The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-05-23
DOES IT PAF2

the police, or at least some or then' were in secret partnership with the and vicious ones, and that in affairs had reached a con- dition there which could no longer be tolerated. The police commission at once invited the ministers to confer with them and this they are to do.
 This is a Hartford experience and therefore not exactly concern of ours, but as 1t is in reality but repetition of what is occurring elsewhere every now and then, and therefore likely to occur here some day, reference to 1t is not so much out of place as would seem at first glance. There can be no ques- tion of the purpose of these ministers,
 who are said to be the spokesmen of the church federation in that city, nor is their sincerity to be doubted, They are at war with every kind of sin and know no compromise with 1t. They are constantly confronted, as the rest of us are, with evidence on every hand that some men are breaking the laws all of the time, and they naturally fret under it. In their inability to under stand it, they invite tho conclusion that the police do not want to enforce the law with strict impartiality and then further conclude that a premium is put upon their indifference by those who seek protection for their wrong doing They investigate, as they have done at Hartford and have, easily, we suspect,
 as would be the case here or in any city of corresponding size, found proof of evil doing and law evasion. Then come the charges made from the pulpit, more or less public humiliation and finally an inquiry, all soon ending in q recovery of life as 1t is practiced by human beings with all of the limita- tions of their race.
 It is this situation, such as we have outlined, that justihes the inquiry, Does it pay to do a thing of doubtful usefulness in this particular way? The reply has nothing to do with the duty of the police and the prosecuting Cf- fcers in enforcing the laws and appre- hendlng the evil-doers. It is expected that they will use their best judg- ment in carrying out their tasks Nor has the reply anything to do with ever lastlngly striving for the ideal. It is altogether a question of dealing with life exactly as we have it in large cen tors of population and making the best of it, while never relaxing in the job of 1t. No one at all familiar with conditions as they exist in crowd ed cities can for a moment doubt that the evil are steadily at work. If they were not the streets would be free of policemen, the courts would be idle, the legislature would be relieved of much of its work, the criminal law yer would be doing something else and finally the 1ails and the state prison would be empty. In other words, practical men must face the fact that the weakness as well as the vicious ness of human nature makes for law on the one hand, while, on the other hand, enthusiastic attempts to cure the situation in a manner more sensational than orderly oftentimes, If not always, make for increased trou- ble. Does it pay to advertise the city of Hartford in the undesirable way it has been advertised, in view of the fact that nothing new in the way of evil doing has been discovered, nor more of the usual kind than might be expected to exist in a city of its size? We doubt 1t.
 We are quite prepared for the count CT assertion that danger turks in a policy of submission to the rights" of the lawless. It is far from our purpose to advocate submission to any thing or anybody inclined to be law less. All we have in mind is that as, a rule community is governed very much as it wishes to be, and if at times, from the discovery of crime or evil conduct as a consequence of or ganized sleuthing, it appears as if the police are neglectful of their duty, it may be that out of the abundance of their experience they have con- cluded to restrain here and there rather than undertake to suppress. There may be, and probably is method in what appears to others like madness. Unless the Hartford minis ters can disclose corruption in the po- lice force of that city it is questlona- ble whether their campaign is win ming one for the cause of real right eousness.
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