisement OF the
incompctency of the central office. 1t
was not necessary, however. TO ;tdvcr-
tiSe the uselessness of the New York
police department as an agency for the
detention and punishment OF mysteri-
ols murder. II has long been notorious
both in this city and abroad for its
WOI thlcsSacss in that direction. In the
Thompson case II could not have been
pOssibl, for the police department t.
hav.. h,und, red worse than il did from
the very mcment il put its stupidity Ia
work"
The New York Mail says:
1T is a cold day in August when
New York city can't get up a we'll
dero lopel riot. 1t IS seldom that
fortnight passes without witnessing an
ugly riot in New York. and usually
somewhere near the heart of the city.
Riots are often started i'll New York on
small provOc1tion. Often 4 lot Of noisy
peorl, collect around some saloon or
cafe for 10 good purposes, and if the
police attempt to restore quiet and or
der Il riot starts. Only yesterday a
gang got ugly at a restaurant in a
busy part of the city. and when the
police tried TO restore order q. mob
made for the police. One man was in
stantly killed, two women shot and n
policeman clubbed over the head"
The Brooklyn Eagle says:
New York used to be one of the SAT-
est cities in the world. But that good
name is likely to be lost unless the
police contrivn in some way to rcpreSS
the growing violence"